Villa Grande symbolizes in many ways an important, but not very pleasant part of our history. It has not been without discussion that The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities should be located here.

In my first government we decided to take a historical and moral liquidation of the Norwegian Jews economical status during the Second World War. We called the project The Jewish property-liquidation. We initiated cooperation with The Jewish Communities, and as a result of the dialogs we decided to establish a center for studies of Holocaust and religious minorities’ situation in Norway.

I appreciate how the first Stoltenberg government followed up, and our good cooperation on this project.

The Holocaust Centre places the genocide on the Jewish Europeans in its historical context as a central and integrated part of the national-socialist inferno of extermination, together with other genocides and mass-murders. The HL-Centre also puts the Holocaust in a broad prospective of genocide. Holocaust was not the first, and unfortunately not the last genocide. I recently travelled to Rwanda, and visited The Kigali Genocide Centre there. It was a strong reminder to never stop focusing on human dignity and peace building.

We also in our days see tendencies of anti-Semitism in Europe - and in Norway. We really need the HL-Centre.

It is a great honour for me to participate in the official opening, and I wish you all the best in this important work.