VOA标准英语2009年-World Meeting Pledges Urgent Social Suppor

The European Union and dozens of countries have pledged to speed up social support for Holocaust¹ survivors³ and the search for art and other items that were stolen during World War II by the Nazis⁵. At the meeting in Prague, they agreed to establish a special European institute to deal with these issues and education.
　
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout delivers speech during Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, 29 Jun 2009

As the number of survivors of the Nazi⁴ Holocaust rapidly declines, there was a sense of urgency among delegates that the world must provide them with adequate social assistance and compensation for stolen goods.

The five-day meeting in the Czech capital Prague, attended by Holocaust survivors, members of Jewish organizations and delegates from nearly 50 nations, was a follow-up to a conference more than a decade ago in Washington that led to agreements on recovering art looted by the Nazis.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor² Elie Wiesel told the gathering⁶ that it is a moral duty to provide thousands of victims of Nazi persecution⁷ living in poverty at least some comfort in their final days.

"It is not easy to measure human suffering," he said. "How much was my grandmother's candle stick? How much? And they took it. They needed it for the war? Think of every individual who lost whatever poverty he or she had. And when you think of them, you realize that whatever we do is so late. But we cannot wait another day, not another hour."

Soon after, Naftali Herstik, the chief cantor of The Jerusalem Great Synagogue, tried to comfort Holocaust survivors who attended the emotionally charged meeting with solemn songs.

Herstik recalled the six million Jews who perished at the hands of Adolf Hitler's followers⁸, who also seized billions of dollars of gold and art as well as private and communal⁹ property across Europe.

Later, a declaration was approved by the national delegates in attendance, saying that they are aware that Holocaust survivors and other victims of Nazi Germany have reached advanced age and that meeting their social welfare needs must be a priority.

The European Union's executive branch, the European Commission, and the outgoing Czech EU presidency¹⁰, also pledged support for "more effective" Holocaust education and research across Europe, and the preservation¹¹ of memorials in former concentration camps, cemeteries¹² and "other sites of memory". The EU also promised more social services for Holocaust survivors and investigations¹³ into looted properties.

The head of the American delegation¹⁴, former U.S. Deputy Treasury¹⁵ Secretary Stuart Eizenstat, told reporters he believes that progress will be made.

"Of all the conferences, this is by far the most ambitious - covering the widest array of issues, including those never considered before by previous conferences, like the desperate need of survivors, many of whom live, even in the United States of America, in abject¹⁶ poverty, and issues like compensation, private property and [war loot] recovery," he said.

But Eizenstat said that, among other items, the Nazis stole or forced the sale of some 600,000 paintings of which at least 100,000 remain unrecovered.

All of the country delegates attending the conference backed the foundation of an institute to track the return of Jewish art and property stolen by the Nazis.

Czech Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fule said the European Shoah Legacy¹⁷ Institute would be based in the Czech town of Terezin, the site of a former Nazi concentration camp.

"The Institute should serve as a voluntary forum¹⁸ for promoting developments in the areas covered by the conference, especially educational and social programs," he said.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was born in what was Czechoslovakia, welcomed the initiative and plans by conference delegates to visit the former camp in Terezin.

"I have to say that I especially am deeply moved that you are all going to go to Terezin. That is part of my history that I only learned recently and my family's association," she said.

Several of Albright's Jewish relatives perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.

1 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

2 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

8 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

9 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

12 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

15 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

16 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

17 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

18 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。