Passover Statement by the President.

In Jewish tradition and practice, tonight is the night that is different from all other nights: the beginning of Passover, the Festival of Freedom.

Passover commemorates a particular struggle in a particular time and place. But its meaning is universal. It is a reminder to all of us—Jews and non-Jews alike—that the struggle for freedom and against oppression must forever be renewed.

Little more than a generation ago, the Holocaust—perhaps the cruelest chapter in the long history of man's inhumanity to man—took the lives of 6 million men, women, and children. And 35 years ago today, in the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto, Jewish fighters rose up in arms against their Nazi oppressors. We must never forget the reality and meaning of the Holocaust, or of the heroic resistance against it.

On behalf of the American people, I have committed myself and my administration to the cause of human rights. That commitment will remain firm.

In Jewish homes all over the world—. in Israel, in Eastern and Western Europe, in the Soviet Union, in Latin America, and here in the United States—families and friends will gather tonight for the ceremony of the Seder. As they do, I greet them and assure them that the love of freedom they celebrate is shared by all the people of the United States.