This year the whole world commemorates not only the 50th anniversary of the victory over fascism, but also of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. The cataclysm of the war and that of the holocaust have common roots. The establishment of the first Nazi concentration camps immediately following Hitler's assumption of power could have been seen as a sure omen of what is probably the most tragic war in the history of mankind. We owe an obligation to the memory of the victims of the extermination camps and the issue of this commemorative stamp is an expression of the fact that our young Slovak Republic is aware of this obligation and wishes, in this way among others, to pay its respects to the memory of the victims of Nazi and fascist barbarism.