''4478651: that was the number which infamy etched into her skin when she was no more than 16 years old. That number, which she wanted to have engraved on her sword at the Académie Française as a warning to future generations, left its mark on more than just her arm.’’

With these words European Parliament President Antonio Tajani paid tribute to Simone Veil, who died last Friday at 89, in, the plenary session of the parliament.GAn Holocaust survivor, the former president of the first directly elected European Parliament in 1979 was credited for embodying, through her life’s history, the perfect example of reconciliation: “Her life is proof that it is possible to resist the temptation of hate. Her life will remain a formidable testament for us and for future generations”.

Tajani also paid homage to her for having “guided a young European Parliament in the right direction and laid the foundations for what it is today”.

‘’The history of her life is the history of our continent, the history of a continent torn apart, lost, which experienced the worst atrocities of which humanity is capable, but which, like her, found the strength to rise up again, to rebuild itself and to be reborn.

Seventy years ago, everything was lost, for Simone and for Europe,’’ Tajani said in his speech in the plenary session of the EU parliament in Strasbourg.

He continued, ‘’Simone Veil, like Helmut Kohl, belonged to the generation of great minds who came after that of the founding fathers of Europe. They took up the baton of European integration at a very difficult time and continued the work their predecessors had started. Simone Veil’s contribution was fundamental.’’

Guy Verhofstadt, the current leader of the Liberal and Democrats group (ALDE), the group which Simone eil was a member of throughout her 14 years as an MEP, also spoke, calling her “an inspiration.” He praised Simone Veil, “an Auschwitz survivor, who not only bore no hate for Germany but, on the contrary, pleaded for reconciliation based on the shared values of liberal democracy and the rule of law.”