The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, is today accompanying German President Christian Wulff on his visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
NEW YORK / BRUSSELS – The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, is today accompanying German President Christian Wulff on his visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. “On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Jewish community and the survivors of the Shoah welcome the fact that President Wulff – who has only been in office for a few months and has already been to Israel – is visibly giving the issue of the Holocaust remembrance such a high political priority. Clearly, Germany’s political leaders have learnt the lessons of the past, but much remains to be done throughout Europe to keep the memory of the darkest chapter in history alive, in order to prevent a future Holocaust,” Lauder declared ahead of the ceremonies in Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Wulff ‘s official delegation also comprises several Holocaust survivors, the leaders of Germany’s Jewish community, and members of parliament. Together with his Polish counterpart, President Bronislaw Komorowski, Wulff will visit the International Youth Meeting Center at Auschwitz.
Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January), Lauder declared: “Auschwitz is the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. Auschwitz is where the systematic annihilation of European Jewry was refined and perfected. It is where four gas chambers and four crematoria annihilated more than a million Jews. It is the place where the notorious SS ‘doctor’ Josef Mengele conducted cruel medical experiments on people. It is also the place where thousands upon thousands of Poles, Roma and Sinti and Soviet prisoners of war were brutally murdered alongside the Jewish victims.
“We owe it to all of them, and to the survivors, to make sure that today’s anti-Semites and hatemongers – those who want to destroy the Jewish people and its only refugee, the Jewish nation state Israel – will not get another go at it. In many countries, it has become fashionable in certain intellectual quarters to liken Israel’s defensive actions against attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas to those of the Nazis. It seems to be chic to hold Israel to a higher standard than any other country in the world and to blame the Jews again for everything that goes wrong. And yet: remembering the failures and atrocities of the past should have consequences for our actions today, and one of them is to protect Israel,” Lauder added.
About the World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress is the international organization representing Jewish communities in 92 countries around the world. The WJC serves as the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people to governments, parliaments and international organizations.
