Below is part of a fascinating speech given by the UN Secretary-General at the Park East Synagogue on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Yesterday, at UN Headquarters, I met a group of young people. They came from several countries, and several faiths.
They were accompanied by several Holocaust survivors.
What united them was remembrance. All were members of the International Auschwitz Committee.
Each year, these young people spend several weeks working at the camp ? keeping it in shape, preserving the past for generations in the future.
One young woman told me of cleaning the victims' shoes. The childrens' shoes, so small, affected her especially deeply.
Another young person spoke of Auschwitz as a “terrible place.” And yet, it is an important place, she said.
It is important because whoever goes to Auschwitz is changed.
He or she never sees the world in quite the same way again.
Toward the end of our meeting, they surprised me with a gift.
Here it is.
This is not just any letter “B”. It is a replica of the “B” that appeared in the infamous inscription on the gates of Auschwitz: Arbeit Macht Frei.
Prisoners at Auschwitz had been ordered to make that sign, I was told.
And in their anger, they decided to make a stand.
If you look carefully at pictures of the gate, you will see that the “B” is upside down. What might appear to be a mere piece of design is actually a daring act of defiance.
Hidden within the German message emblazoned on that gate, the prisoners of Auschwitz delivered a message of their own:
All is not right here. Something is upside down. Brutally so.
The prisoners saw their act as a sign of hope.
Read full article: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sgsm13361.doc.htm
Yesterday, at UN Headquarters, I met a group of young people. They came from several countries, and several faiths.
They were accompanied by several Holocaust survivors.
What united them was remembrance. All were members of the International Auschwitz Committee.
Each year, these young people spend several weeks working at the camp ? keeping it in shape, preserving the past for generations in the future.
One young woman told me of cleaning the victims' shoes. The childrens' shoes, so small, affected her especially deeply.
Another young person spoke of Auschwitz as a “terrible place.” And yet, it is an important place, she said.
It is important because whoever goes to Auschwitz is changed.
He or she never sees the world in quite the same way again.
Toward the end of our meeting, they surprised me with a gift.
Here it is.
This is not just any letter “B”. It is a replica of the “B” that appeared in the infamous inscription on the gates of Auschwitz: Arbeit Macht Frei.
Prisoners at Auschwitz had been ordered to make that sign, I was told.
And in their anger, they decided to make a stand.
If you look carefully at pictures of the gate, you will see that the “B” is upside down. What might appear to be a mere piece of design is actually a daring act of defiance.
Hidden within the German message emblazoned on that gate, the prisoners of Auschwitz delivered a message of their own:
All is not right here. Something is upside down. Brutally so.
The prisoners saw their act as a sign of hope.
My history teacher talked about that...he said that it meant that work will NOT!!! set you free. Work will kill you here, leave if you can. That is the true message of the Auschwitz sign.
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