Hundreds of people gathered today to commemorate the Holocaust at the Auschwitz memorial in Amsterdam. Several speakers today mentioned the war in the Middle East and rising anti-Semitism. “The rashness I hoped for years ago is still not a reality,” says chairman of the Auschwitz Committee Jacques Grishaver.
A woman present thinks it is important to reflect on the history of the Holocaust today. “My husband is Jewish. His mother and other relatives died during the Second World War.”
Relevant and necessary
Max Arpels is also a reader among the speakers. As a little boy he survived the Holocaust. “We’ll still get you, you damn Jew from number 58,” people shouted at him during the war and while playing football in the street. He worries a lot about the future. “Are the 1930s coming back?” he wonders.
Other speakers also express their concerns. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Mayor Femke Halsema mention the war in the Middle East and increasing anti-Semitism.
According to chairman of the Auschwitz Committee Jacques Grishaver, a day and commemoration like today is still very relevant and necessary. He had hoped that the safety of Jews would no longer be a topic of discussion by now. Yet he also expresses his hope: “The fact that you are all standing here gives us confidence that we will remember this forever.”