there would now be only peace, that everything would be all right. However, there were people who foresaw that what had happened during the Second World War could quite possibly happen again, since people had become so inhumane that it was very likely to repeat itself. In 1950, a Polish writer and essayist published essays about the war in the Parisian journal Kultura [...] And at the end of one of those essays—I would like you to listen to this with feeling—he wrote: ‘If Europe, devastated by these insanities, is to avoid catastrophe, its inhabitants must learn to better foresee the consequences of our actions. And they cannot ignore those who can. For older people, it’s irrelevant. I think about the young, whose lives lie ahead. War and chaos can start anywhere. Thus, there will be nowhere to run—and no reason to do so,’” she emphasized.
Tova Friedman (née Grossman) was born on September 7, 1938, in Gdynia. During the German occupation, she was confined with her parents in the ghetto of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, and later in a labor camp in Starachowice. In mid-1944, she and her mother were deported from there to the Auschwitz camp. She was liberated on January 27, 1945.
“As I was being beaten mercilessly by a guard for fidgeting during a 3-hour appell, roll call, I looked into my mother’s eyes that were silently pleading with me, “Hold on, don't cry. And I recall thinking “I will never let them know how much they are hurting me.” I am sure that many of you sitting here also had moments in Auschwitz when your entire being rebelled, but you felt helpless, abandoned, and even resigned,” said Tova Friedman.
“At the time we were victims in a moral vacuum. Today, however, we all have an obligation, not only to remember, but also to warn and to teach that hatred begets more hatred, and killing more killing. Instead, our revenge has been to build a strong Jewish country and to raise our families in peace. Many of you have these beautiful families with you today,” said the Survivor.
“80 years after the liberation, the world is again in crisis. Our Judeo-Christian values have been overshadowed worldwide by prejudice, fear, suspicion, and extremism, and the rampant antisemitism that is spreading among the nations is shocking to us, our children, and our grandchildren. Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, is fighting for its existence and its way of life. We mourn not only the fallen soldiers and hostages but also the turbulence and mistrust in our society. We pray for strength, resilience, and hope” she emphasized.
“We all must reawaken our collective conscience to transform the violence, anger, hatred, and malignancy that has so powerfully gripped our society into a more humane and just world before these negative forces destroy us. It’s an enormous task, but as our sages say, “The time is short, and the task is great. We may not be able to complete it, but we are obligated to start,” she ended.
Leon Weintraub was born on January 1, 1926, in Lodz, Poland. During the war, he and his family were confined to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, and from there they were deported to Auschwitz in August 1944, where Leon was separated from other family members. After a few weeks, he was transferred to Gluszyce, and then to the Dörnhau camp and subsequent labor camps.
“This Nazi camp symbolises the unprecedented cruelty in the treatment of people throughout history, a place where the techniques of mass and industrial murder were first introduced” said Weintraub.
In his speech, Leon Weintraub addressed all people of goodwill, especially young people: “In today’s digital world, it is incredibly challenging to distinguish between genuine intentions and the pursuit of popularity. The need to exist that stems from a conscious and persistent agenda. I repeat: be attentive and vigilant! We, Survivors, know that the consequence of being an alien is active persecution, the effects of which we have personally experienced”.
“Astronomers tell us that trillions of solar systems and galaxies are similar to ours in the universe. Our planet is merely a speck in this vast cosmos. Isn't it absurd to divide the
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