Coming to Auschwitz-Birkenau is difficult. Because in doing so you’re accepting that the greatest evil on this planet, the biggest threat to life, is humankind. And that is a difficult pill to swallow.
On our trip, we are joined by Rabbi Barry Marcus. At the end of our trip we join him in-front of the memorial for a service. I’ve never been a religious person, I’ve never really seen the point of it all. But here, I get it. These prisoners had everything taken away from them. Their family, homes, jobs, even their humanity. But what they could never take from them, was their belief.
As we head home, I’m sat near some important faces at Chelsea Football Club. These trips that the club have run are very important to the owner personally and for the future generations of supporters. What I learned, and I think what we all learned, is that education is the biggest tool in combating anti-semitism and racism.
The club already operates a zero tolerance approach with any offenders caught. But what they need is people to come forward, to not sit in silence if somebody is being anti-Semitic. To know that it’s not acceptable and can’t be tolerated in the football stadiums or in society in general. And now, more than ever, this is so very important. During a protest march this month, in the same city in which we live, men walked the streets doing Nazi-salutes.