Children at Auschwitz. Symbol must live forever
Photo: AP
Eternal symbol of infamy
Auschwitz symbolizes cruelest crime against humanity, must live on forever
Auschwitz Birkenau was established in order to exterminate European Jewry, but over the years it has turned into an international symbol bearing a message and warning to the entire world: This crime must not be repeated.
The degeneration process that has been threatening the camps is not a new or surprising problem, yet at this time it has emerged in full force. For many years now, the authorities managing Auschwitz and Birkenau – Polish authorities, Jewish organizations, and the State of Israel – have been warning that the operating budget does not meet the needs and that the preservation venture faces the risk of collapse.
This symbol must live on forever.
Crumbling Memories
Associated Press
Management of death camp museum says it needs millions of euros urgently to maintain vast site, adding ruins of gas chambers and wooden barracks that held inmates are under threat
Time and again, monies have been fundraised that were sufficient, more or less, to address urgent problems for some time. This is certainly not a long-term solution. It is also clear that it is impossible to keep maintaining the site this way; a site that symbolizes the greatest and cruelest crime against humanity.
I used to be a prisoner in this cursed site, and because of this I say: We must not let Auschwitz collapse and disappear. We cannot accept the disappearance of a site that symbolizes more than any other the reckless abandon of the Germans, the horrific crimes they committed along with their partners, and the extermination of millions of men, women, elderly, and children who were innocent of any crime except for being Jewish.
Hundreds of thousands of people from all across the globe have been flocking to this symbol for close to 60 years. They come there in order to learn about what had happened. This “pilgrimage” is meant to ensure that those crimes do not repeat.
Auschwitz is also a site that draws Jews of all ages and from across the world in order to recite the Kadish prayer for the millions who have no grave.
Such site cannot disappear because of shortage of funds. Auschwitz, and the warning it bears, must stay with us forever.
