The debate over whether to 'let things rest' or 'maintain a memorial' at Auschwitz-Birkenau seems to have reared its head again.
This, obviously, is a matter that stirs up strong feelings on both sides. It has been said that the survivors should have the casting vote - in deciding what happens to the shell of the camp. And I can see the logic in that. But I think if one were to listen to the survivors, why not listen to the relatives of the survivors who are no longer alive? Or to the relatives of those who did not survive?
This is so much a part of Jewish life that I feel it has to be something that the community at large decides. As the son of one survivor, I am strongly in the camp (sic) of preserving this awful place.
As Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Chair of the IAC, said:
If we let the memorial cease to exist, we will take a great burden on our conscience - we will trample upon the testament of the victims
We do renovate castles, preserve paintings and old libraries. The best example is the memory of ancient Greece and Rome - centuries have passed but it is still vivid, thanks, among others, to the remains of both civilisations.
Why then should we let be forgotten the Memorial to the suffering of thousands of prisoners from many countries, and to the extermination of Jews? The place which has grown to be a global symbol and a warning against all forms of contempt for mankind and of genocide?
There is no other place like that in the world - no other KZ [Konzentrationslager, or concentration camp] was a concentration camp and extermination camp at the same time.
Right after the war, there occurred ideas - which fortunately have not been implemented - to demolish the remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau and plough the area up. The justification given was that a place of such cruel murder should vanish from the face of the Earth.
I do not wish to say that the intentions were not honourable, but in my view disguised behind them were other, not entirely realised, motivations. When a man commits evil, he tries to obliterate its traces.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is like a continuous sting of remorse that torments humanity, especially Europe. It is a sting of remorse for every person who is indifferent to the suffering of others.
Auschwitz-Birkenau must forever remain an unhealed, burning wound, which wakes people up from moral lethargy and forces them to take responsibility for the fate of our world.
If we let the memorial cease to exist, we will take a great burden on our conscience. We will trample upon the testament of the victims.
I hope to be a false prophet in saying that, but if we allow Auschwitz-Birkenau to disappear from the face of the Earth, we might just be opening a way for a similar evil to return.
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