Rabbi’s Speech (English Version): Auschwitz Liberation Day
Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany January 27, 2014 It has become tradition on such occasions to chant a version of our memorial prayer, El Malei Rachamim, to the martyrs of the Shoah. But as we listen to these words and hear the melody, we also need to remember that before martyrs become martyrs they are victims, and before they are victims they are subject to discrimination, violence and displacement, and before they can be so treated they must have been dehumanized. In the Shoah those subjected to this progression of horror were not only Jews, but as well mentally and physically handicapped, political opponents of National Socialism, Roma, Sinti, Slavic peoples, POWs, religious dissidents, homosexuals and transsexuals. All were subject to a type of de-humanization before the mass mobbing could take hold and inevitably lead to genocide. Now here we are today in Germany, doing that which is so critical—gathering together with youth, concerned citizens, member...