Auschwitz Memorial Ceremonies

Krakow - 7-Feb-05

A prominent delegation of the Conference of European Rabbis attended the Auschwitz memorial ceremonies in Krakow and Auschwitz/Birkenau.  They included the Chief Rabbi of Moscow (Rabbi P Goldschmidt), Chief Rabbi of Ukraine (Rabbi Y Bleich) and Cllr A  Dunner, Executive Director of the CER.  An afternoon Holocaust memorial service was held at the Temple Synagogue in Krakow, which was an event run by the CER.  The service was conducted by Cllr A Dunner, and speeches were held by Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi M Lau of Israel, a representative of the European Jewish Student Union, and two survivors.  A special memorial prayer was recited by Chazan P Shapiro of Tel-Aviv.

During the two-day proceedings, many meetings were held between the Rabbis and European lay leaders.  An important discussion took place between Cllr A Dunner, Executive Director of the CER, and Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Victor Yushchenko of Ukraine.  In his discussion with President Putin, Cllr Dunner pointed out the grave concerns being expressed by Jews not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe at the current anti-Semitic trends that had surfaced in Russia over the past year.  This had culminated in a bid of 22 Russian MP's to ban Jewish organisations from Russia, which had been backed by 500 signatories.  Cllr Dunner further pointed out that there were continuous attacks on Jews, as well as on Jewish buildings, with no perpetrators having been arrested.  President Putin was at pains to point out that they were taking steps to deal with this problem, and that there was no real cause for concern.  Cllr Dunner then insisted that the CER was very much involved with the European Commission and the European Parliament, where the issue of human rights and anti-Semitism was today something that was being openly discussed with special focus on the recent incidents in Russia.

In the discussions with President Yushchenko, Cllr Dunner expressed the admiration that the Jewish communities had for his stand on the issue of democracy and human rights in Ukraine, and made it clear that Jews throughout Europe looked at President Yushchenko as a torch-bearer for these issues.  At the same time, he also wished President Yushchenko a speedy recovery, and pointed out that he was expressing the wishes of Jews throughout Europe that President Yushchenko should enjoy many more years in good health as a leader who fights for the rights of the individual, wherever they are.