News
Against denial of the Holocaust. Muslim clerics and activists at the Memorial Site
On 22 May, a group of Muslim clerics, activists and teachers visited Auschwitz Memorial Site and Museum. The study visit was part of a special program co-organised by the U.S. State Department, which aims to combat anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.
They were accompanied by, among others, US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Rashad Hussain, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Ira Forman, as well as American rabbis and scientists.
Guests from Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, Turkey and the United States toured the site of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. They saw, among others, fragments of the main exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust, the Death Wall at block 11 and the former crematorium and gas chamber of Auschwitz I, as well as Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
“This visit is a very strong message to the Muslim community around the world telling on the need to pay respect to what has happened here and to really appreciate its magnitude to send this signal to those who question the tragedy that took place in this place,” said Rashad Hussain.
“No words can describe the Holocaust, especially when it is in a place where, over your head, you can feel the people crying, the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who were murdered in the most unimaginable way. The lesson here for all of us, Muslims, Jews and Christians, is that we should make every effort to ensure that humanity is better. All religious and political leaders should visit this place before they start their work, to understand what responsibility rests upon their shoulders,” said Imam Mohamed Magid of the United States.;
The visit to Germany and Poland also included: a visit to the former concentration camp of Dachau and places associated with the history of Polish Jews and the ghettos in Warsaw and Krakow. Guests also met with survivors of the Holocaust and the Righteous Among the Nations, as well as representatives of other faiths, including Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich.
A similar visit took place in September 2010. At that time, everyone from the Rashad Hussain Memorial Site visited eight of the most influential North American imams and Muslim leaders. They released a strongly worded statement in which they referred to any attempts at denying the Holocaust: "We condemn any action that would contradict these historical facts, and we declare that such a denial, and any attempt to excuse this tragedy, are contrary to the Islamic code of ethics.”
From the website of the Museum, you can download a folder free-of-charge containing the several dozen page, richly illustrated “Auschwitz-Birkenau. History and the present” (available in several languages, including Arabic and Persian). It is devoted to the history of the Auschwitz concentration camp as well as the current activities of the Memorial Site. In the near future, a translation of the online lesson “Auschwitz - concentration and extermination camp” will be available in Persian and Arabic.
