Colel Chabad, a charity based in Jerusalem, this week hosted the German State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Prof. Luise Holcher in a visit meant to promote the continued financial assistance of the German government to Holocaust survivors.
Founded in 1788, Colel Chabad operates soup kitchens and day centers across Israel.
Colel Chabad's programs are supported by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).
Israel's Minister for Social Equality, Merav Cohen, attended the visit.
During the event, Holcher and her delegation were given a tour of Colel Chabad's headquarters and met with four Holocaust survivors who told their stories.
Holocaust survivors tell their stories
“We say ‘Never Again’ but do we mean it? It’s happened again, in Rwanda and other places and it’s happening right now in Ukraine. The only way we can really make sure that it doesn’t happen again is by talking, talking and more talking about what happened so that through education will the world begin to realize the value of a human being.”
Yosef Leckowitz
One of the survivors, Yosef Leckowitz, was born in Krakow, Poland and was held at Auschwitz concentration camp. Although he lost his entire family in the Holocaust, he helped track down Nazi war criminals, including Amon Göth, commander of the Plazhov concentration camp, one of the camps at which Leckowitz had been imprisoned.
Leckowitz asked if the world had learned from the Holocaust, saying, “We say ‘Never Again’ but do we mean it? It’s happened again, in Rwanda and other places and it’s happening right now in Ukraine. The only way we can really make sure that it doesn’t happen again is by talking, talking and more talking about what happened so that through education will the world begin to realize the value of a human being.”
Another Holocaust survivor in attendance was Elze Pripis, who was enslaved at Theresienstadt until Russian forces liberated the camp in 1945.
Cohen said, “As a member of the Israeli government I pledge to do whatever I can to make sure that our survivor community will live their lives with dignity.”
“Today’s visit, by hearing these survivors stories, reminded us that no matter how much time passes the crimes of the Holocaust remain with these modern Jewish heroes every hour of every day and our responsibility is to make sure that they are never forgotten and receive our kindness,” said Rabbi Blau.