Visiting the state president of Israel with Yad Vashem
BENSHEIM / GERMANY A lecture on his participation in the Leadership Mission of Yad Vashem (Israel) was held in September in Bensheim by Thomas Zieringer. He is the initiator of the Jerusalem Peace Memorial in Germany. You can find information about it here: http://shalom.vision
Yad Vashem is a globally significant commemorative, educational and research center in Jerusalem. The internationally composed group of the Leadership Mission involved about 70 participants, including Zieringer, the only German participant. First Zieringer underlined the importance of a Peace Memorial for Germany in his speech. Different from other Memorials addressing Judaism in Germany the Peace Memorial is not focused solely on the past. Its about living personally a responsibilty for freedom today.
Not about arousing feelings of guilt
Especially the current political developments in Germany would show how much awareness is still lacking on this issue in Germany. "We need a new culture of freedom in Germany", says Zieringer. For this the Jerusalem Peace Memorial is standing for. Its not about aurousing new feelings of guilt and shame.
It is a positive place to encourage the people; a symbol of freedom and life. It is therefore not a „final stroke“ regarding commemorating the Shoa in Germany. Learning from the past means converting the burden of the past into a blessing for the future. This paradigm shift is of fundamental importance for Germany, said Zieringer.
In his lecture he presented with photos the stages of the journey of the Leadership Mission. Various places in Poland were visited. Auschwitz was one of the places. For Zieringer the visit to the Auschwitz extermination camp was the highlight of the trip. There it was his assignment to read Psalm 23 in a memorial ceremony of Yad Vashem. The small group was accompanied by the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Lau, and his wife. Today, his son is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel.
In the evening after the visit to Auschwitz, the group flew to Israel to visit the next day the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. In Israel, the participants of the "Leadership Mission" had the opportunity to get to know Yad Vashem through personal interviews and tours through the various departments.
Photo from 1947
Zieringer concluded the presentation with a true story. On the bus another participant of the Leadership Mission, which happened to be sitting behind him, asked him about Bensheim. She showed him an old photo. There was a young man standing on a street. Written on the picture was in cursive: Bensheim, 1947. „That is my father“, said the participant, who is of the senior staff of the „American Society for Yad Vashem". It is the only reminder of this period.
After the war her father had been in Bensheim. He was a merchant. After the war a group of Jewish merchants helped to secure the supply of the necessities for life in Bensheim. Zieringer remembered that his father Karl had told him often this story of the Jewish merchants in Bensheim. That is where he had his positive relationship with Judaism from. Karl's father, Andreas Zieringer was a metal dealer in those days. Now a circle of events concluded after exactly 70 years in the bus from Yad Vashem, driving through Jerusalem.
Yad Vashem is a globally significant commemorative, educational and research center in Jerusalem. The internationally composed group of the Leadership Mission involved about 70 participants, including Zieringer, the only German participant. First Zieringer underlined the importance of a Peace Memorial for Germany in his speech. Different from other Memorials addressing Judaism in Germany the Peace Memorial is not focused solely on the past. Its about living personally a responsibilty for freedom today.
Not about arousing feelings of guilt
Especially the current political developments in Germany would show how much awareness is still lacking on this issue in Germany. "We need a new culture of freedom in Germany", says Zieringer. For this the Jerusalem Peace Memorial is standing for. Its not about aurousing new feelings of guilt and shame.
It is a positive place to encourage the people; a symbol of freedom and life. It is therefore not a „final stroke“ regarding commemorating the Shoa in Germany. Learning from the past means converting the burden of the past into a blessing for the future. This paradigm shift is of fundamental importance for Germany, said Zieringer.
In his lecture he presented with photos the stages of the journey of the Leadership Mission. Various places in Poland were visited. Auschwitz was one of the places. For Zieringer the visit to the Auschwitz extermination camp was the highlight of the trip. There it was his assignment to read Psalm 23 in a memorial ceremony of Yad Vashem. The small group was accompanied by the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Lau, and his wife. Today, his son is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel.
In the evening after the visit to Auschwitz, the group flew to Israel to visit the next day the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. In Israel, the participants of the "Leadership Mission" had the opportunity to get to know Yad Vashem through personal interviews and tours through the various departments.
Photo from 1947
Zieringer concluded the presentation with a true story. On the bus another participant of the Leadership Mission, which happened to be sitting behind him, asked him about Bensheim. She showed him an old photo. There was a young man standing on a street. Written on the picture was in cursive: Bensheim, 1947. „That is my father“, said the participant, who is of the senior staff of the „American Society for Yad Vashem". It is the only reminder of this period.
After the war her father had been in Bensheim. He was a merchant. After the war a group of Jewish merchants helped to secure the supply of the necessities for life in Bensheim. Zieringer remembered that his father Karl had told him often this story of the Jewish merchants in Bensheim. That is where he had his positive relationship with Judaism from. Karl's father, Andreas Zieringer was a metal dealer in those days. Now a circle of events concluded after exactly 70 years in the bus from Yad Vashem, driving through Jerusalem.
Meeting of the group (Leadership Mission) with the President of Israel, Reuven Ruvi Rivlin.
In the residence of the president of Israel while visiting with the Yad Vashem Leadership Mission.
Leaving the extermination camp Auschwitz.
