ECAJ deputy president to represent Australian Jewish community at Auschwitz
Deputy President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and Co-Chair of the World Jewish Congress Policy Council, Robert Goot, will represent the Australian Jewish community at the 75th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland.
Robert Goot
The event will take place on January 27, a day which is recognised as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and will be attended by heads of state, world leaders and other dignitaries.
As the number of living victims of Nazism and witnesses to the greatest crime in history diminishes with each passing year, it falls to us, descendants of survivors and people of conscience and goodwill, to honour the memories of the lost, and to ensure that such misery is never again inflicted on humanity. This event will serve as a powerful symbol of remembrance and education, to which the ECAJ is unwaveringly committed.
At the conclusion of the commemoration, Mr Goot will travel to Berlin where he has been invited to meet with the president of Israel Reuven Rivlin together with a select number of representatives of Jewish communities around the world to discuss the present challenges to the Jewish people, including the alarming resurgence of antisemitism in Europe and around the world.
The ECAJ will again be supporting the outstanding We Remember campaign through which people post photos to social media of themselves holding a #WeRemember sign. Information on the campaign is available here: https://weremember.worldjewishcongress.org/. This is a meaningful and impactful way to remember the victims of the Holocaust and we encourage everyone to support it.
Robert Goot told J-Wire: “The commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp at Auschwitz – Birkenau will honour the millions of sacred dead, probably for the last time, in the presence of a remnant of survivors. It will also serve as a powerful statement to recognise once again the unprecedented evil of Nazism and to resolve to confront antisemitism, especially at a time when physical and verbal attacks on Jews including in Europe, the USA and Britain, have erupted.
The ECAJ is deeply grateful to the Australian Government for sending a high-level delegation to this event, led by the President of the Senate, Senator Scott Ryan, and the Australian Ambassador to Poland, Czech Republic and Lithuania, Ambassador Lloyd Brodrick.
Australia’s participation at this event and the associated workshops and panel discussions, has immense significance. It demonstrates leadership in Holocaust commemoration and education and is a significant act of solidarity with the Australian Jewish community and the Jewish people at a time of rising antisemitism at home and abroad.
We are determined that this commemoration organised by the World Jewish Congress, held at the place that represents the highest point antisemitism has ever reached, will lead to new national initiatives for the elimination of racism from our society. It is critical that younger generations come to understand the motivation and the method for the unique genocide and the attempt by Nazi Germany to wipe the Jews from the face of the earth.”
