We are delighted that the ceremony will be attended by many survivors and their relatives, for whom commemoration and visiting the site of their suffering exactly 80 years later is so important. This group is united by a shared fate, but it is also made up of individuals with different political stances and opinions.
The survivors play a central role in the event programme. The commemorative speeches this year will be delivered exclusively by survivors and people born in the Bergen-Belsen DP camp.
Political representatives will also give welcoming addresses. They will do so as representatives of nations that have a clear connection to the history of Bergen-Belsen.
When Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British Army on 15 April 1945, a special connection was forged with the UK. A large British delegation will attend the ceremony this coming weekend, as is the case on every major anniversary. Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, will speak on behalf of the liberators.
Bergen-Belsen also has an important historical connection to the State of Israel. Palestine, and then Israel from 1948, was the destination of choice for many survivors, and most Holocaust survivors live there today. Speaking on behalf of Israel, therefore, is His Excellency Ron Prosor, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Singing Hatikvah was very important to the survivors in the DP camp even immediately after the liberation. It has been sung at the Jewish monument ever since – regardless of the individual stance of the people present.
As the organizers, our main focus is commemoration, and we will not allow this event to be instrumentalized for self-serving political purposes. We hope to bring people together in conversation and fellowship at a dignified commemoration ceremony.