International Auschwitz Committee

Since its opening on 23 January 2007 the exhibition of the International Auschwitz Committee entitled "Surviving in Life" with drawings and poems by the Dutch Auschwitz survivor Ronnie Goldstein-van Cleef has been visited by people from 22 different countries.

In the following we quote some entries from the guest book of the exhibition that show how the visitors are touched by the pictures and poems.The exhibition can be visited at the Memorial of German Resistance in Berlin until July 2007.

The Vice-President of the German Parliament, Wolfgang Thierse, and the Ambassador of the Netherlands, H. E. Van Wulfften Palthe, together with Ronnie Goldstein-van Cleef, the exhibition curator Carry van Lakerveld and Christoph Heubner from the International Auschwitz Committee at the presentation of the exhibition catalogue.

For those whose lives were taken from them, those who suffered the consequence and those who gave their lives.

Eating away at the body and mind,
Bones run thin and fragile,
Leaving us with sore hearts,
Sorry eyes,
Starving for Salvation.

Silent questions never spoken,
Time lost, time stolen,
Haunting fears will not cease,
Vivid memories bring no release,
And unquenched thirst,
Which fuels the vorid.

They died in vain,
Unnoticed, stripped,
They were only a number.
Their hunger for food, freedom and life,
Consumed.

What was to gain?
What has been done, we cannot change.
But we are here, and we remain.

13 February 2007
Rebecca Clifford
Riva Tourani, USA

It is our duty now to see that such things do not happen again.
Tochukuwu E. Ezeoke,
Fed. Rep. Biafra

I‘m here
with my friend
today,
and I see tears
in her eyes.
It hurts
to feel
these regards,
in this house –
now and today,
again and again.
For Natalya from Henning

I've been here with my children.
We were all under the impression
of the words, the memories and
the will to live.
Ingrid de Hoogd
Netherlands

So much reality and courage to tell and describe.
Arne Simonsen
Denmark

I'm very moved . and I hope that there will always be resistance against injustice.
A., Berlin

This is an inspiring story. It is one of dreams and hope. This is what needs to be taught in schools.
Ariane Charletois
Montreal, Canada

You think you have seen and read everything about national-socialism. But when you see these pictures and read these poems – you feel completely bewildered.
R. Diller.

Having lived for 62 years – half of those years in exile from Apartheid South Africa – I do understand the suffering that took place . I also visited the concentration camps Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. It should never happen again – at least in our life time.
S.R. Makgetla
Ambassador South Africa,
Stockholm, Sweden

Hope the survivors find peace in their hearts. Never again should such atrocities be committed to mankind.
Yu Li Jie,
Tan Chee, Singapore

An exceptionally beautiful exhibition in its plainness and modesty.
M.R., Paris

Numerous visitors see Ronnie Goldstein-van Cleef exhibition