Auschwitz survivors were received by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

From January 19 to 25, Auschwitz survivors who are members of the International Auschwitz Committee (IAC) in Poland, Belgium and the USA, visited the United Nations in New York together with German and Polish trainees from Volkswagen AG.

On January 21 the group was received by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for talks lasting 40 minutes. During this meeting, Roman Kent (New York), Henri Goldberg (Brussels) and Marian Turski (Warsaw) spoke as survivors of the Holocaust about their talks with young people in many countries around the world. The young people from Poland and Germany told Mr Ban Ki-moon about their project, their personal experiences and their impressions: in 2010 they had carried out conservation work for two weeks at the Auschwitz Memorial and had joined in talks with survivors on several occasions at the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim/Auschwitz.

Christoph Heubner told Mr Ban Ki-moon about the multifaceted work of the IAC member organisations in 19 countries, emphasised the importance of the United Nations for the work of the IAC and repeated the hopes of the Holocaust survivors for a more peaceful, tolerant and just world.

The Secretary General was moved and impressed by the sentiments and experiences of his guests, both old and young: in a touching speech held on the following day, January 22, 2011 at the New York Park East Synagogue to mark the 66th International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr Ban Ki-moon gave a detailed account of the talks with the IAC representatives. He also spoke about the 'Gift of Remembrance' statue, depicting the inversed 'B' in the infamous Auschwitz motto 'Arbeit macht frei', which the trainees from Volkswagen AG had made and presented to him.

During the visit to New York the group also met with the German Ambassador to the United Nations Dr Peter Wittig and his Polish colleague Ambassador Witold Sobkow. They both described their work on the Security Council and in the committees of the United Nations.

To the speech by Mr Ban Ki-moon
back to overview