Despite scrutiny by a so-called ethics council, the rapper duo Kollegah/Farin Bang are still taking part in the German Echo Awards ceremony. This is seen as a blatant insult to the survivors of the Holocaust and as a shameful affair for Germany. To the survivors it feels like a massive breach of trust that in the country that inflicted indescribable pain and physical and mental suffering on them and their families, not only in Auschwitz, people who treat this with scorn and derision should be performing and receiving awards on stage at the ‘German’ music awards: commercial interests are destroying the gradually rebuilt trust and confidence, and the historical responsibility.

During a stay at the Auschwitz Memorial Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

"April 12th marks not only the presentation of the German Echo Music Awards, it is also the international day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust: in Auschwitz more than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish young people from around the globe will be walking from Auschwitz Main Camp to Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. They will be accompanied by survivors of the camp, as well as the presidents of Poland and Israel.  This ‘March of the Living’ will also include young German trainees from Volkswagen and Audi, who are working for two weeks together with Polish vocational college students to preserve the memorial site. In this way they want to remember the people who were tormented and murdered in Auschwitz and oppose worldwide anti-Semitism.

In this context, and on this day in particular, the German contribution as reflected in the Echo awards ceremony appears more than macabre. The decision made by the ethics council and those responsible for the event concerning the participation of the duo Kollegah/Farin Bang is shoddy, cowardly and devious, and it can only encourage anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism with its range and level of public perception. This decision will cause long-term damage to the Echo music prize. It can only be hoped that the guests at the ceremony will demonstrate loudly and clearly during the duo’s performance that their loyalty and empathy belongs to the survivors of Auschwitz. And the singers still have enough time and the opportunity to express their apologies to the German public in words that are spoken with heartfelt warmth and honesty."