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Press Information published by the International Auschwitz Committee

20.09.2022

Open Letter from Volkswagen trainees to the Iranian president in response to his playing down of the Holocaust.

 
 
The president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, speaks in an interview with CBS in Teheran. It was held before his visit to New York where he took part in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly UNGA 77 on 19 September 2022. Image by Iranian Presidency apaimages, Teheran, Iran, Islamic Republic

The president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, speaks in an interview with CBS in Teheran. It was held before his visit to New York where he took part in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly UNGA 77 on 19 September 2022. Image by Iranian Presidency apaimages, Teheran, Iran, Islamic Republic

 

 

 

In a joint project with the International Auschwitz Committee fourteen Volkswagen trainees from Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden are working together to preserve and maintain the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.

The fact that is that they are being confronted every day with buildings and objects that provide clear evidence to the mass murder of the Jewish families of Europe and the Holocaust, and these young people are reacting with disbelief and anger at the comments of the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the television programme 60 Minutes. That is why they have spontaneously decided to send an open letter to President Raisi telling him about their experiences in the Auschwitz Memorial and their confrontation with the memories of survivors.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Kira Meya, 19, a trainee mechatronics engineer in Wolfsburg, said: “We need to contradict such words loudly and clearly, especially when such a ‘high-ranking’ person utters them publicly. The Iranian president is insulting both the victims of Auschwitz and the historical truth.

There’s more than enough fake news and racist lies being spread in order to rouse people’s emotions and repeatedly provoke unrest and violence. That is why we have written this letter.”

 

The open letter to President Ebrahim Raisi:

 

Your Excellency,

We are fourteen trainees with Volkswagen, aged between eighteen and twenty-four. We are presently working together with the International Auschwitz Committee at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, and every day we see evidence and proof of the Holocaust, the murder of Jewish families, we see the shoes of the murdered children and the scenes of the crimes. In an interview you said that you need more evidence of the Holocaust: Your comments can only mean that you doubt the Holocaust ever took place. Your words make us angry, and they encourage all new Nazis in this world. Why are you adding this hurtful insult to the already existing pain of the relatives of the murder victims and the survivors of Auschwitz? Should we send you photos of our work? Photos of the children’s shoes and the suitcases of the murdered people? Should we take photographs for you of the places where grass grows over the ashes? Maybe this would open your eyes. Or don’t you intend to see?

We wish the people in your country happiness and peace:

  • Clarissa Haferkorn 19, trainee tool engineer, Zwickau.
  • Jil-Seline Eiselt, 18, trainee process mechanic, Zwickau.
  • Sophia Klemm, 21, trainee office manager, Wolfsburg.
  • Patricia Hüttl, 22, trainee industrial business manager, Wolfsburg.
  • Mia Wagner, 18, trainee IT specialist, Zwickau.
  • Mojtaba Hajizadeh, 22, trainee vehicle mechatronics engineer, Zwickau.
  • Jennifer Chemnitz, 20, trainee cutting machine operator, Chemnitz.
  • Franz Mühlmann, 19, trainee vehicle mechatronics engineer high-voltage technology, Zwickau.
  • Lucas Spelly, 23, trainee industrial mechanic, Wolfsburg.
  • David Weinberg, 24, trainee electronics engineer for automation technology, Dresden.
  • Lukas Sacher, 20, trainee industrial mechanic, Zwickau.
  • Aziz-Emre Meletli, 22, trainee electronics engineer for automation technology, Wolfsburg.
  • Veli Güler, 20, trainee industrial business manager, Wolfsburg.
  • Kira Meya, 19, trainee mechatronics engineer, Wolfsburg.
 
 
 

For further Information

Christoph Heubner

Executive Vice President
International Auschwitz Committee
Phone ++ 49 (0)30 26 39 26 81