Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

146   SPEECHES | DESCENDANTS Descendants ©Flossenbürg Memorial / T. Dashuber Dear Survivors, Dear Dad*, It seems that humanity rarely learns from history, and the   Holocaust is sadly no exception. Although no other genocide has been documented as thoroughly, there are still people today who deny this human catastrophe actually happened. My father, who joins me here today with my mother and daughter, was only 13 when he and his family were deported from their home in Lód´z, to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. He lived there with his mother and four older sisters for four and a half years, subjected to the hardest physical labour in various work- shops. Later, his mother’s sister and a cousin were also housed in their small ghetto apartment – before the family was ultimately deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There, his mother, aunt and sisters were selected at the ramp by Dr Mengele. His mother and aunt were declared unfit for work and murdered in the gas chambers that very day. My father was left all alone to face a dark and unimaginable reality. His journey took him through Auschwitz, Groß-Rosen, Flossenbürg and Natzweiler-Struthof. His life was no different to that of his fellow prisoners – marked by cruelty and dep- rivation. After several twists and turns in his journey, he was eventually liberated by the French army near Donaueschingen. By the time he was admitted to a French sanatorium, his weight had dropped to an astonishing 35 kilograms. Before the war, there had been 80 people in his family. Only 16 of them survived. Returning to Flossenbürg today, he still shudders when he steps onto the former roll call area. His body instinctively   remembers the cold and suffering that he and his fellow   prisoners endured. Hunger and cold are etched onto his soul. * LeonWeintraub, editorial note Today, we remember the liberation of this labour camp by American soldiers under the command of General Patton.   Only the shadows of those who once lived here remain. Sadly, we are currently witnessing the resurgence of far-right forces whose propaganda was mistakenly thought to have been consigned to the darkest corners of history. It is our duty to resist them with all our strength, to remain vigilant and to take them seriously – because they mean what they say. All people of goodwill must ensure that the events that occurred here almost a hundred years ago are never repeated. Soon, the last contemporary witnesses will no longer be able to tell their stories themselves, and it will be our responsibility to keep their voices alive. Dad, we carry your words and memories in our hearts and promise that we will never stand by indifferently in the face of injustice or attacks on our democratic values. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who work tirelessly every day – at this memorial and others – to preserve memo- ries and honour all victims of National Socialism. If we were to forget, we would rob the victims of life once again. Thank you. Emilia Rotstein 80th anniversary  of the liberation of Flossenbürg  27 April 2025