WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.000 --> 00:01:38.280
 음... Kjell Andersen piano plays softly So what did your father tell you about this place and where we are right now?

1
00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:50.620
 He told me that this was the worst camp he was at. He was, you know, he was telling us that Auschwitz

2
00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:58.120
 was easier than the ghetto because in the ghetto you not only suffered abuse

3
00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:08.759
 but you didn't have any food. While in Auschwitz there was very little food but it was regular. You knew

4
00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:16.800
 that you'll get it. You'll get a piece of bread and soup. That was for the day but

5
00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:29.780
 in the ghetto sometimes you would not find food for a week. So he didn't suggest that Auschwitz was a holiday camp, of course,

6
00:02:30.460 --> 00:02:34.900
 but he said that compared to Auschwitz, Gusen was hell.

7
00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:43.719
 And I then read that the Nazis themselves called Gusen hell of hells.

8
00:02:44.419 --> 00:02:50.639
 And they knew and we heard about the very short great

9
00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:57.919
 shortage of places for people to live in yeah this was the case in in all the you

10
00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:07.419
 know we saw this in Mauthausen as well but in Gusen it was terrifying and no one lived more than a few weeks

11
00:03:07.419 --> 00:03:10.659
 as a prisoner in Gusen

12
00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:16.500
 so he came here on I think the 2nd or 3rd of February

13
00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:18.879
 1945

14
00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.659
 and he was freed

15
00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:24.659
 for some reason no one can explain

16
00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:32.259
 in Ebensee which is an hour away, on the 8th of May.

17
00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:37.259
 8th of May was the end of the war, and he was freed on that day.

18
00:03:38.740 --> 00:03:45.699
 And we don't know, because he actually is registered in Gusen, and he told me that he worked in Gusen too,

19
00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:47.819
 and in the tunnels.

20
00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:51.520
 But we don't know what happened

21
00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.199
 for him to be freed in Ebensee.

22
00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.479
 The other thing that happened is

23
00:03:57.479 --> 00:04:00.219
 that the tunnels were quite narrow.

24
00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:01.879
 I mean, this is a big tunnel,

25
00:04:02.020 --> 00:04:04.800
 but there are some that are narrower, I think.

26
00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:12.500
 I mean, this is a big tunnel, but there are some that are narrower, I think. And it was too expensive or difficult to use horses.

27
00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:20.379
 So they used people to pull the trolleys on a mini railway to bring the parts in and to

28
00:04:20.379 --> 00:04:30.620
 take the parts out. They were tied to the trolleys by leather thongs, which as

29
00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:39.100
 you probably see in the picture I have, they all have those leather thongs. He didn't go

30
00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:46.759
 into details of what they did, but he just told me that they worked on building Messerschmitt

31
00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:58.959
 airplanes, and that three or four weeks before the end of the war, they saw British bombers

32
00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:07.439
 above here, flying east, and they understood that the war is at an end.

33
00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:13.939
 And so they decided, there were lots of Russian prisoners of war with him, they decided to

34
00:05:13.939 --> 00:05:18.939
 do a sabotage of the production line.

35
00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:29.399
 And they did. and the Nazis caught on to it and put them all outside and said,

36
00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:32.300
 who did it? And of course nobody would admit it.

37
00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:40.060
 So they lashed everyone, about 200 people.

38
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.740
 They lashed everyone with 50 lashes, and a lot of people died.

39
00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:59.060
 So they died three weeks before their liberation the other thing he told me about he never saw the picture that was taken he of course

40
00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:06.620
 saw that the picture is taken but he never saw the picture he died before we found it in Mauthausen, and

41
00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:13.939
 I'm glad he hasn't seen it. And in that picture, there are a number of young guys younger than

42
00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:21.680
 him. One of them looks like 13. They don't wear anything. They're totally naked. And

43
00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:26.139
 he told me that the Americans gave them bully beef.

44
00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:28.819
 And of course, they didn't eat meat for years,

45
00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:32.160
 and they hardly ate anything.

46
00:06:39.019 --> 00:06:41.779
 So two of the guys that were sitting and cooking with him, which are in the picture, died the same day

47
00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:47.779
 as a result of this very strong meat that they just could

48
00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:55.560
 not could not tolerate so these these are the stories that I remember as a

49
00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:11.600
 child not a child but you know I was like 10 or 11 still a child and he thought he'll never live here alive. He was 32 kilos when he was freed.

50
00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:16.800
 He loved the Americans obviously.

51
00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:33.439
 That's what I remember.

52
00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:35.519
 Did he ever come back here?

53
00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:37.819
 No. No, we...

54
00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:44.480
 A few years before he died, we went as a family to Poland.

55
00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:59.060
 Before he died, we went as a family to Poland. We visited three or four extermination camps because the rest of the family died in Treblinka.

56
00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:07.040
 So we went to Treblinka, we went to other camps, and we went to Auschwitz where both my parents were.

57
00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:13.240
 My mother also was in Auschwitz.

58
00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:17.579
 They were first cousins, my father and my mother.

59
00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:27.740
 So at one point in time, he had his piece of bread and the women group passed back from work. So the only time

60
00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:35.480
 they saw each other, he threw that bread and she got it. So that was the only time

61
00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:45.440
 they met in Auschwitz. And then of course the women were marched to Bergen-Belsen,

62
00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:47.460
 which is much further than this.

63
00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:53.259
 And the men, about 6,000, I think, marched here.

64
00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.039
 They started in Mauthausen,

65
00:08:56.460 --> 00:08:59.039
 and then most of them, on the same day,

66
00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:03.340
 or a day later, ended up in Gussen.

67
00:09:04.419 --> 00:09:08.559
 And most of them died. Most of the people who came with him

68
00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.679
 died because of the conditions. I mean they were not killed so to speak,

69
00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:19.919
 but they died out of exhaustion or starvation or both of those.

70
00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:29.419
 Very few were freed with him and in the picture picture, I mean, that's not all the people

71
00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:37.460
 that were freed, but in that picture, the way he described those people, I recognized them from the

72
00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:48.799
 picture. So there were two who were his close friends in Gusen and they helped each other and they were involved,

73
00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.720
 all of them, in the sabotage I told you about.

74
00:09:52.720 --> 00:10:00.200
 That sounds like a good idea that went bad because I think there were probably like 10

75
00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:06.500
 people involved in the sabotage, but the people who died from the lashing I think were

76
00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:14.279
 more than 30 so the whole thing was obviously not necessary but they were so

77
00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:31.240
 angry that they did it anyway and what does it, I'm here now while Israelis are genociding Palestinians.

78
00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:41.639
 I'm an Israeli, and I see Jews.

79
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:44.360
 Sorry.

80
00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:50.000
 I see Jews killing Palestinians.

81
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:55.000
 It's not something I wanted ever to see.

82
00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:02.000
 So this is a special time.

83
00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:08.059
 And we need to speak about this and we're not allowed to

84
00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:19.820
 speak about it anywhere in Europe or in the United States. But you know the

85
00:11:19.820 --> 00:11:25.840
 Europeans and the Americans but but especially the British, have created the Palsang problem.

86
00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.399
 So it's a very strange time.

87
00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.139
 It's a very strange time because this was secret.

88
00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:36.460
 This was done in the greatest secrecy.

89
00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:41.700
 Okay, the people that lived here saw the prisoners.

90
00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:48.559
 But did they know that Jews and Soviet prisoners of war are

91
00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:54.200
 killed in millions? I don't think so. So you know the people of Austria, the

92
00:11:54.200 --> 00:12:02.000
 people of Germany as a whole were not involved daily in the genocide. Obviously

93
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:09.899
 the SS was, obviously some of the Wehrmacht was, but most people in Germany and

94
00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:19.080
 Austria were not involved in the genocide personally. Israelis, I mean the army in Gaza

95
00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:29.860
 was more than 300,000. So you know imagine a lot of men and women actually are involved in killing Palestinians

96
00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:38.820
 every day for two and a half years. Yeah. It's not a secret. And some of them

97
00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:45.039
 are so proud of what they're doing, they're sharing it online.

98
00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:50.960
 How can this be human? How can this be normal? How can this be

99
00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:56.000
 allowed? And how can this be supported

100
00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:03.039
 by so many European and Western nations? So to me this time is

101
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.759
 really terrifying.

102
00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:12.700
 If my father knew,

103
00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:15.299
 I don't know how it will affect him,

104
00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:19.139
 but I know how it affects me.

105
00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:26.159
 And I just want to shout, you know.

106
00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:28.899
 We can't allow it.

107
00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:33.399
 That's how I feel today.

108
00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:36.799
 And I feel close to my father.

109
00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:43.039
 Because when we came to Israel in 1948, I was a baby.

110
00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:50.019
 He refused to fight. He refused to kill. He went to jail. So yes,

111
00:13:50.200 --> 00:14:00.080
 I'm very close to him because of that. And this place where he suffered most, and with

112
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:09.240
 all his colleagues, is a symbol for me for what happens now, which I think is no better.

113
00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:14.620
 I'm not going to say it's worse, but it's no better.

114
00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:23.720
 So yes, there is a special meaning for our trip today that wouldn't be there if I was

115
00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:27.539
 here five years ago or ten years ago.

116
00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:33.379
 I went to see Auschwitz with my father, and it was a very difficult visit.

117
00:14:33.379 --> 00:14:43.679
 But in a sense, it helped him, and it helped me, because he felt a whole person.

118
00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:47.879
 He was not a whole person in this tunnel.

119
00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:52.500
 But when he comes to Auschwitz with his son and daughter and his wife,

120
00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:54.759
 he's a whole person, you know?

121
00:14:55.960 --> 00:15:00.820
 So, yeah, I'm not a whole person now.

122
00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:01.879
 Yeah.

123
00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:10.320
 Because I'm part of a collective that does that and that's terrible.

124
00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:15.320
 I understand.

125
00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:21.899
 How do you commemorate this though? Like you're here to celebrate, this is

126
00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:27.559
 your moment to reflect, i guess that's what a

127
00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:34.379
 commemoration is isn't it to think about just to honor those and then to think about what's

128
00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:46.600
 happened since well you know we're going to be at the number of commemoration over the next two days. And I'll tell you one thing for sure.

129
00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:50.519
 No one in those commemorations

130
00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:52.299
 will utter the word Gaza

131
00:15:52.299 --> 00:15:54.039
 or the word Palestine.

132
00:15:55.700 --> 00:15:57.820
 Now that is a terrible thing

133
00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:01.740
 because what was once secret

134
00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:02.799
 now is public

135
00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.919
 and the public knows

136
00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.600
 and little children can see other little

137
00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:18.820
 children killed on their telephones so how do you commemorate a genocide that hasn't finished

138
00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:29.120
 that started decades ago that everyone knows about if they do care and if they read or if they

139
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:36.679
 see the news? How do you commemorate the fact that for 80 years,

140
00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:44.259
 there is no hope for Palestinians? You know, my parents suffered for six long years

141
00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:47.379
 You know, my parents suffered for six long years with millions of people in Europe.

142
00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:48.960
 It's not just Jews.

143
00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:50.299
 It's not just Soviets.

144
00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:54.659
 I mean, millions of Europeans suffered for those six years.

145
00:16:56.019 --> 00:16:56.679
 But there was an end to it.

146
00:16:57.480 --> 00:16:59.659
 It finished.

147
00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:03.059
 This is not, there is no end.

148
00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:12.319
 If you're a Palestinian, how many times do you have to lose your home? How many times do you have to lose your limbs? How many

149
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:18.759
 times do you have to lose your mother and father or your children? There's no end.

150
00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:37.200
 There's no hope, there's no horizon, okay? Now I think that is terrible. So we have to have an end to it. We,

151
00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:46.839
 Europeans, people, have to put an end to this.

152
00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:53.279
 And not only that, what is Jewish about genocide?

153
00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:56.700
 It is totally anti-Jewish.

154
00:17:58.099 --> 00:17:59.099
 It's obviously anti-human.

155
00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:04.859
 It is the worst crime that the UN has decreed.

156
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:11.359
 So I think that's what I want to remember today.

157
00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:26.599
 That today we are talking now about what nobody will be talking in those commemorations at which tens of thousands of people will be present with important people, with politicians, with

158
00:18:26.599 --> 00:18:34.440
 community leaders, and none of them will say a word about the genocide which is now happening

159
00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.920
 before us.

160
00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:57.460
 So I'm saying it now because I will not be able to say it again, not tomorrow, not the day after, not in any concentration camp that is commemorating murder and commemorating genocide apart from the genocide in Palestine.

161
00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:00.039
 This is unforgivable.

162
00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:02.700
 This is unconscionable.

163
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.079
 This is unconscionable, and at least those of us that understand it have to say it all the time until this murder stops.

164
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:26.000
 Stops totally until Palestinians are treated like human beings and not like the Jews and others were treated in there.

165
00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.000
 Okay, thank you.

166
00:19:36.000 --> 00:21:03.240
 Thank you. piano plays softly موسیقی در موسیقی درسته Thank you.