Holocaust inversion at Buchenwald shows why memory must be protected
Next month anti-Zionists will again attempt to use the memory and history of the Holocaust to attack Jews
At precisely 10:30am on 12 April 1941, prisoner 8222, Meier Geppert, died at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Archive documents show the cause of death given as heart failure and lung tuberculosis. He was 55 years old and had been deported to the camp in October 1939 from the Gestapo prison in Cologne. What he endured in those 18 months dare not be imagined, but the enforced separation from family, slave and forced labour, the transfer to an unknown destination and the dehumanising persecution he would have suffered are experiences from which we instinctively recoil. Meier Geppert was my great-grandfather, one of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
To read that anti-Zionist protesters plan to demonstrate outside the camp during the annual memorial next month marking the camp’s liberation is the latest expression of Holocaust inversion: attempting to use the memory and history of the Holocaust to attack Jews. While the protest will be outside the camp, we should not be naïve to the intentions of the demonstrators: to draw a direct comparison and connection between the crimes of the Nazis and the actions of the Israeli government and the IDF in defending their country.
During the years of Nazi terror, law was inverted in Germany to suit the ideology of a barbaric regime and to facilitate its murderous ambitions. Today, thankfully, the rule of law, together with basic common decency, in Germany prevails and has correctly adjudged that the right not to have offensive symbols, the wearing of a keffiyeh, and no doubt the attendant chanting displayed during what should be the solemn and dignified memorial, trumps freedom of expression. As the state court rules, the memorial has an “interest in upholding the purpose of the institution”.
Holocaust inversion is a different phenomenon to Holocaust distortion, which twists the facts to suit alternative narratives, yet at its core it is another manifestation of antisemitism. Holocaust inversion promotes a false equivalence and demonstrates the bad-faith intentions of those who seek to manipulate the facts of the worst crime in history. Inversion will be among the subjects that will be presented and discussed during the upcoming plenary of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (the IHRA) to which I am a member of the UK delegation. While this attack on the memory of Buchenwald comes from the left, the camp has also been the subject of antisemitic graffiti – including the daubing of swastikas – by the far right.
Meier was born in Rava Ruska, today in Ukraine; he was a trader in a textile business; he moved to Cologne at some point during the First World War and lived a simple life with his wife and two children in a new country at the centre of civilised Europe; the country that gave us Schiller, Heine, Beethoven and Goethe, but this did not prevent the systematic destruction of his family. Having honoured Meier by speaking at the Buchenwald annual memorial, I can attest to the varied political, social and religious groups that gather to remember, but all with the sole purpose of commemorating those who perished. That must always continue to be protected.
Michael Newman OBE is Chief Executive of AJR
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
