In 1940, out of the 4.000 Jewish people that lived in Luxembourg, 1.250 were murdered in the Holocaust.
Prime Minister Luc Frieden attended the memorial ceremony in Esch-sur-Alzette which was also attended by a survivor of the Holocaust. In 1943, Gerd Klestadt’s family was reported to the authorities and deported. At a mere 12 years old, Klestadt was sent to Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp in Hanover. His father died by his side in 1945, two months before the allied troops came to liberate the camp. For the past two decades, the 91-year-old man has been an advocate against intolerance, hatred, and ignorance.
“I am extremely grateful to you that you continue to speak, especially to the youth, on what you, your family as well as what all Jewish families experienced,” Prime Minister Frieden said on Saturday evening during the ceremony.
After a severe period of depression in the 1990s, Klestadt took the decision to speak to young people and to never let the memory of the Holocaust die.
“We have to be vigilant because Hitler may be dead but Nazism is back,” Klestadt warned. Flags are being raised once again. Jewish graves are being desecrated with swastikas. This is why we have to be here. This is why demonstrations need to take place every year.”
For Klestadt, Europe should never become a breeding ground for right-wing extremism to sow the seeds of antisemitism.
“I find it incredible that thousands of people are protesting against the AfD in Germany.”
Even if the state of affairs in Luxembourg “seems slightly less sinister” than the rest of Europe, Klestad warns that we should still be cautious and always aim to live with one another peacefully. Even at his old age, he tirelessly visits young people in order to engage in a dialogue with them with one underlying message: Never forget. Never again!
“I am proud that over the past 20 years, I have shared my memories with more than 20.000 to 25.000 young people. I fulfilled the duty of my memory in schools and I hope to continue this journey for many years.”
Regarding the war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East all Gerd Klestad had to say is to not make the mistake of mixing current affairs with the Holocaust.
“Holocaust remembrance is separate from politics. This is for the 6 million Jews who were murdered. For those hundreds and thousands and millions of people who lost their lives in the Second World War for having a difference of opinion to the Nazis.”
Memorial ceremonies such as the one on Saturday in Esch-sur-Alzette, the place where the Nazis stripped away an old synagogue, should remain a space for commemoration. This is a place for political dialogue according to Holocaust survivor Gerd Klestadt.
Watch the video report in Luxembourgish
