Israeli, German embassies pay tribute to Holocaust victims

From left, Israeli ambassador to Korea Akiva Tor, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and German ambassador to Korea Michael Reiffenstuel pose for a photo during a ceremony commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Embassy of Germany in Korea

By Kwon Mee-yoo

In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls on Jan. 27, the embassies of Israel and Germany in Korea co-hosted a ceremony in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, Thursday.

In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27, the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust and the embassies of Israel and Germany have jointly commemorated this day in Korea.

During the ceremony held in a hybrid format due to the pandemic in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Korea, Melanie Bono, the director of Cultural Programs East Asia at the institute, said the theme guiding the United Nations Holocaust remembrance and education in 2022 is "Memory, Dignity and Justice."

"I think that memory, dignity and justice must work together in the sense against the global context of rising anti-Semitism and increasing levels of disinformation and hate speech. Remembrance of the victims of Nazi persecution and Holocaust education remains urgent," Bono said.

German Ambassador to Korea Michael Reiffenstuel recognized his country's responsibility for the genocide.

"We are here today to remember and commemorate the people that were murdered and the victims that suffered the terror of the Nazi regime. During the Holocaust, atrocities in scale and nature beyond imagination were committed by Germans against Jews, but also against Roma and Sinti and many more," Reiffenstuel said.

"It is of utmost importance to keep this memory alive and to vocally oppose any attempts to distort and euphemize history, Germany as a state, but also every individual German citizen, has the responsibility to actively ensure that the Holocaust will never be forgotten and that it will never be repeated."

The ambassador also appreciated Korea's effort in taking action against anti-Semitism.

"I commend South Korea as they endorsed the international Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism last year as the first country in Asia to do so. Their efforts are exemplary and hopefully inspire other countries in the region and beyond to follow," Reiffenstuel said.

Akiva Tor, ambassador of Israel to Korea, mentioned how reflection and remembrance of the Holocaust resonate with Koreans after decades, half a world away.

"The Shoah (Holocaust) is not the most current issue and not the most pressing, but it remains at the heart of our existence. It is the nagging doubt in the middle of the night. How solid is civilization? How certain is humanity? How shatterproof is the decency of our society?" he said.

"This is why it was gratifying to see a new graphic edition of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' on prominent display at the Seoul Metropolitan Library and to view the haunting art of Marc Chagall exhibited in Gangnam. This is the culture of a great city, a place which imagines beyond itself, which perceives the enormity of a crime that occurred in another hemisphere, but it's never distant."

Many heads and staff members of foreign missions in Korea also joined the "Light a Candle" initiative and sent videos of candles being lit and the names of the victims being read as the Holocaust victims were dehumanized by having their names replaced with a serial number.

A musical performance also paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust as Korean violinist Bae Sang-eun, pianist Yoon Chul-hee and German cellist Valentin Andert performed Dmitri Shostakovich's "Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 67: III, Largo."

The Shostakovich piece is one of the most famous works of music alluding to the Holocaust and suffering of the Jewish people. Although he was not Jewish, Shostakovich's incorporation of unmistakably Jewish elements in his music is viewed as an act of resistance, giving voice to the voiceless.