Israel Miller
I greet your respected and esteemed President Havel, thank him for initiating this conference, I greet the dignitaries, members of the cabinet who are present, the participants who will present papers and the people of the Czech Republic.
The conference on Jewish material claims against Germany, the Claims Conference, is gratified at having been given the opportunity to help sponsor this conference under the auspices of your President. A few words about the Claims Conference. It is an umbrella organisation of 23 major national and international organisations formed in 1951 by my predecessor, Dr Nathan Goldman, to represent the Jewish people and survivors of the shoa primarily in negotiations for compensation from the German and Austrian governments and other entities, recognising of course that nothing can really compensate those who survive and those who have gone from this world because of the horrors of that which transpired. The Claim Conference administers compensation funds. It recovers Jewish property and allocates funds to institutions that serve the many needs of now aged and aging survivors of the shoa, as well as funds to institutions and individuals who research, who document, who teach the lessons of the shoa. The claims conference help rebuild Jewish communities, this one amongst them, that were devastated by the Third Reich, and in its early years as well assisted in the relief, rehabilitation and resettlement of those who survived the shoa. It has over the years distributed many millions of dollars for social and educational cause, as well as effected a compensation from the German government of well over 19 billion Deutsche Marks to thousands of survivors. Its tasks continue.
I come today to speak not as a scholar of history or of aspects of the shoa, not even as president of the Claims Conference, but as a sensitive human being, as a Jew, to fulfil the biblical commandment encompassed by one word: Zachora, Remember. I come to remember with you collectively and individually what is not allowed to be forgotten in order to prevent another horrible crime, such as the one that those who are old enough within this audience witnessed.
The erasing of our memory is a crime unto itself and our history books must pick up the accurate account of the worst evil that man has done to fellow men, to women and to children, that which was done by the Nazis and their collaborators. The agony of the Czech people must not be forgotten. Terezin, a place of suffering, hunger and death, must not be forgotten. The children of Terezin, who left behind their poems and drawings, must not be forgotten. The visit of the Red Cross commission in 1944 to Terezin, characterised by lies, deceit, camouflage, swindle, falsehood and ruse, must not be forgotten. At that visit, the appearance of Jewish artists and their music out of the depths, mima amakim [ ???] , must not be forgotten. How fitting they performed Verdi' s Requiem, a grand musical service, in honour of the dead. Joseph Bohr [ ???] in The Terezin Requiem called it a different kind of requiem, with a fanatical faith in historical justice here in this world, as it spoke of death. The universal words still ring in my ears. They sang "Grant the rest, eternal Lord, give ear to my supplication. Lord, have mercy upon us, days of anger, days of mourning, went to ashes, all is burning. Heed me, when my days are ending, Lord, deliver my soul from the doom of eternal death. Full of terror am I. Deliver me, oh Lord, save me, save me, save me." These were their words and I associate, not merely with these words, but with the words that were spoken by my colleagues about remembrance and about the future.
Last week, Jews observed the Festival of Sukot [ ???] , of Tabernacles. I recited the prayer "Hossana, hossana", those very same words - "Save me, save me." These words were followed by the words from the 89th Psalm from the Bible - the world shall be rebuilt with kindness, [ ??? - in Hebrew] . We are here to remember those who went up in smoke, we are here to remember their heritage, to remember the survivors and the debt which we owe them. Not merely for their suffering but what was taken from them, which can never really be returned. And in their memory we are here to block out the evil and with love and kindness to educate our people to build a better world. Thank you, Mr President, thank you.