During the annual European Jewish Association delegation to Auschwitz-Birkenau, EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola visited the the former Nazi extermination camp for the first time and was awarded the EJA King David Award.

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, was presented Monday with the King David Award from the European Jewish Association (EJA) in recognition to her support for the Jewish community of Europe.

This happened in Krakow during the annual EJA delegation to Auschwitz-Birkenau after her visit to the former Nazi death camp commemorating the victims of Shoah at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camps where she laid a wreath at the Death Wall and participated in a Memorial Ceremony.

“The award will serve to me as a continuous reminder of those heinous crimes committed against humanity in the past and to recall the importance of speaking up in defence of our common values today”, said President Metsola in her acceptance speech.

‘’This is my first visit to Auschwitz,’’ she told European Jewish Press. ‘’It’s my duty and responsibility tob e here,’’ she added.

She underlined, that the responsibility we carry must start within our own homes: “Anti-semitism is still rife in our societies. Holocaust deniers, conspiracy myths, disinformation and violence of every kind that targets and singles out members of our communities have no place in our Europe,” she stressed.

Furthermore, she recalled the words of former President of the European Parliament Simone Veil: “The Holocaust is the heritage of us all”. With this in mind, President Metsola reiterated her intention on having a permanent Holocaust memorial in the European Parliament.

President Metsola, who visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem during her visit to Israel earlier this year,  pledged to honour the legacy of the Shoah victims “by never forgetting, by never being indifferent, and by always, always speaking up”.

“At this place of horror, we must find hope. Our promise to those lost and to those who survived is to remember, to never be silent and to build a new world in their memory. We remember”, she said.

The delegation comprised several other European leaders including European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varheyli, the Secretary of the National Assembly of France, MP Caroline Janvier, the President of Parliament of the Czech Republic, Markéta Pekarová, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović who were joined by Members of Parliaments from 23 European countries.

Varheyli affirmed that it is his duty to come to Auschwitz and stated that: ‘’I really fear that what happened here can happen again. The best way to combat antisemitism is to promote Jewish life. It is not enough to say never again, we must do something. My message to the Europeans: There is only one victory over death, that is life,” the EU Commissioner said.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association, stated that: “Times of war and economic crisis always serve as a platform for a serious escalation of anti-Semitism. Therefore, especially these days – more than any period since World War II, European leaders are required to act with greater determination to eradicate anti-Semitism both in the field of education and in the field of legislation.’’

He added, ‘’Defaming the Jewish people and the Jewish state is the definition of incitement and not freedom of expression and attacks on the Jewish way of life is an infringement of freedom of religion and worship.’’

He called on every of the heads of parliament, ministers and officials ‘’who accepted our invitation to return tomorrow to their country and to implement educational programs on the obligatory lessons from the Holocaust as well as essential changes in legislation against anti-Semitism and xenophobia.”

During their visit to the extermination camp, the European leaders placed wreaths at the “Death Wall” compound in Auschwitz and lit memorial candles on the ruins of the gas chambers in Birkenau.

Members of the delegation heard chilling testimonies from Holocaust survivor and President of Antwerp Jewish Forum, Baroness Regina Suchowolski-Sluzny, and from huhren Knoll, granddaughter of Mireille Knoll, a Holocaust survivor who was murdered in in Paris in an antisemitic attack in 2018.

Alexander Machkevitch, Founder of Euro Asian Jewish Congress and philanthropist for office religious dialogue and projects was honored with the Sir Montefiore Award for his tireless multi-decade work in safeguarding and promoting European Jewry. Accepting the award, Machkevitch said: “It’s a great honour for me to be here. My mother survived because she took the last train. Otherwise she would go to Auschwitz and I wouldn’t be here. I admire you for you contribution of time and energy to make this world a better place. I wish you never get tired nor exhausted to make the world a better place. God will reward you and your children.”

French MP Caroline Janvier declared that every political leader should visit Auschwitz to remember that ‘’man is capable of the worst and that modernity doesn’t prevent the worst from happening”

The President of Parliament of Czech Republic, Markéta Pekarová said that ‘’it is very important to show to young generations what happened in Auschwitz and throughout the Holocaust to keep the memory. Seeing with our own eyes is important. Violations of human rights are unacceptable. It is the responsibility of all European politicians to eradicate antisemitism. Let us not repeat the tragic mistakes of our ancestors. These evils must be stopped. ‘’

ThePrime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović, stressed that this was the first visit to Auschwitz by the country’s head of government. ‘’This visit is a contribution to promote a culture of memory and anti-discrimination and it is the duty of every EU leader to visit Auschwitz,’’ he added, emphasizing that Montegro has never had antisemitism.