First in a series
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Scene from Ravensbruck concentration camp.
What follows is the opening chapter of a magnificent, and highly unusual, marriage between a Swedish university and survivors of the Holocaust.
Owing to the vagaries of history and occasional randomness of life, a relationship developed between and was nurtured by Lund University of Sweden and heavily Polish Jews who were survivors of the dreaded Ravensbruck concentration camp. Along the way, 500 interviews with survivors were amassed.
The idea for a Ravenbruck Archive at Lund University was born.
As the unprecedentedly cruel scenes of the Holocaust begin to fade from memory for many, Lund University has undertaken this remarkable and unique project to keep the memory fires burning, hopefully forever.
Today is the 70th anniversary of the liberation Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration, and on this notable occasion, Culver City businessman Goran Eriksson, chair of the Lund University Foundation, delivers a notable announcement:
“The Lund University Foundation is pleased to report that our year-end campaign to bring the Ravensbrück Archive forward has put us past our immediate fundraising goal.
“We have surpassed $160,000 en route to our initial target of $310,000. We will make the rest up by the middle of the year, June 30.”
A statement by President Obama:
“On the tenth International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the American people pay tribute to the six million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazi regime.
“We also honor those who survived the Shoah, while recognizing the scars and burdens that many have carried ever since.
“Honoring the victims and survivors begins with our renewed recognition of the value and dignity of each person. It demands from us the courage to protect the persecuted and speak out against bigotry and hatred.
“The recent terrorist attacks in Paris serve as a painful reminder of our obligation to condemn and combat rising anti-Semitism in all its forms, including the denial or trivialization of the Holocaust.
“This anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made confronting this terrible chapter in human history and on our continuing efforts to end genocide. I have sent a Presidential delegation to join Polish President Komorowski, the Polish people, official delegations from scores of nations, and many survivors, at today’s official commemoration in Poland.
“As a founding member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the United States joins the Alliance’s 30 other member nations and partners in reiterating its solemn responsibility to uphold the commitments of the 2000 Stockholm Declaration. We commemorate all of the victims of the Holocaust, pledging never to forget, and recalling the cautionary words of the author and survivor of Auschwitz Primo Levi, ‘It happened, therefore it can happen again. . . . It can happen anywhere.’ Today we come together and commit, to the millions of murdered souls and all survivors, that it must never happen again.”
Mr. Eriksson may be contacted at goran.eriksson@lunduniversityfoundation.org
