‘Prof. Dr Omri Boehm is an internationally recognised German-Israeli philosopher and grandson of a Holocaust survivor. We have invited him to speak on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora because we can expect him to provide a high level of ethically sound reflection on the relationship between history and remembrance, in particular on the value of universal human rights and their significance with regard to the Nazi crimes.
To our great regret, Omri Boehm's invitation led to a conflict with representatives of the Israeli government, which unfortunately also involved the survivors of the camps. This threatened to jeopardise the 80th anniversary of the liberation. Worse still, the survivors, many of whom were emotionally wounded, were in danger of being instrumentalised and drawn even further into this conflict.
In order to protect the survivors and in the desire to ensure a commemorative event in memory of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps in which the survivors, rather than a debate initiated from outside, take centre stage, we decided in this situation - after a confidential discussion with Omri Boehm - to postpone his speech to a later date.
‘Understanding history - learning lessons for the future’ is the motto of our work. Omri Boehm's internationally recognised and multi-award-winning academic work provides important impetus in this regard. As the winner of the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, Omri Boehm is an important international bridge builder.’
