Minister of Justice, Minister president of Flanders, Representatives of Kazerne Dossin, the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Belgian Federal Police, Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg and the Council of Europe,
Excellency’s, Fellow speakers, Ladies and gentlemen in all your functions and capacities,
Kazerne Dossin reveals a frightening image of what discrimination, racism, anti-Semitism and genocide truly means. It depicts what blind hatred and intolerance can turn into.
It shows the history of a systemic violence of a nation-state aimed towards a people merely on the basis of being born a Jew.
A whole people had to be eradicated simply for having a Jewish mother. Imagine this being your crime.. having a mother..
This museum helps us all to remember. And above all, it helps us to never forget. To me and many others, it is a painful memory to carry.
My father, Marcel Marinower, was arrested while trying to flee to France in 1942. He managed to escape and travelled back to Belgium. In 1944 he once again was arrested and transferred to Kazerne Dossin from which he was deported to Auschwitz as number 583 of the 24th convoy. He was 24 at the time.
On April 15th 1945 he was freed by the British troops. He died in 1962 in Antwerp, at age 42, from the effects of the physical abuse he had to endure in the camps. I was seven …
This museum, is not just remembrance. It is a call for action. A call to battle all forms of intolerance and injustice. A call to constantly strive towards an open society where all are welcome and treated equally.
We have to remain vigilant as ever against all forms of exclusion, intolerance and discriminations, regardless of race, religion or background. The refugee crisis that Europe faces today is a test for how strong these beliefs are.
This museum also aims to bring insight into the rationale of those who want to terrorize and spread fear, which consequently can provide us with solutions that the world today so desperately craves. Understanding hate is the first step towards eradicating it. We need this ‘know how’, whilst under siege of IS-terror and radicalization of part of our youth.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The goal of this week’s conference is to connect, link, share and benchmark existing outreach programs, good practices an experiences. The connecting Law and Memory conference aims to create a coordinating forum where all this valuable expertise can be shared.
By recognizing the best practices and knowledge sharing we can stand up to the threats we face today. We will not bow down, we will rise up. We will work together, we will refuse to renounce someone who faces prosecution for being who they are. When, anywhere in the world, someone suffers, we all suffer. What happens to them can just as easily happen to us. Solidarity must always be our guiding principle.
In recent years, in recent months, in recent weeks we could see a glimpse of the dark past. We are witnessing a society that has been put under pressure and stress, which makes it susceptible to the systematics of hate. We see a society that willingly and with eyes wide open embarks on a road of division. Through acceptance of a blatant polarising way of explaining societies problems by policy makers and world leaders.
It is all too easy to ride the wave of polarization. It is the easy way, while we should be taking the hard, but higher road. Polarising rhetorics has everything to do with fear, hate and superficial issues. Nothing with bringing about a solution to the core societal questions we face today. As the German language says so sharply; it is usually “kurieren am Symptom”.
We can and will not give in to fear. As a civilized society we owe it to ourselves, and to all the victims who passed through Dossin, to break the cycle.
Change can only come when the results of this kind of conferences lead to a concrete chain of actions, platforms, programmes that aim to eradicate intolerance and hate. This conference focussed specifically on civil servants and law enforcement agents because they have a vital role to play within our society. It is of utmost importance that they especially are prepared for the task. Tools and attitudes are offered to law enforcement officers and representatives of other civil service institutions so that they can all stand up against racism, xenophobia, homophobia and all other forms of intolerance, including anti-Semitism.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I stand here before you in my capacity of Vice-Mayor for the City of Antwerp responsible for education. 60 years ago the city of Antwerp actively engaged in the systematics of hate.
I am standing here before you as a representative of a city where police forces independently decided to hold razzias and aided in the deportation of thousands of Antwerp Jews.
Novelist Jeroen Olyslaegers wrote his most recent work “WIL” about this Antwerp tale, so that it will never be forgotten.
I believe that there is always a choice between right and wrong. Those Antwerp policemen could have warned their Jewish neighbours about the danger they were in. Most of them chose not to and decided to actively aid the Nazi’s. Luckily, some of them DID show tremendous bravery in those dark times, and many Jewish families are even thankful to this day.
Today, while millions are on the run from terror, war and discrimination, the western world seems paralyzed by fear, discussion and ignorance. It is as if history has taught us nothing. This conference gives us all the opportunity to reflect upon the lessons of history in its present day context. It is about connecting Law and Memory.
I see at least 7 elements with a specific role to play.
Firstly, Belgium has a strong juridical framework when it comes to anti-discrimination. The Anti-discrimination law is a repressive instrument. Compliance is overseen by a separate organization called ‘UNIA’.
Secondly, in our schools, there is a program for remembrance education. On January 27, 2015, exactly 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the 3 major Flemish school networks committed to the concept of remembrance education. The impact of schooling and education is undeniable. I see this every time I visit a school.
Third, science can show us the how and why a society evolves towards exclusion, and how to prevent this from happening. Famous Dutch sociologist Abram de Swaan e.g. wrote his book ‘The Killing Compartments’ on the sociology behind mass murder. His lesson is to be vigilant on the insidious danger of compartmentation of our society along the lines of prejudice, stigma’s, social and spatial segregation and all kinds of extremist ideas and beliefs. This provides us with insights to base out policies on.
Fourth en fifth. Museums like Dossin have a great role to play in remembrance and education. Also private initiatives can help us to never forget. The stolpersteine come to mind.
And by means of free media and democratically elected political parties – sixth- we can build a strong foundation for a well-informed public opinion. It should give direction to the societal discussion. Not just follow populist tendencies.
Finally, seventh, we must strive towards an inclusive society, an open society where all children have an equal opportunity for a bright future and where each and every one of us can thrive, independent from our background.
All these 7 elements create a forum through which we attempt to stay on the high road and away from the path of exclusion, discrimination, persecution and terror.
All elements are important, but only the strength of all elements as a whole determines our resilience as a society.
Our legal framework also acts like a canary in a mine shaft. It shows us societal temperature on issues like discrimination. It is a warning sign, a monitoring tool. It is however, always connected to the current context and subject to evolution. This is not something to be afraid of. Evolution and progress is nothing dangerous, we just have to keep an open conversation about where we want it to go. But I would like to express my concern that in case we are unsuccessful, by means of our musea, schools and vigilance towards public opinion, to maintain the global context of an open society,
it will become very difficult to sustain a strong legal framework preventing xenophobia and discrimination.
We live in times where on the one hand living witnesses of the holocaust grow scarce. On the other hand we see the societal atmosphere shifting under the influence of IS-terror and the refugee-crisis. The forum in defence of our values is breaking at the cracks.
The time is now to lead by example and get back on track. We have to do better. We can do better. We WILL do better.
I congratulate you for the organization of this conference.
Thank you.
