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Why is the Topf & Sons – Builders of the Auschwitz Ovens – Place of Remembrance important to you?

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I think the reason the Topf & Sons Place of Remembrance is so important is that,

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more than many other commemorative sites,

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it shows the involvement of society as a whole

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and its share in the responsibility for fascism.

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 And just as we’ve meanwhile learned that

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it wasn’t just Hitler and the SS and the SA who were responsible,

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but also the finance authorities, the railways, the German army, etc.,

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 this place is an example of the fact that private enterprise –

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down to the last engineer, with their technical knowhow –

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also participated in that criminal system.

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 Many people were involved.

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Many resisted, of course,

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but ultimately this involvement of the German engineers

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 with their punctuality, cleanliness and orderliness

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supported a bad system.

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That means that there is also the danger

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that society will not take responsibility

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and not stand up against new threats in the future.

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Because once a system of this kind has been installed,

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it’s something that is very hard to resist,

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or only at the risk of one’s life.

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It means that engineers, technicians, bureaucrats

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have to take their share of the responsibility today,

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the responsibility they’ve always had.

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 And your team shows this very clearly.

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 I find it extremely impressive, your dedication

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to showing the responsibility for ensuring that

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the society, the economy, the engineers do not back such developments in the future –

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that comes through very clearly.

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And I think it really makes a deep impression on our young people,

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but also on the adults who come here,

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and I hope it helps prevent bad times.

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I come here often, perhaps not often enough, but relatively often.

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And I’m always impressed with the projects carried out here.

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 It doesn’t stop with demonizing what was done

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to the Sinti and Roma, or to the Jews,

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but also looks at current topics,

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for example the massacres in Africa.

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 This centre has undoubtedly helped sensitize Erfurt society to these issues.

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And it has also contributed to showing that it wasn’t just the others,

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but the people of Erfurt themselves who joined in.

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That means that, in the future,

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the people of Erfurt will also participate in what takes place in society.

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And that’s why this centre is so terribly important for Erfurt,

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and also for us, the Jewish community.