Politics

‘It was the most moving experience of my life’: Ceann Comhairle’s visit to Auschwitz concentration camp

The trip was part of a conference held by the European Jewish Association (EJA), attended by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and other politicians and former world leaders

Mr Ó Fearghaíl was given a tour of the Nazi concentration camp, near Krakow, Poland, where at least one million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times
Mr Ó Fearghaíl was given a tour of the Nazi concentration camp, near Krakow, Poland, where at least one million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times
Michael Murphy
Tue Jan 23 2024 - 17:30

Seán Ó Fearghaíl, Ceann Comhairle, visited Auschwitz today in what he described as the “most moving experience of my life.”

Mr Ó Fearghaíl was given a tour of the Nazi concentration camp, near Krakow, Poland, where at least one million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, with a delegation of European politicians to combat rising antisemitism around the world since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl said he was shaken by the horrors of the camp, where mounds of Holocaust victims’ belongings – reading glasses, prosthetic limbs and hair shaved from the inmates’ heads to make fabrics – are on display.

“Last year I had the privilege of laying a wreath at the Cenotaph in Hiroshima,” Mr Ó Fearghaíl told the Irish Times.

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“It was the most moving experience of my life. That experience is multiplied tenfold by what I’ve experienced at Auschwitz and Birkenau today and all I can say is may God have mercy on mankind.”

[ Ceann Comhairle interview: ‘What is happening in this country of ours?’ ]

The Ceann Comhairle also visited Birkenau, a larger neighbouring death camp, where he walked along the infamous train tracks leading into the camp, attended a remembrance ceremony by the Birkenau memorial and laid a wreath to commemorate those who were murdered, with members of the German, French, European and Israeli parliaments, among others.

The trip was part of a conference held by the European Jewish Association (EJA), attended by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and other politicians and former world leaders.

[ South Africa’s case against Israel in International Court of Justice is valid, Taoiseach says ]

On Monday, Mr Ó Fearghaíl – speaking on a panel for political and legislative solutions to rising antisemitism with Věra Kovářová, Member of the Czech parliament, Ján Čarnogurský, Former Prime Minister of Slovakia, and David Lega, a Swedish MEP – said Ireland’s traditionally “very small” Jewish community had experienced “very little antisemitism”, but “what is happening now is different to what happened in the past”.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl blamed the increasing hostility felt by Jews in Ireland on “not just the extreme right but the left also”, as well as the “reaction across Ireland to a massive influx of immigrants into our country”.

He added: “But that does not mean that we condone murder, hatred or discrimination of any kind. And I would say to you: Hamas is an evil organisation. Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hezbollah — you name them all — they are a rotten, evil plague on humanity. They must be brought to an end.”

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