Fri, 2nd May 2008
Avram Grant made the closing speech at the 'March of the Living' ceremony at the former Nazi concentration and death camps of Aushwitz- Burkenau yesterday (Thursday).
In a moving ceremony that commemorated the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Chelsea manager recalled his father's own survival of the Holocaust while other members of his family were wiped out.
His speech, which can be seen in full below, emphasised how sport can bring all people together so atrocities like the Holocaust can never occur again.
He said: 'I have been here many times and it is a terrible place but people around the world must know what happened here and not to forget.
'Only from this can people learn to be together in a better way.'
Grant travelled to Poland in the early morning after our sensational Champions League semi-final victory over Liverpool.
Accompanied by his wife Tzofit and son Daniel, the family were part of the March undertaken by more than 10,000 people, which also included Holocaust survivors, thousands of students from around the world and the Israeil Army's most senior soldier Gabi Ashkenazi, Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Defence Force.
The group marched from the Auschwitz concentration and labour camp to the Birkenau death camp 3 kilometres away. One quarter of the marchers were not Jewish and there were students from as far away destinations as Argentina, Japan and Australia.
Among the harrowing sights on display in Auschwitz were piles of human hair taken from death camp victims while as the marchers walked through the infamous gates of Birkenau a sombre recording recited the names of some of the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
'Every time I come to this heartbreaking and dreadful place and see all you young people, faces full of hope and optimism, I can't help comparing your lives today, to the barely conceivable horror of my father's childhood and youth
I will never forget the day I was first exposed to and put in touch with my own private holocaust.
I was 15 and was sitting on the balcony of our apartment in Petach-Tikva with a few of my friends, talking about football (what else), when suddenly, I heard screams of horror coming out of my father's room. I rushed in the direction of that awful sound and then realized that my father was experiencing the horrors of his past during his sleep
.
It was an experience that literally froze my blood. I will never forget those screams.
My Father: who always radiated optimism, peace of mind and belief in the 'Spirit of Man', until today still goes back to that Hell and screams his rage and his pain at what was stolen from him. What you and I often take for granted:
His youth, his family and his loved ones.
Abba, you are now 80 years old at only 13, the age of my children, your grandchildren, Romi and Daniel who is with me here today you witnessed and suffered the endless horror of systematic torture, hunger and death. You saw your parents, brothers and sisters die of cold and starvation, dug their graves and buried them with your own hands.
You fought for your life and survival all through the holocaust and at the end of the war, still a teenager, wandered through war torn Europe, a homeless refugee for another two years. On your first attempt to get to Israel and start a new life you sailed on the refugee ship 'Herzl' but were arrested by the British and spent the next year in a prison camp in Cyprus. Finally, you managed to get to the Holy land and fight in the 'War of Independence'.
My father Meir Grant never gave up. He never lost hope or resolve and he never let his fear overcome his belief. His conviction and faith in the justice of his actions led him to his own personal victory, finding his home and raising a wonderful family in Israel with the special positive and constructive outlook he has on life.
The fact of my father's personal suffering and the suffering of millions like him is not something I remember only for the horror of their torment, but for the victory of human determination and hope over impossible odds beyond their control.
You young people are the symbol of this victory; the living proof that my family, and millions like them, who either survived or died during the killing madness did not die in vain.
This terrible place 'Auschwitz' not only reminds us of past atrocities but also demonstrates the triumph of hope over despair and good over evil.
Most of my life has been spent in the world of sport and I truly believe that it is through the promotion of international sport, that global pluralism and equality can be broadened. True sport has no borders, boundaries or limitations. Today top teams are made up of players from five or six countries with as many different beliefs and religions, all working together as a single unit. A better example of pluralism and equality would be hard to find.
It is especially from this dark place which represents the very opposite of tolerance, pluralism and equality that I choose to bring up these issues. No more hate, no more bloodshed.
I am not naïve, and I understand that the elimination of fear and prejudice cannot be achieved by wishful thinking alone. It requires time, determination and patience. I believe, however, that sport has a big responsibility to play a more important role promoting human values, pluralism and equality and I am prepared to do everything in my power to promote this belief anywhere in the world.
At this point, at a more human and personal level, I would like to give a eulogy for the names of my family who died in the holocaust although I never met them. To the Uncles and Aunts of the Grant family: Israel, Rachel, and Sarah, to Koppel Grant here in Auschwitz. To Hannah, Hirsh, Binam, Pinchas, the Crystal family, Moshe Be'ir and Yechezkel. To my Grandmother Ruth/Rhoda Grant and my Grandfather Abraham, who I am named after, and to the other members of my lost family, whose fates are still unknown.
Even when you young people here today reach my age and will not be able to hear their story first hand, they will not be forgotten.
Your lives, are the fruits of their never ending belief and determination and you are, in this shocking place, the proof that life and optimism can overcome death and darkness.
Thank you and God bless you. '
