Leveraging Football to Counter Antisemitism and Promote Holocaust Remembrance (International Day for Countering Hate Speech 2025)

Good afternoon. We are awaiting Ms. Gamba. She will be with us momentarily, but we're going to begin. This is also being live streamed on UN Web TV, so welcome to everybody online, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here. These are difficult days, and on these days, it really means something to gather here in this space at the heart of the United Nations to talk not just about history, but also about now and how we remember and how we move forward together. My name is Yifat Barak-Cheney. I am the Director of International Affairs at the World Jewish Congress, and I'm really honored to moderate today's event, Together Through Sports, Leveraging Football to Counter Antisemitism and Promote Holocaust Remembrance. As the world's most popular sport, football offers more than just entertainment, and we are a big football family in my family and my kids, so I know very well it's more than just entertainment. But it also offers a unique platform to foster respect, to counter hate, to promote historical remembrance, especially at a time when antisemitism is on the rise and Holocaust distortion is increasingly prevalent. That's what today is about. It's about remembering the past, but not staying in it. It's about using the world's most popular sport, football, to break these cycles of hate and to build bridges of understanding. Today's event brings together key partners in this work, and we're very happy to have been working with all of you on this event, but on many other initiatives in the United Nations and elsewhere. The Permanent Mission of Germany, the Office on the Prevention of Genocide, and Borcia Dortmund, all of whose leadership in this space has been truly inspiring. We will begin. I will let the moment for Ms. Gamba to enter and take her seat. You only missed me, so you're good. You only missed my opening remarks, so you're good.

Oh, come on.

You'll give me a copy afterwards, won't you?

No. We will begin with our welcoming remarks from the Executive Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, Mr. Maram Stern.

Thank you very much, Yifat. Under Secretary, welcome. It's nice that you're between us, that you're coming to us, that we are listening to you, that you're listening to us. Ambassador, it's so nice and a friend for a long time. My ambassador, because as a German, you still represent me, Herr Kramer, and thank to all of you. We are meeting in a time when antisemitism is on the street. And I really, and here I'm talking as a European, as a German, as a Jew, as a Jew from Germany, as a Jew in Germany, as a German Jew, as a, every version possible, yeah. What is happening at the moment with antisemitism in the world, it's very, very difficult to understand, to follow, especially as a son of Holocaust survivors. And sometimes I say to myself, thank you that my parents are not anymore around, because I don't think that my late father or my late mother, who brought me up in Berlin, would really understand what is happening today. I must tell you, I'm not a big football fan. I never really watched a football match, and I'm sorry about it. But what I understand is football is important. Again, growing up in Germany, and watching German TV, which I'm doing on a daily. I'm watching the Morgenmagazin, Mittagsmagazin, and believe me, football is present every single day. I also understand the importance of football and the importance of sport. So I would like to thank you. I would like to thank the German mission. I would like to thank the UN mission. Deputy Undersecretary and all of you for being here. And really, let's find a way not to combat antisemitism, because this is difficult, but to remember this should not happen or this cannot happen. Let me also say something else, which I do every time I'm speaking. We are now 619 days and there's still 53 hostages. Please keep it in mind. We are, since October 7, it's 619 days, 53 hostages, 53 families who don't know what happened to the family member, which are still hostages. Keep this in mind, and please do everything, yeah, to find a way how we can get the hostages out immediately without any conditions. And again, thank you very much. Back to you, Yifat.

Thank you, Moram. Now I'd like to invite Ambassador Thomas Van Eysen, which I pronounced wrong, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations to deliver opening remarks.

Thank you very much, Yifat. May I allow me to use your first name? And, dear, dear, I mean, I have difficulty talking after you because you said most of what I really wanted to say. So I'll stick with my text. First of all, Many, many thanks for coming here. We did not expect to have such a big crowd at such a busy day. Thank you very, very much for coming, dear brother Robert and all the others. This is important to us, and I would really thank our partners for this event, World Jewish Congress, Marwan, of course, our Undersecretary General, Virginia Gamba, in one of her many functions, as you know. Head of the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. And of course, and most above all, our valued guests from Borussia Dortmund Football Club. So we're very proud to be a co-host in this event today here at the UN. In fact, you said it in the beginning, football, and we stick to football. We don't use the word soccer in the UN. Football is the most popular sport in the world. In the US, they may see it differently, but for us, football is what we talk about here. Football connects people in an often magic way. Football excites, it gives joy, and it creates a deep sense of community. And everybody who has been to the stadium knows that, in particular in Dortmund, where they have the yellow wall. I think I'm a Cologne supporter, but I give it, it's the best stadium anywhere. Because who has ever been in Dortmund, they call it the yellow wall, and it is intimidating to play in front of it. It's just steep up and it's all yellow and they're very noisy. But unfortunately, this sense of community that sport can convey and that joy is often not shared by everybody. I think too often watching a football match is associated with incidents of racism and antisemitism. And it is deeply painful and frankly unacceptable when Jewish fans or people of color are subjected to hatred in and around the stadium. And I say that at a personal note, my son is of African descent and I remember incidents where we just wanted to have a nice afternoon in the stadium and he came back deeply depressed by racial slurs and it took him days to recover. And at the same time, we must not lose sight that football's enormous potential is there. Football can create positive change. It has a unique power to bring people together, to transcend borders, and to foster dialogue. And if properly harnessed, the beautiful game of football can be a powerful force against hate. And I come back to my own son. When we go to our local team in East Berlin Union, they are embracing diversity. And he feels at home with his fans because he is welcomed. And I think this sense that football can convey to people is, I think, extremely important. And we're not talking about Nuneon today, but Dortmund. And I think it's safe to say that few institutions in Germany embody this more convincing this approach than Borussia Dortmund. Borussia Dortmund has a deep and sustained commitment to confronting antisemitism, to promoting Holocaust remembrance, and to using its unique platform to educate and engage fans of all ages. This commitment, we believe, should be better known, and it should receive the recognition it deserves. So we're very much looking forward to hearing from Mr. Carsten Cramer and Mr. Daniel Loecher how they approach this task. Talking about Dortmund, Borussia is one of the old, the most traditional clubs in Germany. They have a broad support base, particularly in Dortmund, of course, in the Ruhr Valley. But by today, I think they have passionate fans all over the world, and many of them are actually in the Middle East. And one of those true Borussia Dortmund fans was Neta Epstein. On October 7th, 2023, Neta was brutally murdered by Hamas in the terrorist attacks against Israel. His story is heartbreaking. The loss of a son or the loss of a daughter leaves a hole that can never be filled. For the families, there can be no return to normality after such a murderous attack. But still, redemption is possible, and through redemption, a return to life. And we are especially grateful to have Neta's mother, Ayelet Epstein, with us today. Her courage in sharing her family's story is a powerful act of remembrance, but also one of building bridges. It is a reminder of why our work to fight hatred, to foster dialogue and build bridges is so important and must continue. Dear Aylet, welcome. Thank you very much for being with us today and honoring us with a remembrance of Neta's life, his passion for football and his favorite club. Football, we will hear today, can never be a driver of change, can be a driver of change and can successfully combat antisemitism and racism. At the same time, to address this curse effectively, we also need global partnerships. And here we come to the United Nations. The UN strategy and plan of action on hate speech, or game plan as it was also called, offers a critical framework to countering hatred in all its forms. And in January, the launch of the UN action plan to enhance monitoring response to antisemitism marked another milestone. One, my son, we wholeheartedly support, and I'm sure Under-Secretary-General Gamba will speak on it more in detail in her speech. In conclusion, Marwan, you said that we all cannot afford to look away and ignore that antisemitism is rising once again around the world. Germany, with its particular historical responsibility, will remain unwavering in its commitment to fight antisemitism in all its forms. and to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, not as a matter of the past, but as a living moral obligation to the present and to the future. It's our joint responsibility to stand up against hate wherever it occurs. Thank you very much for your attention, and again, thank you very much for joining us, and I hand back to you, Yifat.

Thank you, Ambassador, and thank you. Germany and the German mission have always been such a critical partner, ensuring that Holocaust remembrance and combating anti-Semitism remains a topic of discussion and action here at the United Nations. So thank you for all of your support. We now welcome the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, as I said, among other roles that you hold at the UN. Ms. Virginia Gamba to offer keynote reflections on the UN's broader work to address hate speech and atrocity prevention and how this connects to initiatives like this one.

Thank you very much. You catch me a little bit tired. It's like my fifth event of the day, but perhaps it is the closest one to my heart. Not only am I an Argentine, which makes a lot for football, But I also think I feel very strongly about today's discussion this afternoon. So I will try not to deviate from the words that are written by my spokespeople. But I do have a voice as well. And sometimes it's very hard to ignore it. So I will try to minimize myself and maximize a little bit more my job. So it really is a double pleasure to join you today as the acting special advisor on the prevention of genocide and the UN focal point on hate speech. And as you know, all of this week is dedicated to combating hate speech. This is an important event. It focuses on the role of football in countering antisemitism and promoting Holocaust remembrance. And I really want to extend my gratitude to the World Jewish Congress and to the Permanent Mission of Germany for co-organizing today's event and for bringing us together to mark the fourth International Day for Countering Hate Speech. I always say that no child is born hating anybody. We teach the child to hate. So we have to learn ways in which we can unteach the child to not hate. It is not by chance that we are discussing antisemitism in this precise week. Throughout history, hate speech has fueled discrimination, xenophobia, and racism, and it is one of the most threatening warning signs of violence. including that which can lead to genocide and other atrocity crimes. We have seen this clearly in the Holocaust, and we continue to see today concerningly as it spreads globally like wildfire across every segment of society, amplified at an unprecedented rate by digital technology, the social media, and lies. It is worth reminding here of what we mean when we say hate speech, and especially hate speech that does not reach the threshold of incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence, which is explicitly prohibited by international human rights law. While there is no internationally agreed definition for hate speech that does not reach the threshold of a prohibition, At the United Nations, we consider hate speech as any kind of communication in speech, writing, or behavior that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are. As per the UN strategy and plan of action on hate speech, this means on the basis of the real or perceived identity. This identity component we cannot lose sight of, as it is a critical element playing an important role in polarization, tensions, and violence. It is also central to the risk of the crime of genocide. Ladies and gentlemen, we see the trends of such hate speech is rising globally and exponentially amid deepening political and societal tensions Insidious centuries old myths are resurging, threatening the fundamental principles of equality, justice, human safety, and human dignity. But let us not be fooled. Sometimes words are not only letters on a piece of paper or in the screenshots of our mobile phones. They can and will lead to violence, as we have learned from history. Words can hurt well beyond the moment in which they are pronounced. Gestures can also hurt, and they will kill. We have also learned from history that attacks on human dignity often begin with a rise in identity-based discrimination. And antisemitism, we know, is the most ancient form of discrimination. It is also undeniable that after the events of 7th of October of 2023, antisemitism has been on the rise. Hateful narratives against Jews have inundated our daily life, granting the question, how is this possible again? In response to this, just a few months ago, the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, U.S. diplomat Miguel Moratinos, launched the first UN action plan to enhance the monitoring and response to antisemitism. The High Representative stressed that the UN efforts to respond and combat antisemitism, as well as all other manifestations of extremism and incitement to any religious hatred and violence, remain unwavering and are needed more than ever before. Our joint efforts in spearheading the implementation of the Action Plan will contribute to and build on the broader framework of the UN work on addressing identity-based hatred. In direct implementation of this Action Plan, my office is currently developing a dedicated online course for UN staff to better understand, recognize, and respond to antisemitism together with the Alliance of Civilizations. But this is surely not enough. Acting promptly and firmly is now more critical than ever, as we see antisemitic hate speech being followed by hate crimes targeting Jews globally. More recently, one such horrific crime, which I have condemned publicly, happened a few hours away from New York, in Washington, D.C., where two young diplomats were killed in an act of senseless violence. Because an attack against one group is an attack against all other groups, and it does not take long. We have seen this also throughout history. Just think of the Holocaust. First, The Nazis came for the Jewish communities, then they came for all the others, one by one, the political dissidents, the Roma, the sexually nonconforming, the disabled, until there was nobody left to stand up against injustice and brutality. Today, Auschwitz and other concentration camps remind us of the unbearable consequences of hatred and of the fragility of our shared humanity. But have we really learned the lesson? To counter hate speech, including that which is based on antisemitism, we need to strengthen the ties that bind us as a community. Ties such as sport. From school games to the biggest arenas, sport teaches us that diversity is an asset, not a disadvantage. Should there be no diversity of functions and roles in a team, how could any team even aspire to compete? In sports, victory happens because of diversity, never in spite of diversity. The infinite modalities through which sport is practiced reflect our diverse cultures, abilities, and creativity, and it mirrors humanity. Sport, and football in particular, speaks to millions in cities and in the bush equally, the rich and the poor. The impact of football is unquestionable, which is why hate speech uttered during a sport game or at a sports venue echoes stronger, and why, when a sports team stands up against it, it triggers waves, waves of hope in support of human dignity. This is the main message of the United Nations game plan for countering hate speech through sports, which was developed by my office and launched in 2022. We developed it in partnership with the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, a partnership that was born out of the 2018 antisemitic attack against the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania. In the immediate response to that horrifying act, It was the Pittsburgh sports community, among the first, that spoke out against hate and brought the community together. My office supported these efforts, and I am glad that the game plan, as we call it, has become a reference point for many leagues and teams to fight against hatred. I am grateful that we will have the opportunity today to hear from Borussia Dortmund A football team that embodies the key principles outlined in this action plan. This team is leading in efforts to counter antisemitism and educate the public of the risks and impacts thereof on and off the pitch. And with such profound understanding of the history of the Holocaust, it knows that diversity offers an opportunity to be stronger as a team. For this reason, it prioritizes advocacy and educational programs for its players, its fans, and its staff. This commitment is not just symbolic. It is deeply integrated into the club's culture, fostering a sense of shared responsibility among supporters to fight all forms of discrimination and antisemitic behavior. We commend them for leading by example. Ladies and gentlemen, football clubs are vital community hubs, reflecting and influencing societal attitudes. By actively addressing antisemitism, clubs and players not only ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all players and fans, but can also influence positively the attitudes of other sports teams and the wider sports audience throughout the world. To conclude, let's take a moment to reflect upon this global connection which binds us all just now. We are here at the United Nations in New York, a diverse group of participants in this event. And we are here with the German football club whose players, or some of them, I hope most of them, will also participate in the 2026 World Cup, spreading the no to hate message much further. This is our strength. The fact that despite we are all from different countries with different professions and interests, we are just one community. And we want the same thing to ensure that sport is used as a vector of respect for diversity and for peace, to ultimately prevent violence and advance human dignity for everyone, everywhere, to play defense against hatred, to play offense in support of all forms of mutual understanding, to score all possible goals against prejudice, to win the trophy of human empathy and understanding. It is my most profound hope that the discussion today will contribute to fighting antisemitism and other forms of identity-based hatred. Some will see this as just a little drop, but the ocean is made of drops. One small piece of grass can be minuscule, but hundreds of thousands of them, millions, will give you the most beautiful football field you could ever imagine. Our Borussia Dortmund guests today have played in some of them. Let us never forget this. It is so basic, yet so important. And as we continue this work, you will all continue to count on my support and on the support of the UN Office of the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide. And I thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for your support, for your voice these days, and you mentioned, and for your support of the UN Action Plan on Combating Antisemitism. and the UN Alliance of Civilizations, which is essential as well. For the last several years since WJC began working closely with the sporting community, we've developed a number of special relationships. One that stands apart is that with Borussia Dortmund, a club that serves as a catalyst for much of the work on antisemitism and remembrance in the football space. Recognizing their unique local and national histories and understanding the moral obligation of ensuring that never again truly means never again, the club has spearheaded a number of unique and authentic programs to elevate the voices of Jewish communities. And we look forward to learning more about this important work today. We now turn to Mr. Karsten Kramer, managing director of Borsche Dortmund, responsible for marketing, sales, and digitalization. co-managing director of BVB Merchandising Limited, and co-managing director of Borchta Dorchman's Foundation. Karsten is a standout figure within Dorchta Borchman's program. Unlike many decision makers, he really exemplifies what it means to lead by example, not just through words, through action. I'm honored to introduce Karsten Kramer, who's a genuine friend of the World Jewish Congress.

What an introduction. I guess expectations are high. Thank you very much, Evert, for the warm words, but especially Virginia, that was very kind what you have said. Impressive outfit today. The yellow blazer fits you. That's our club color. Fits you very well. Thomas and Maram as well, thank you very much for hosting us. I've been around with my club at many, many different places. But when I arrived with our former goalkeeper, Roman Weidenfeller, and my colleague, Mark Lingenhoff, to the United Nations, I was really impressed to get the opportunity to represent my club at this stage. And therefore, I'm very thankful. Of course, we are part of the Club World Cup. Of course, we are playing football. That is our core business. But to receive an invitation to this place to show that football is be able to be a lighthouse for human concerns and problems makes me very proud. And I have to thank my club that I'm a representative of this club and that this club is involved in responsibility and that we are not only playing football. We always say we are more than just a football club. And in a moment like this, it feels really like this. And to receive such a platform, such a stage, such an interest in what we are doing apart from playing football. Of course, it is important to win tomorrow lunchtime against Fluminense. But when Daniel told me we have the opportunity to come to the United Nations, for me, it is one of the highlights of our journey in the U.S. So thank you very much. And I would say I just asked Maram once more regarding the Leo Beck Award our CEO received some months ago in Berlin. Aki Watzke, as a big friend of Israel and all your people, said, "We won many trophies as Borussia Dortmund, but the most valuable award I received was the Leo Beck Prize." And I think that shows something, that a guy running a club since 20 years is able to estimating the value of such an award like this. I let him Very happy to meet you here. You just flew in from Cyprus. I know that it will be difficult for you to go home. And if it's difficult for you to go home, know that the black and yellow home is always open to you. And if we stay here as long as we plan, because trophy will be hand over at the mid of July, you just accompany us the next weeks and hopefully we will have some nice moments together by winning game by game. And even if we lose, we will have a nice evening after. So please feel invited to join us as a club the next weeks as a guest and as a friend of our club. As I said, I'm really fascinated by visiting so many places, but this is special, especially for a football guy, and therefore I'm really, really thankful that you host us here. Let me maybe just introduce our club. You know us from many, many various games. We have reached Champions League finals, we play football, but today I don't want to talk about football with you. We are more, as I said, than just a football club. founded in 1909 by some guys splitting from a church while they weren't allowed to play football. I think Daniel, as a guy who was also in charge of our history, or Jan Hendrik, who has produced a movie regarding the history, is much more in details regarding the foundation of the club. But I would say even the foundation of the club and the founders was no coincidence, because in the moment they decided to play football was more a commitment than just playing football. They wanted to take responsibility. And I think that is something they have hand over to us also to the current time and to the future. And to be part of this story as a representative makes me very proud. For me, it is a privilege. The yellow wall in our stadium, that is maybe the picture you have in mind. Players sign, players go, players leave, but the yellow wall, the people, the heart they spend. It's not the money, it's their heart, their emotion, the intensity they spend. That makes Dortmund very special, the intensity of love. We always say, let me address one marketing frame. We don't talk about clients because the degree of loyalty is so high that we can talk about fans. They spend their love, they spend their emotion. It's not the money we are looking for, it's their loyalty. And who's getting so much love from the people than our club? 81,000 spectators match day by match day, 250,000 members, 70 million people around the world who are using BVB on digital platforms, members by members who are really deeply connected to the club, that is Dortmund, and that makes us so attractive apart from trophies. We are not only a club who's looking for winning titles. Of course, it is important to win the game tomorrow, but as I said, we are more. We are spending value to the people and we have to present some values and we have to spend identification because this community is so powerful that we are really able to bond people. What you have mentioned, what football, what sport is able to offer to the people, that is Dortmund spending. religion, politics, culture, difficult topics. You won't agree the people, but football is able to bond people, as you mentioned from your son. Even if you made bad experiences in a stadium around football, the people around football, they don't differentiate between culture, religion and so on. So the bonding force, the energy which can be spent from football is enormously and Dortmund is one part of it. And I think from our history, we are more connected to this than just playing football. I want to mention our program, United to Football. It is once more no coincidence that you will see United by Borussia on the back of our shirt by tomorrow's game. FIFA normally doesn't allow Slogans like this on the shirts, we are allowed to wear it because they know Dortmund is standing for uniting people. As a football club, we have kind of a unique chance to reach many, many people, millions of people. We are a lighthouse in a very positive framework and with people connected to our organization. We have the unique possibility, I would say not only the possibility, but also the obligation to bring people together to educate them, to bring them on the right way, even if they might think to pass away on the left or the right one, to share information and to create unity. Each time we talk about our work, I learn how vast the possibilities are that we, as Borussia Dortmund, have to inspire people for important causes, in addition to sporting success. I have often spoken about our social responsibility, about our social engagement, our fight against racism. It's not only a fight against anti-Semitism. It is also a fight against intolerance, against racism. Sometimes I'm asked, why do we have to do this? Normally, I would think football, it's an easygoing entertainment factor, but that's not true. If other institutions of the society have problems to convince people, I think the football has to take his role. We are benefiting from the people, from the efforts they do, that at some certain point we have to give something back to them. And that makes it mandatory, but not mandatory because it is some marketing purpose. No, it's coming from our heart. It makes it mandatory to take responsibility. We can't say, "That's not our task. It's the task of the politics, the local governments, the churches, the religion." No, we have to take responsibility. If people are loving you, they expect more, and we have to give something back to them. Football is exciting people in Europe like no other sport, and also in the US. Interest is growing steadily. Football is becoming more and more a global issue. This current tournament shows it, and next year the World Cup will be in the US as well. It is sport in general that brings the message together today, regardless of their origin, their social background, their age, and the gender. Unity and solidarity, despite the sporting competition, both can be learned and lived through sport. And this wide-reaching influence brings responsibility because we live in challenging times and our societies are polarising. Large societal actors like us cannot remain silent. We must take the lead and, to be honest, we love to take the lead because we want to show where we as Borussia Dortmund stand. At Borussia Dortmund, we place a strong focus on the Holocaust remembrance and the fight against anti-Semitism. I was really impressed by many the opportunities Daniel and Andreas were offering to us. I got the opportunity to visit Auschwitz with many of my colleagues. That was one of my darkest moments in my life, which helps me to tell many, many colleagues of mine that we have to take responsibility. Daniel is organizing trips to Auschwitz year by year for 50 to 60 employees. And all the employees are not only proud to be part of Borussia Dortmund, they are thankful that Dortmund as a club is opening them the eyes what happened. I got the opportunity to meet Margot Friedlander and other survivors. And I am also very thankful that I met you, though the reason I met you is a very, very sad one. And therefore, I'm really, really pleased that we know each other. And it really touches me and is a kind of obligation for me to continue not only the friendship to you, but to your country and to your people. The attack on October the 7th, that was a moment I never will forget. And when we decided to become friend of Yad Vashem, maybe we needed to explain it to our people because for us it was a big donation. But to see what the idea behind the attack was, to see what is going on if memories won't be kept to the future, that really was pushing us forward to say, "Hey, we want to be friends of Yad Vashem." And to receive the invitation to be part of the foundation of the extension of the Holocaust Memorial in Yad Vashem was a very, very impressive moment. as well, because we have to keep memories alive. And therefore, once more, I'm really, really proud that we got the opportunity to become friends and partner of Yad Vashem. I want to thank our partners, the Central Council of Jews in Germany. I want to thank all the people who are involved. I just met Corey once more and asked him, hey, Corey, when did we meet last time? He said it was at the opening ceremony of your office in New York, but I was thinking about an additional moment, which was in San Diego. And that was another no coincidence. When we stayed in San Diego for training, did you know where we trained? It was on the pitch and fields of Jewish Academy. And we received the opportunity to be introduced to the Butterfly Project. And Corey and players of us and me, we painted some butterflies. And finally, we decided not only to paint the butterflies for the Jewish Academy in San Diego, but also to fly some of the butterflies to Dortmund, to the Dortmund youth academies, where now the butterflies are showing our youth guys and kids the connection between the Jews and Borussia Dortmund. And maybe it's just a a very easy and simple picture, but hopefully it shows you that the relationship between you and us is really coming from our heart. It is an honor for us to report today here at this monumental, historical, embarrassing place at the United Nations on our work, and I'm very, very thankful to my colleague, to my club, but especially to you for your interest and the stage you have given to my club to show you that we are friends of Israel. Thank you very much.

I want to know that I'm also wearing yellow under, so here. Thank you for those words, and you can really feel the passion and the emotion and the connection through your words and delivery, so it comes across very well. We'll now hear more about the work of Borussia Dortmund on Holocaust remembrance and combating anti-Semitism, presented by Daniel Lorcher and Dr. Andreas Kars. Since 2014, Daniel Lorcher, who's been mentioned a few times, but will speak in a moment, has held various positions at Borussia Dortmund, most recently as head of the Corporate Social Responsibility Department. Since 2022, Daniel represents Borussia Dortmund in the matters of anti-discrimination work, Holocaust remembrance, and combating anti-Semitism. In 2022, he co-founded the NGO What Matters together with Dr. Andreas Karsch and is acting as the NGO's managing director. The organization focuses on combating anti-Semitism and promoting Holocaust remembrance, and is also a partner of the World Jewish Congress in many of our activities. And you guys actually met on the field, right, in the stands as fans of Dortmund. Dr. Andreas Karsh is a historian specialized in the history of the Holocaust. He's co-founder and managing director of the NGO What Matters, and had worked in the development of the activities since 2013. After their presentation, Daniel will introduce you to Ayelet Epstein from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who will share her story with us. We're happy to have you here as well, Ayelet. Happy you made it all the way. The floor is yours.

I start to welcome and thank you for having us. Before I start, Yifat, how are we in time? Do we need to rush a bit or--

Yes,

okay. We give our best. It's maybe the biggest challenge at this day and this occasion to speak less. Thanks for having us here and for the possibility to speak and thanks for all the warm words. Andreas and me are running this program for a very long time and we thought we start maybe with a short video of the We remember campaign that Borussia Dortmund is participating each and every year in and I just play the video as a first start. It has English subtitles.

Martha and Julius Steinweg lived with their three children at the Aplerbeck market square and ran their business here. Before the persecution, the family fled to the Netherlands in 1933. Martha, Julius und ihre Tochter Margrit wurden 1943 nach Auschwitz deportiert und dort ermordet. Ihre Söhne Hans und Herbert überlebten im Untergrund.

Hier in der Gneisenaustraße 93 lebten Johanna und Eugen Schnoog mit ihrer Tochter Edith. Am Morgen des 1. März 1943 mussten sie sich in einer Sammelstelle einfinden, von der sie zum Dortmunder Südbahnhof gebracht wurden. Gemeinsam mit ungefähr 500 Menschen aus Dortmund und Umgebung wurden sie am 2. März 1943 nach Auschwitz deportiert und dort ermordet.

Margarete und Sigmund Löwenhardt lebten mit ihren drei Kindern Hans, Manfred und Ursula hier in der Graudenzer Straße. Nach dem Novemberpogrom 1938 wurden die beiden Söhne Hans und Manfred mit einem Kindertransport nach England in Sicherheit gebracht. Im Juli 1942 wurden die verbliebenen Familienmitglieder nach Theresienstadt und von dort aus im Oktober 1944 nach Auschwitz deportiert. Margarete, Sigmund und ihre Tochter Ursula wurden dort ermordet.

Früher befand sich hier der Dortmunder Südbahnhof. Heute ist der Ort in der Stadt weitgehend unbekannt. Vom Südbahnhof wurden im Jahr 1942 und 1943 fast 2000 Dortmunder Jüdinnen und Juden deportiert. March 1943, also to Auschwitz. These were people from our city. And few survived.

The video is part of the yearly participation and the We Remember campaign of the club. We share it on social media, we share it on the club's platforms, but also we take a group picture of the club and it's since two years a program that is run by the German Football League, the initiative Never Again in cooperation with the World Jewish Congress so that all teams in Germany around International Holocaust Remembrance are recognizing the victims of the Shoah and National Socialism. For us, it's very important to share the people you saw in the video are not chosen by accident. They are chosen because they are representing a different group, a different part of our target groups. The first speaker, Svenja Schlenker, is the head of the women's football team. and kind of the sporting director of women's football in Dortmund. The last speaker is Lars Ricken, the head of the men's football. So we have women's and men's football involved. We have Jakob Scholz from the biggest fan organization in Dortmund, representing several thousand Borussia supporters, sharing one story. And the last person, Corinna, who's the head of human resources, also another target group, our employees. This is part of the video and Andreas will now share with you a bit more about the concept of combining local places with local history and how to use the platform of sport to educate.

Also, thank you very much for the possibility to speak here today to you. Thank you to the German mission. Thank you to the World Jewish Congress for organizing this. As Karsten was pointing out that we are here tomorrow to celebrate football and today it's a big honor to present this work that we're doing beyond football to you. And we make it very brief, but we would like to give you some insights of the club and of the club's projects and of the approach because we also think this is not something that we would keep only for Borussia Dortmund. We know that many other clubs doing work or are interested in this world and also other sports organization. And we also want to encourage others to take action in this field because I think there's a very specific opportunity in this work that we do inside the sporting world. When we started the work, the first trip that Daniel and me were organizing with fans, with supporters to the memorial site in Auschwitz, it was 2011, and we had no idea that 14 years later we would sit here among our partners and talk about what we try to do and how we try to contribute to combating antisemitism and to keep Holocaust memory alive. it was a situation back then when also the society around Borussia Dortmund was polarized and it was problems with fans who were part of the extreme right and we were looking for possibilities to take action and the first idea was to connect with people who want to do something against it and to bring them together and we brought them together amongst others in a small first group of fans that then spent several days with us in the memorial site in Auschwitz and in the years Following years, we developed the program further, and we learned a lot, uh, on this journey, and we learned, first of all, um, one specific aspect, and you could see it here, um, this is a picture that was taken in Zamosc, which is in Eastern Poland, close to the Ukrainian border. And Zamosc is not like Auschwitz. It's not known around the world for the Holocaust, but it's a very specific place for the Holocaust connected to Dortmund, because it was the destination of a specific transport bringing almost 800 Jews from Dortmund to Zamosc. And this place you see in the back with the stones, this is the place where this train arrived. And the fence holding the pictures presenting biographies to people from Dortmund, as Lars Ricken was pointing out in the video, We try to point on the fact that these were people from Dortmund. They were living in our streets. They would, or their children or grandchildren, they would stand with us in the stands today, and they would be, because everybody in Dortmund is a Borussia Dortmund supporter, they would be a Borussia Dortmund supporter as well, but they had no chance to be, and their children and grandchildren also didn't have. So we try to find a very important answer of a question that we think is crucial if we want to keep Holocaust remembrance alive, need to answer a question for every participant, no matter if it's a politician, a diplomat, or a sports fan. The person that we want to connect to the story needs to get an answer for the question, what does it have to do with me? And the answer to this question can be very different depending on the context of an education project. And in our case, we try to connect to the identity of fans with the city history of Dordogne, and they understand when they pass the streets of Dortmund, that this was happening there. The Holocaust did not start in Auschwitz. It started in the streets of Dortmund. And when we talk about those personal stories, it creates a big connection for the participants. And one more picture we want to show you is also that we see a big chance by doing so, by connecting these local stories to raise awareness for unknown sides of the Holocaust because Data across the globe, but especially in Germany, shows very clearly interest is declining, maybe, but for sure knowledge is declining. And we have to find new answers. How can we keep memory alive? We need to find new target groups and we need to find new stories. And for us, it's a very powerful story. And for everybody who joins our trip, this is the memorial site in Belzec. also very close to the today's Ukrainian border, one of the death camps of the Holocaust where half a million of Jews were murdered and a place that almost no one knows, not only in Germany, I think across the globe. It's a very unknown site and for us it's very important to not go to any site or to just visit Auschwitz and to say like you have to see this and then You become a better person. No, this is truly not the fact, but we have to find stories that people can reflect on. And maybe one last aspect where we think what is also crucial, it's important what we tell about Holocaust remembrance. Sometimes when you visiting speeches, we have the, of course, World Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, that you see and hear a lot of speeches where in the end, I question myself, so what did I really hear about the Holocaust? And I think it's very important again and again to say like, what does we remember mean? Remembering, we remember means remembering the facts. Who did what? Why did they do it? Name the reason for it, naming antisemitism as the core of everything that happened. The same is true for other incidents. When we face discrimination in the sporting world, we have to name what is happening. It's not just about tolerance and discrimination, no, it's about antisemitism, it's about racism, and I think this is very crucial and we manage through the years only with the multi-day projects more than 1,000 fellow supporters, employees, Carson was mentioning he spent time with us at memorials sites, all the many other colleagues, also sponsors that we could involve and maybe we could go to the last chart that I want to refer to. This shows a trip in Auschwitz in this particular case where we brought together sponsors, employees of sponsors, and employees of the club to also celebrate like a really different form of partnership. So using also the outreach of the club to connect to others, to sponsors. And yeah, I think especially the reflecting on the history and to discuss, and this is maybe the last thing I would like to point out, the scope of action of everyone, of every person in history. to look at what happened not only in Auschwitz but in Dortmund and to discuss who had which opportunity in which moment of history, not in '43 when the deportation started, but in '33 when the violence against Jews were state policy and people had opportunities to react. Not everybody needed to become a hero, but still there was an important opportunity to act for non-Jews, to show solidarity, to speak out. in early stages and I think this makes a very specific connection to present days to protect the facts, to tell about what's happening, to tell what does remembrance mean and to really discuss what it has to do with us and the connection that we try to build in this project with today's society. For this I will hand over to Daniel.

This shows a picture of the donation Carson just mentioned to Yad Vashem, it's the ground laying stone ceremony in Israel back in 2019. The donation to Yad Vashem had at least two goals. The first goal was to safeguard the history of the Holocaust with donating for an archive building that is saving personal items, personal stories, things we can work with in our educational programs where we can relate to. Every item has a story, every item belongs to an individual person. The second goal, or it was actually kind of coincidence, was that with this donation, the work of Bruce Nauman became more public. Before that, we were discussing it and talking about it in the members' magazine, which is at least sent out to more than 200,000 people. It's not small, but compared to nowadays, it was definitely different, and of course, we used the club's social media channels, the stadium as a platform to inform, but with the donation in 2019, we really made a step to the public. And for me, it's very important to point out that it was a very well discussed decision by the board of the club to do the step as a result of the ongoing work and the ongoing actions, and not just to have a donation, hold up a sign against antisemitism, and disappear like one was disappeared before. so it was the result of it. And this is also kind of things that we, that you will see in the next chart. Another very important thing for us, this is a picture of the local institution against discrimination and the CEO of the Jewish community. It's actually in the Jewish community of Dortmund. And back in 2021, maybe You also remember as good as me, there was Corona and this pandemic situation and Borussia Dortmund won the title of the German Cup. We weren't able to celebrate it in the city like we did it with other trophies before. Usually, like several hundred thousand people gathering in the city. There is a big party. The team is driving around. Roman knows it very well from a very privileged perspective. And in 2021, we were not able to have this party with our supporters. So we took the trophy and drove it to social institutions in the city. And one of the goals of this trip was to go to the Jewish community, just to acknowledge them as a normal partner, as all the other partners as well. So we had the trophy for a Sunday in the community. And of course, there are a lot of Borussia supporters, and it was a very special day for the community, like it was for others, of course, as well. So it's about normalization, it's about recognizing, and of course, also not just to reduce the Jewish community to Holocaust remembrance and anti-Semitism, but acknowledge that there is Jewish life nowadays, which is, of course, not that visible in Germany like in other countries in Europe or especially here in the United States. And then to come to an end, October 7th happened, and due to the connection to Yad Vashem, the donation to Yad Vashem, the attendance, the yearly attendance in Yom HaShoah ceremonies, we reacted on October 7th, I think, as the first football club in the world, like we reacted to all other terrorist attacks in the world, in Paris, in London, we really compared it to this situation, a terrorist attack is happening, so we do a statement on social media. And then we were discussing, while understanding the scope of the situation, we were discussing the possibilities that the football club has. And the first action we did was inviting survivors of October 7th from Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Kibbutz Nachal Oz to come to Dortmund. We played PlayStation, we went to the training center and played football, we took them to the stadium. And I haven't talked one single word with this group about their experience on October 7th. They were in Dortmund to sleep without sirens and just to calm down. This was the main goal. And amongst the stories, we were also addressed by Yad Vashem that two of their employees were taken hostage. And since then, we had to bring them home now message on our billboards, every home game in the stadium, like we are showing our other values as well. against racism, against sexism, against LGBTIQ threats, against anti-Semitism. Bring them home now became a normal message for the club. You can see it in the background of this picture. And I want this point out very especially because the team members of Neta, and you will hear about it later on, were Tzivi and Gali Berman, two German-Israeli twin brothers from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. And they are still alive and they are still held hostage. And from our perspective, it's just a humanitarian case to bring them back home. And we can't wait to host them in the stadium and help them in their process of recovery. And as a last point, and maybe I just use this as an introduction as well, we were addressed by the Bundesliga broadcaster in Israel, who told us about the story of Neta. And the very first encounter, Carsten, I still remember it, wrote, of course, we invite them. Let's do whatever we can to support this family. So we invited them. And actually, the night before, I became very nervous because I thought, OK, wow, this is people coming. I don't know. I don't know what they went through and how affected they still are two months after October 7, after losing their son. And of course, I did some research and learned it was even more than just, in big quotes, the sun. And then we met and we had a very, very special first encounter. And nowadays, I would say that I call Ayelet part of our family and a very special connection. And I'm very happy to introduce you to Ayelet to listen to your very special, moving, and emotional story. but also about your strength that you and Ori, your husband, and Rona and Alma, your wonderful daughters, have. And I'm happy to have you here. Kind of saved you from Cyprus. And since we now learned you will follow until the trophy in July 14, so yeah, very happy for having you. And the floor is yours, I think.

Is this working? Yeah. Thank you, Daniel. My name is Ayelet. I am Jewish, Canadian, and Israeli. And I'm here today to share my story and the significance of sport as a means of comfort, and football in particular. In this picture, you can see our local football team, the Kfar Aza Foxes, winning the championship trophy back in 2023. The goalkeeper in the picture, right in the middle, is my beloved son, my beautiful Neta. But my story goes way back, more than a century ago, when a little boy arrived on a big ship at the port of Montreal. He is exhausted and hungry after a long journey fleeing from the Shoah in troubled Europe. His name is Izzy Lubarsky, my late grandfather. Together with my granny Ruth, they built up a new life in this continent, bringing up Dr. Robert Lubarsky, my uncle Bobby, who is here with us today, and my auntie Sandy. Thank you so much for being with us. So my uncle Bobby and his younger sister Suzanne, my late mom. The story would go on in Canada, only my mom, Sue, an enthusiastic Zionist, quickly found her way to Israel. She married a kibbutznik, my dad, and together with him, built our family in Kfar Aza, a flourishing kibbutz on the border with Gaza. I grew up in this beautiful kibbutz, a small community with very close relationship, which you practically know everyone. Although the close proximity to the border with Gaza, most of these years were quiet and peaceful. In this picture, you can see where it is located, approximately 1.8 kilometers from the border with Gaza. Our three kids were born to a similar atmosphere to how I was born. But this changed shortly after Israel withdrew from the settlements in the Gaza District and Hamas came into power in the early 2000s. Our firstborn, Neta, was born in 2001. A beautiful, happy boy, he matured to be a sensitive and responsible young man, a loving brother to his younger sisters, Rona and Alma, and later to his partner and fiancee, Iren. Neta loved football since he was very little. I remember him chasing a ball as early as six months old. He first trained with our local team, but dreamt of becoming a professional. He was determined to get himself into a national level team, and there he got his role as a goalkeeper, which he loved and kept. He loved following the leading teams in European leagues, Amongst them, BVB Borussia Dortmund. He followed carefully the club's social responsibility projects, and especially liked the actions that dealt with anti-Semitism. He pointed out to me many times what BVB are doing for Jews and for Israel. He dreamt of attending a match of the team in its amazing stadium in Dortmund. Unfortunately, this dream was shattered on the morning of October 7th, when hundreds of Nukba highly trained Hamas terrorists infiltrated our kibbutz. They came in order to murder, rape, wound, and abduct as many as they could. They were well informed about the landscape and even specific addresses of key persons. They violently crashed doors and windows indiscriminately moving from one house to another, cold-bloodily killing, leaving behind them death and rivers of blood. Neta and Eren were hiding in the safe room of their little apartment when three terrorists attempted to break in. The couple barricaded themselves inside, but the terrorists threw a grenade inside. In an act that emphasizes his unique character, Neta threw himself on the grenade, saving Eren's life. Neta was killed instantly. He was 21 years old. On that day, I lost my Neta, my nephew Nitzan, my mother-in-law Bilha, my two brothers-in-law, Ophir and Uri, many friends, neighbors, in total of 64 persons in Kfar Aza. 19 people were taken hostage, and two are still held hostage. They are Gali and Zivi Berman, two twin brothers from Kfar Aza. My late mom, who was a midwife in at Beersheva Hospital was the midwife when they were born. They need all political pressure possible to bring them home now, them and the 51 other hostages. Bring them home. Two months after October 7th, we were invited by Borussia Dortmund for a joyful weekend, including watching a match in their famous stadium. There, amongst a crowd of 81,000, our breath was taken when, as a special gesture, Netta's picture was shown on four huge screens. It was a high peak of emotions. On the one hand, feeling the excitement, the huge support of the club. We have fulfilled Neta's dream. But on the other hand, sadly, missing Neta. Tearfully, we sang "You'll Never Walk Alone," and the bond was instantly made. This bond would grow stronger and even stronger in the next months. We drew much comfort out of this special connection. Our dear friend, Daniel Lorcher, whom we consider as part of our family, continues with creative ideas to make this pond even stronger. I want to thank the World Jewish Congress for the ongoing support and cooperation. Together with Borussia Dortmund, you brought football shoes and jerseys to both teams. Neta was playing and coaching. And I'm happy to share that after 2023, two weeks ago, the Gfaraza Foxes were able to successfully defend their championship title in the most important tournament in the Middle East. It is. But also, I stand here with great honor and gratitude to the BVB Borussia Football Club for all you have done and are still doing for us and for the commemoration of my beloved Neta. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Carsten, and the whole club for what you are doing. You are showing me every day how the love of football can flourish in the heart and give me strength. People from different cultures and different languages are united and connected by the love of sports and football. For this reason, sports in general, and football in particular, gives me hope and can be a tool and platform to create a change in this world. Bring Gali and Zivi home now. Thank you.

I'm going to deviate from my notes because it's touching on so many personal notes. I don't normally get emotional, as my colleagues know, but I will. But because I do the work I do, I've been with the World Jewish Congress for over 10 years, and before that was working also on genocide prevention issues and international human rights law. But I do it because I'm a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and I really believe in prevention of genocide and prevention of mass atrocities. I met my husband working for the UN in Geneva, and we bonded over football and many hours of watching football together, and we still do. And as I said, my son, he's eight. His dream is to be a professional football player. I try to encourage other avenues as well, but we do a lot of football together, soccer, because we live in the US as well. And I'm Israeli and Jewish, and so everything is coming together for me very emotionally here. Yeah, what we've shared in this room goes far beyond football. It's about memory and responsibility and the power we each have to shape the spaces we move through, whether it's at a stadium, at a classroom, or the halls of the United Nations. And I really applaud the creativity that this team, and since I've met you a few years ago in Brussels, I've just been amazed by the creativity you bring to this work and the ideas of, as you say, connection with the people and where it meets the people and how they interact with the information and how it influences their future. So It's really inspiring. Sports is, you know, easily a mirror of society, but today we see that it can also be a mirror for change. It teaches us values, respect and fairness, resilience, and it gives us language that really transcends borders and backgrounds. what Portia Durgin is doing. It's admirable. It's essential. It's a model that I think we all took notes of. And so also the office taking note to bring to a lot of the other works that is being done in these fields. And I think we want to continue, learn, and be inspired by this work and lead more. To everyone here, thank you. Thank you for being here. For everybody viewing us as well, thank you for listening and caring. and believing that sport can be more than, you know, just a goal, but it can really protect our shared humanity together. Let's take this spirit with us forward. I can't promise to only be rooting for Borcia in the weeks to come, but I will also be rooting for Borcia. Thank you for being here. I know the people here, some have obligations, but if anybody wants to discuss anything or approach, I think everybody's here. for a little bit longer. And thank you once again.