Pope Francis kisses the hand of a Jewish man at the Hall of Remembrance during his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem Monday, May 26, 2014. (photo credit: AP /L'Osservatore Romano)
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s chief rabbi on Friday hailed Pope Francis’s plan to visit the Auschwitz death camp during a trip to the country later this month, saying he would set “an example for humanity.”
The Roman Catholic leader will meet Holocaust survivors at the former Nazi camp on July 29, on the third day of his visit to the country for World Youth Day.
“It is important that everyone goes (to Auschwitz) to reflect on what happened there,” chief rabbi Michael Schudrich said.
“It is the worst place in the world and the pope, the world’s most powerful religious leader, sets an example for humanity.”
Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich speaks during an event gathering nearly 50 elderly Christian Poles who saved Jews during World War II, in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, July 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Schudrich also welcomed the pontiff’s intention to remain silent during his visit to the camp, where some 1.1 million people, including a million Jews from across Europe, were killed by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
“You have to remain silent when you are there, to then shout out loud to the world about what you have seen,” he said.
Two of the pope’s predecessors also visited the camp: John Paul II — a former archbishop of Krakow — in 1979 and Benedict XVI in 2006 respectively.
Participants of the annual “March of the Living” are seen as they pass the main gate of the former Nazi death camp in Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Poland, on May 5, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / WOJTEK RADWANSKI)
Pope Francis will spend five days in Poland, arriving on July 27 and concluding his visit on July 31.
Advertisement
A delegation of 30 members of Poland’s Jewish community will take part in the Auschwitz visit and Schudrich said he hopes that a smaller group will meet the pontiff in Krakow, although plans are not yet certain.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
