Dispute with Israeli government overshadows Buchenwald camp liberation anniversary

80 years ago, the prisoners of the Buchenwald concentration camp liberated themselves.

Israeli-German philosopher's part in Buchenwald ceremony cancelled under Israeli pressure

The memorial site invited Boehm for his ethical reflections on universal human rights and Nazi crimes. The Israeli embassy said that Boehm 'dilutes the memory of the Holocaust with his discourse on universal values'

Dispute with Israeli government overshadows Buchenwald camp liberation anniversary

Israeli officials objected to a commemoration speech by philosopher Omri Boehm, grandson of a Holocaust survivor.

Israel's ambassador is pleased that the philosopher will not speak on Sunday, the memorial director is condensed and even the federal government takes a stand.

Eighty years ago, the Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated. At the memorial ceremony, the German-Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm was supposed to speak.

Historical commemorations are often more a reflection of the present — their conflicts and obsessions — than of the past they intend to commemorate. This has happened this year during the preparations for the events in memory of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp, on the outskirts of the German city of Weimar.