On August 26, 2020, a memorial ceremony was held at the “Gleis 17” memorial site in Berlin-Grunewald on the occasion of the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.
With the memorial “Gleis 17” at Grunewald station, Deutsche Bahn AG commemorates the deportations of Jews by the German Reichsbahn and railroad during the Nazi era.
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi gave a moving speech in memory of this terrible chapter and also mentioned his father, a concentration camp survivor from Bulgaria. Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, Rabbi of the Jewish community of Berlin held a prayer and blew the shofar.
Afterwards, both spoke about the development of Jewish life in Berlin and how the future Jewish Campus will take this diversity into account.
Foreign Minister Ashkenazi emphasized how good and important he finds the work of Chabad and that he sees the “Rebbe” as a great role model. In this context, he gladly recalled that 11 years ago, as the head of the Israeli army, he had already taken part in a service with Rabbi Teichtal at an event in Berlin.
