Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declines Auschwitz visit with Holocaust survivor
Edward Mosberg told the congresswoman, "now is an opportunity that won’t repeat itself"
By ILANIT CHERNICK Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg and From the Depths founder Jonny Daniels stand outside Auschwitz Concentration Camp.(photo credit: FROM THE DEPTHS)
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has declined an invitation to visit Auschwitz with Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg.Ocasio-Cortez was invited on the trip by Mosberg and Holocaust remembrance group From The Depths after she compared migrant detention camps on the United States’ southern border to Nazi-era “concentration camps” during an Instagram Live with her followers last week.During a Twitter row with Republican Rep. Steve King, Ocasio-Cortez, who was encouraging her to go on the trip, the democrat representative responded that “I’m going to have to decline your invite.”“The last time you went on this trip it was reported that you also met w/ fringe Austrian neo-Nazi groups to talk shop,” she tweeted “So I’m going to have to decline your invite. But thank you for revealing to all how transparently the far-right manipulates these moments for political gain.”
The last time you went on this trip it was reported that you also met w/ fringe Austrian neo-Nazi groups to talk shop.So I’m going to have to decline your invite. But thank you for revealing to all how transparently the far-right manipulates these moments for political gain. https://t.co/TQkaPEESoD
Responding to Ocasio-Cortez’s decision, Mosberg, who survived both Płaszów and Mauthausen, told The Jerusalem Post that “at 93-years-old, like most survivors, I won’t be able to go on these trips for much longer.”“Now is an opportunity that won’t repeat itself, where one can visit German-Nazi concentration camps with a witness of these atrocities,” he continued. “This is the last generation that will be able to speak and learn from survivors.”Both Mosberg and From the Depths founder Jonny Daniels said it was a shame that Ocasio-Cortez had declined the trip.“It’s a unique opportunity, we’ve brought 100 international parliamentarians and they have left with a deeper level of understanding,” Daniels told the Post. “AOC is clearly not well educated [in this matter], she is ill informed and [the comparison] misplaced.”From the Depths founder Jonny Daniels in Auschwitz-Birkenau with a bipartisan delegation lead by then-Speaker Eric Cantor, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Congressman Darrell Issa and Israeli Minister Yariv Levin. (From the Depths)“We hope she will reconsider,” he said, adding that From The Depths will continue to bring parliamentarians from all walks of life – the Left, Right, bi-partisan, Democrats and Republicans.Daniels explained that denying basic facts of the Holocaust is akin to Holocaust denial, and said that it’s up to this generation, who has witnessed and heard the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, to pass on this information.“If we don’t pick it up and take care of it, it will be forgotten,” he added.Despite her “historically inaccurate comparison,” Daniels said that her comments have created dialogue and discussion about concentration camps, “which is a good thing… not to say that it was not a shocking statement,” he added.“Many of her followers may not have heard of concentration camps,” he said, adding that this would encourage people to look for information. “Pushing her to respond was crucial, we’ve done something good here.”“All debate is crucial and important,” Daniels concluded, urging Ocasio-Cortez once more to reconsider.
