On Monday, the Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin commemorated the anniversary of Operation Reinhardt. During the second world war, the operation caused the extermination of nearly two million victims, mostly of Jewish origin”, Pope Francis stressed during his weekly Wednesday general audience at the Vatican.

“May the memory of this terrible event arouse the intentions and actions for peace in every person. And history repeats itself. We see now what is happening in Ukraine. I heartily bless you here present and your country people,” the Holy Father added, greeting the pilgrims from Poland.

The J. A. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations of the Catholic University of Lublin organized a ceremony on December 5 to commemorate the victims of Operation Reinhardt, on its 80th anniversary. It was held on the grounds of the former German Nazi camp at Majdanek and at the seat of the Heschel Center, at the Collegium Iuridicum of the Catholic University of Lublin. This building housed the headquarters of Operation Reinhardt.

“The memory of these events must be kept alive, especially among young people, also by means of new media and communication technologies. This is as well the task of the Heschel Center of the Catholic University of Lublin,” stressed the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin Rev. Prof. Miroslaw Kalinowski.

Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne pointed out that the reason for the murder of Jews was solely their origin. “We must work together so that the memory is not lost,” he said.

The Heschel Center of the Catholic University of Lublin is a scholarly-educational unit, which aims to deepen Catholic-Jewish relations. Its patron is Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish theologian, philosopher and poet.