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Speech on May 22, 2014 honoring Roman Kent: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of
the Federal Republic of Germany
Dear Roman Kent, my dear Mrs. Kent and Family, United Nations Under-Secretary General
Launsky-Tieffenthal, the Delegation of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Director General Dr.
Bley, Distinguished Guests, Friends, and those who could not be with us in person, but are
here with us in spirit.
It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to welcome all of you tonight in honoring Roman
Kent, an outstanding human being who went through hell and yet brought the message of
tolerance and solidarity to so many.
It is hard for anyone to capture in words, not just the facts and dates that make a life, but the
essential truth of a person--their private joys and sorrows, the quiet moments and unique
qualities that define a person over time. How much harder to do so for a man whose acts of
courage and conscience have affected the lives of thousands of people around the world.
Mr. Kent, please allow me to try.
In your hometown of Lodz, Poland you spent your early childhood years free from worry with
your loving family: your father, mother and siblings. Then Hitler’s invasion of Poland
changed the life that you knew. Still very young, you went through an endless ordeal in the
Lodz ghetto and the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen and Flossenbürg. On
April 23rd 1945, you and your brother Leon were liberated by American soldiers. Of your
family, only you, your sister Renia, and your brother Leon were the only ones to survive.
In 1946, you came to the United States under the children’s quota of the United States
Government’s “Displaced Persons Act”. Here you could begin another life, and despite the
memories and enormous sadness you carried, you triumphed in personal accomplishment and
moved forward. After graduating from Emory University, you were able to build a career
from the ground up, the American way, starting from very humble beginnings, going from
strength to strength and ending up with a very successful international trade business that you
ran for several decades. With your endearing wife Hannah, also a survivor, whom I am happy
to see here with us tonight, you brought new life to this world with your children Jeff and
Susan, who are here as well, and your grandchildren Dara, Eryn and Sean.
Mr. Kent, you never forgot what you and your family endured and this ultimately led you to
engage in a moral necessity that not many have been able to accept. With the energy inside of
you and sheer determination, you willingly accepted this calling and began your fight for the
interests of Holocaust survivors and in reminding the world of the lessons the Holocaust has
taught. Not once did you grow tired of your calling. Not once did you want to give up. Not
once did you show bitterness or hatred.
Mr. Kent, you are an inspiration and a leader and needless to say, this quality has carried you
in many prominent positions of great responsibility. You have served as a vocal advocate for
survivors all over the world as President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Chairman
of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Treasurer of The Conference
on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, as well as a member of their negotiating
committee.
Your wisdom, experience, fairness and deep humanity were also a key element in bringing
about the trilateral agreement between the German Federal Foundation „Remembrance,
Responsibility and Future“, the German Insurance Association GDV and “ICHEIC”, the
International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance claims, that led to the compensation of
life insurances from the Holocaust period.
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Near to your heart has always been the quest to alleviate the increasingly arduous living
conditions of many of your fellow survivors and to restore their rights and dignity. Similarly
strong is your untiring ambition to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive and to show
younger generations what happens when prejudice and hatred are allowed to spread. In this,
Sir, you have not failed, and all of us here tonight are humbled by your efforts.
Mr. Kent, you have said, “tolerance cannot be assumed, it has to be taught.” And with this,
you also became a teacher. Your production of the award-winning documentary “The
Children of the Holocaust” is not a cry for help, but it shows the world that we should not
forget. Your book My Dog Lala, tells the story of your life in the Lodz Ghetto and your loving
relationship with your dog during those frightful years. It is a lesson to all children that love is
always stronger than hate. Your autobiography, Courage Was My Only Option, is more than a
story of survival. It is your road, your struggle with fate that you share with the reader. It is
impossible to not be moved by your written word.
Mr. Kent, you have also said, “never be a bystander,” and this is so well illustrated in your
commitment to recognizing and supporting gentiles who hid or rescued Jews during the
Holocaust. Thus, you also stand at the helm of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.
Mr. Kent, the International Auschwitz Committee has given me a special message for you
from the many young people whose lives you have touched and Auschwitz survivors around
the world: They send their warmest greetings, they give you their utmost respect, and above
all they thank you for your commitment to them, for being so selfless and courageous, for
being full of love for each and every one of them.
Germany has endeavoured to heed the message that Roman Kent has always embodied: the
message never to forget the horrors of the Holocaust, to fight indifference in the face of any
kind of discrimination, and to resist and counter any abuse of human rights. We Germans are
grateful to Roman Kent for the gift of his trust, a gift by all means not to be taken for granted
from someone who has suffered so much from German hands.
It is therefore with admiration and deep gratitude that I now have the honor of presenting you,
Mr. Roman Kent, with the Officer´s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of
Germany that the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Joachim Gauck, has
bestowed upon you.
I shall now read the document in German.