Holocaust survivor and public speaker Tomi Reichantal spoke to the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) last week, after being awarded the society’s gold medal of honorary patronage “for his outstanding contributions to education and Holocaust awareness”.
“It was a great surprise to me when I received an invite from Trinity College Philosophical Society to be presented with their gold medal of honorary patronage. I am proud and humbled to accept this prestigious award,” Reichental said.
Born 1935 in former Czechoslovakia, Reichental was arrested and sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at 8 years old where he remained until its liberation in 1945. He has lived in Ireland since 1960 and has been speaking in schools around the country for nearly 20 years.
“I didn’t speak about the Holocaust for 50 years,” Reichental said. When asked what prompted him to start speaking about his experience in Bergen-Belsen he said “I did speak in the school of my grandson, and it was the first time I spoke, they asked me to speak about it and I realised that here in Ireland there was very little known about the Holocaust”.
“I had to speak. I am one of the last witnesses to this horrific genocide tragedy that happened to my people and that is how I started to speak in schools”.
Reichental recounted some of the atrocities he had witnessed in Bergen-Belsen: “I played among piles of corpses which was part of a genocide,” he said.
“The crematorium couldn’t cope and so the corpses were left all around us.”
“It is a sight that is very difficult to describe.”
Reichental expressed dismay that “antisemitism is on the rise” in his view.
“We had a proverb after the war that said ‘never again’ and unfortunately since the war we have had repeats, of course,” he said, citing genocides in Africa and Yugoslavia.
“And so even though we said never again, the reality is that it could happen again”.
In 2016, Reichental was awarded an honorary doctorate of philosophy from the Dublin City University (DCU).
“Philosophy of course is a very important and powerful tool when we need to overcome the inexplicable,” he told members of the Phil.
He credited philosophy with his discovery that: “Life is a mystery, it contains lessons and tragedies, joy and pain, light and darkness.”
“Just because we are unable to sense God’s manifestation in the darkness should not lead us to dismiss his presence in the time of illumination.”
Reichental concluded by saying: “We still have the opportunity to keep the Holocaust alive and keep the memory of our lifetimes alive.”
Reichental is among the ranks of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ruth Bater Ginsberg, Al Pacino and others in receiving this award.