Pence visits former Nazi concentration camp
WASHINGTON: US Vice-President Mike Pence paid a sombre visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, Germany, against the backdrop of concerns about a surge of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since Donald Trump was elected president.
Pence, his wife Karen and daughter Charlotte toured the camp where more than 200,000 political prisoners, Jews and others were incarcerated by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. More than 40,000 people died there.
“It was a miracle that we survived,” former Dachau prisoner Abba Naor told the vice-president and his family, describing a typical meal as “a slice of bread”.
Pence signed a guest book, ending his visit with an hour-long service at the Church of Reconciliation.
“Moving and emotional tour of Dachau today,” he tweeted on his official Twitter account.
“We can never forget atrocities against Jews and others in the Holocaust.”
The vice-president and other senior figures in the Trump administration are touring Europe to assure allies of Washington’s “unwavering” support for Nato, as Pence put it Saturday in a speech to an international conference in Munich.
But the stop in Dachau also had a US dimension to as it comes amid concerns over a surge of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.
Nearly 60 bomb threats have been received by 48 Jewish community centres across the country, most of them in three days in January leading up to Trump’s inauguration, CNN reported.
Post-election incidents involving swastikas painted on school walls and other anti-Semitic symbols have raised concerns that white supremacist groups have been emboldened by Trump’s win.