Holocaust Survivor Warns Police Officers in Berlin to Protect Rule of Law
Holocaust survivor George Shefi addressed 150 senior European and American police officers in Berlin, urging law enforcement to protect the rule of law and prevent history from repeating itself.
Around 150 senior police officials from the United States and Europe, many in formal German police uniforms, gathered at the New Synagogue in central Berlin to hear 94-year-old Holocaust survivor George Shefi. Smuggled out of Berlin in July 1939 via the Kindertransport just before his eighth birthday, Shefi urged law enforcement officers to protect the rule of law and defend citizens from persecution.
Addressing the audience, Shefi recalled his childhood memories and warned against the gradual erosion of democratic norms. "It starts with laws that seem trivial or unimportant, but reality can quickly deteriorate into a situation where Jews are once again at risk," he said, emphasizing the critical role police officers play in understanding history to prevent law enforcement from being weaponized against minorities.
Following his address, Shefi presented his autobiographical book to Jochen Kopelke, chairman of the German Police Union (GdP) and president of the European Police Union EU.Pol, who co-organized the event alongside the International March of the Living. Kopelke shook his hand firmly and remarked, "Know that there are also good police officers."
The historic venue itself stands as a testament to courage. The New Synagogue survived the November Pogroms of 1938 thanks to Wilhelm Krützfeld, a German police officer who single-handedly drove off the mob and prevented the building from being torched. Shefi described Krützfeld's intervention as the ultimate act of bravery. At the conclusion of the evening, the audience rose in a prolonged standing ovation for one of the last living witnesses of Kristallnacht.
Reflecting on the dark history of Nazi Germany, Shefi shared personal recollections of the morning after the 1938 pogroms, when Jewish schools and businesses were systematically destroyed. He also expressed deep concern over modern antisemitism, which he described as a dangerous societal trend, and condemned recent anti-Israel graffiti found on the walls of his childhood home in Berlin just a day before the event.
Shefi concluded with a powerful message of resilience, defining his survival and subsequent large family as his ultimate victory over the Nazi regime. "They tried to destroy us, but we are here, with a country and with an army," he said, calling upon modern police officers to remember the lessons of the past and ensure history never repeats itself.
