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England supporters to visit Dachau

Updated: 15/May/2006 17:31

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Representatives of the British Jewish community have applauded a planned trip to the former Nazi concentration camp Dachau organised for hundreds of English football supporters who will be in Germany for this summer's World Cup.

Although England fans have a reputation for being supporters of right wing groups and hooliganism, the visit will go a long way to changing this perception.

Located just outside Munich, Dachau was Germany's first concentration camp, opened in 1933. Like at Auschwitz, the gates to the camp contain the chilling phrase Arbeit Macht Frei.

Although the gas chambers were not used at Dachau, thousands of prisoners, many of whom were Jewish, died of frostbite, malnutrition, and after being used as human guinea pigs.

Organised by the group LondonEnglandFans, the football fanatics will lay a wreath at the camp in memory of those who died in the Holocaust.

Maccabi support

Maccabi GB, the UK's main Jewish sporting organisation, has become involved in the event, an has produced a special educational pack for those attending.

Martin Berliner, chief executive of Maccabi GB, said he believes the Dachau trip will help educate the many non-Jewish Englishmen who do not know about or truly understand the problems of anti-Semitism.

“We see this as a vital piece of work to raise the profile among the non-Jewish community of anti-Semitism,” Berliner said. “We wouldn’t reach these couple of hundred people if it wasn’t for football and sport.”

Berliner added that, as well as outlining the issues of anti-Jewish hatred, the educational pack will also include recognition of how the Holocaust effected other communities as well as Jews.

Thousands of Homosexuals, Gypsies and political prisonsers were murdered or worked to death by the Nazis during WWII.

Major impact

Mark Perryman, convenor of LondonEnglandFans, said he believed the trip will “have a major impact on the tournament.”

“This will be a powerful statement by fans that honouring the memory of the Holocaust and opposing the scourge of anti-Semitism is vital. This is something fans of all nations can support. In doing this we reject the idea that World War Two is something we use as part of our football rivalry with other countries.”

The initiative has also gained the support of English football's anti-racism campaign Kick It Out.

Piara Powar is the director of the English branch of the campaign, which was recently launched in Israel with the help of former England great John Barnes.

“Unfortunately one of our fears for the World Cup this Summer is that some fans will go to Germany and impersonate Hitler without considering the atrocities of the past,” Powar said.

"Therefore we feel it is absolutely appropriate that England fans have organised this trip to Dachau to pay their respects.”

Day in history

1945: Germany

The Nuremberg Trials begin. Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals of World War II start at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.