In an historic first, a senior delegation of Muslim leaders visited Auschwitz

Prominent Muslim figure Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland, accompanied by a delegation of officials from the American Jewish Committee (AJC) organisation and religious Muslims, including one of the Shiite faith.

Dr Al-Issa is the most senior Muslim religious leader to visit the former German Nazi extermination camp as part of events commemorating the 75th anniversary of its  liberation.

In a statement released to the press, AJC CEO David Harris said the trip will escort “the most senior delegation of Muslim religious leaders to visit Auschwitz ever.”

Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 12 reported that in 2018, Al-Issa paid a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and called on all Muslims to “learn the history of the Shoah, to visit memorial sites and museums of this atrocious event and teach its lessons to their children.”

About a year ago, the Muslim World League signed a treaty with the AJC, in which both sides agreed on a joint visit to Auschwitz, Channel 12 reported.

The high-profile delegation is also set to visit a number of sites in Warsaw as well, including a synagogue, a mosque and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.