The Algemeiner E-paper - Source: Italian Tenor Andrea Bocelli to Attend Historic Auschwitz Event

Source: Italian Tenor Andrea Bocelli to Attend Historic Auschwitz Event

JANUARY 8, 2014 

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Algemeiner Staff

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Andrea Bocelli AuschwitzAndrea Bocelli IsraelAndrea Bocelli JewishFrom the DepthsInternational Holocaust Remembrance DayJonny DanielsKnesset membersYuli Edelstein

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Photo: Wikipedia.

Famed Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, plans to attend a historic memorial event at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp later this month, a source with knowledge of the matter revealed to The Algemeiner.

The event, which will take place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th, will also be attended by more than half of Israel’s Knesset, other international politicians, and Holocaust survivors. The Knesset members will host a discussion on anti-Semitism at the memorial site.

“This event has the potential not just to be a memorial but to develop into a symposium for elected officials to discuss how the Holocaust and anything like it can never happen again,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told The Jerusalem Post in September, when the event was first announced.

“The symbolism of the majority of the Knesset coming and standing with the survivors in a place in which 69 years ago they didn’t imagine they’d live another day is so strong,” said Jonny Daniels, founder of From the Depths, the organization planning the event.

Bocelli has expressed his appreciation for Israel in recent interviews.

In 2012, when asked by the UK’s Daily Telegraph about his best holiday, he responded: “A country that has really resonated with me and I was really impressed with was Israel. I found that the whole country had a very special atmosphere. I was there to perform but it was one of the few places that I’ve visited over the years that I had some free time to explore, and I was hugely impressed by all the religious history there.”

Writing for the UK’s Daily Mail last year, he said, “Places in the world I have especially enjoyed include Israel, which left a very powerful impression on me.”

Bocelli last visited Israel in 2011, performing at Masada in collaboration with members of the Rishon Lezion Symphonic Orchestra.

It is unclear of Bocelli plans to sing at the event, or just to attend as a guest.