Eagles DeSean Jackson planning visit to Auschwitz
Heading into the weekend, the Eagles announced they had fined receiver DeSean Jackson, but the team didn’t let it end there.
The statement the released cautioned the receiver that, in order to remain on the team, his actions have to support his words as he attempts to atone for the anti-Semitic remarks, which included bogus quotes made by Adolf Hitler, during the Fourth of July weekend.
The Eagles statement announcing a penalty for DeSean Jackson
The Philadelphia Eagles
Jackson appears intent on acting.
On Monday, the Jerusalem Post reported that Jackson has accepted an invitation from 94-year-old Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg to visit Auschwitz.
Jackson and Mosberg spoke via a Zoom call on Friday, with Mosberg dressed in a concentration camp uniform.
Edward Mosberg and DeSean Jackson spoke via Zoom on Friday
DeSean Jackson Instagram
“I grew up in Los Angeles, and never really spent time with anyone from the Jewish community and didn't know much about their history, this has been such a powerful experience for me to learn and educate myself," Jackson said on the Zoom call, according to the Jerusalem Post.
"I want to take the proper steps to let people know that I never intentionally had any hatred in my heart, I never wanted to put the Jewish community down, I want to educate myself more and help bridge the gaps between all different cultures."
It is unknown when Jackson will visit Auschwitz, which was operated in German-occupied Poland during World War II.
Currently, European countries have banned Americans from entering their countries due to the U.S.’s continuing spread of COVID-19. Also, the Eagles are expected to open training camp and there will likely be some sort of self-quarantine required for all players, including Jackson.
From The Depths, an organization that supports Holocaust survivors is arranging details of the trip with Jackson. Mosberg is an honorary chairman of the organization.
"We are working with DeSean and his team to set dates for this trip to go ahead and are happy that DeSean agreed," Jonny Daniels, the founder of From The Depths, who originated the Zoom call between Jackson and Mosberg, said in a statement.
Mosberg is a survivor of multiple concentration camps, including Mauthausen, and said his late wife was a survivor of Auschwitz.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was Nazi Germany's largest concentration camp. More than 1.1 million men, women, and children were killed there.
Mosberg isn’t the only one who reached out to Jackson.
New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, who is Jewish, posted on social media last week that he had spoken to Jackson and invited him to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
There is no word on when that might trip may happen.
Get the latest Eagles news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of EagleMaven page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow me on Twitter @kracze.
