Remembering victims of National Socialism: MPs clean stumbling blocks
In memory of the victims of the November pogroms under National Socialism 85 years ago, members of the Hamburg Parliament have cleaned the 21 Stolpersteine in front of the town hall. "Stolpersteine are of great symbolic importance to us. The Stolpersteine commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and other crimes of National Socialism," said Anke Frieling (CDU). "By cleaning these stones in front of the town hall, we are remembering the members of Hamburg's parliament who were persecuted by the Nazis at the time. The stones represent terrible human fates that must never be forgotten."
SPD politician Danial Ilkhanipour said: "The Stolpersteine are a reminder to work together to ensure that this can never happen again in Germany. We have the privilege of living in a democracy and we have a duty to preserve and defend it." Green Party politician Dominik Lorenzen said that the horror of November 9 was particularly present this year. "Whether on the streets of Berlin, London or Hamburg, we must ensure the safety of Jews everywhere, fight anti-Semitism and firmly reject all forms of hatred."
Under the motto "Never again is now", there will be a commemorative event on Thursday (November 9) on the site of the former Bornplatz synagogue in the Grindel district. During the November pogroms, the National Socialists set fire to the building. A year later, they forced the Jewish community to demolish the synagogue at their own expense. The place of worship is to be rebuilt in the coming years. In addition to representatives of Hamburg politics, author Kirsten Boie, climate protection activist Luisa Neubauer and journalist Deniz Yücel will also speak at the commemorative event.
Source: www.dpa.com
