Remembrance on Remembrance Day: ""Never again" is now"
With the appeal ""Never again" is now", the Hamburg Parliament and the Hamburg Senate commemorated the victims of war, Nazi tyranny and terrorism around the world on Remembrance Day. The President of the Hamburg Parliament, Carola Veit, and Hamburg's Second Mayor, Katharina Fegebank, laid a wreath at the former detention bunker of the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial. This was followed by a central hour of remembrance in the main church of St. Michaelis.
"The world has changed since Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel," said Parliament President Veit in her speech in Neuengamme. Many Jews have to restrict themselves in their everyday lives for fear of hostility and violence. "And all of this here in our cosmopolitan Hamburg in 2023 - almost 80 years after the end of the Nazi crimes. "Never again!" has become our guiding principle since the Holocaust. "Never again" is now and "never again" is here," warned Veit.
"We must not and we will not tolerate any more hatred, group-focused misanthropy, anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism or sexism," said Veit. Volkstrauertag reminds us to remember the crimes of our ancestors and to learn from them. "We must not be guilty and we must not, with all our knowledge, allow our children to be guilty."
Stefan Romey from the Working Committee of Organizations of Formerly Persecuted Persons in Hamburg and Kristof van Mierop, Secretary General of the Amicale Internationale KZ Neuengamme and grandson of Roger Vyvey, a member of the Belgian resistance and prisoner in Neuengamme, also spoke at the ceremony in Neuengamme.
Second Mayor Katharina Fegebank (Greens) said: "The atrocities and terror committed by Hamas against Jews has shaken us to the core. The growing anti-Semitism in our country is also intolerable. Standing up for the safety of Jews worldwide, especially in Israel and here in Germany, is not only a deep inner need for us, but also our duty. That is why we will show our solidarity with Israel now and in the future through words and deeds by not allowing hatred to find a place on our streets."
Kim Wünschmann, Director of the Institute for the History of German Jews, gave the commemorative speech in Michel. Police student Eyleen Flocke and Saskia Sierck, youth officer of the Hamburg fire department, formulated their thoughts on Remembrance Day on behalf of the police and fire department. Katharina Fegebank spoke in remembrance of the dead.
On the 100th anniversary of the "Revier Blutbuche" memorial site, Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) had already commemorated the police officers who died in the line of duty at Ohlsdorf cemetery on Sunday morning.
The victims of war and tyranny are commemorated every year on Remembrance Day. The national day of remembrance - always two Sundays before the first Advent - has been celebrated in Germany since 1919, when it was introduced by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (German War Graves Commission), which was founded in the same year. Originally, the aim was to show solidarity with the bereaved families of the victims of the First World War. Today, the Federal Republic of Germany commemorates all victims of war and tyranny.
The historical significance of the Holocaust and its consequences are perpetually enshrined in memorials, such as the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial. These memorials serve as a stark reminder of the past war and the terror inflicted by Nazi tyranny.
In an effort to uphold the principle of "Never again", we must visit and honor these memorials, ensuring that the horrors of past wars and acts of hatred are never forgotten or repeated.
Source: www.dpa.com
