Commemoration of Holocaust victims: music and reading in Lichtenfels

Commemoration of Holocaust victims: music and reading in Lichtenfels

A special commemoration event for the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust will be held in Lichtenfels on January 27th. The event will take place at 7 p.m. in the former synagogue at Judengasse 2 and is organized by the city of Lichtenfels and the “Grandmas Against the Right”. This is an important initiative that aims to keep the memory of the atrocities of National Socialism alive.https://www.mainpost.de/obermain/lichtenfels/holocaust-gedenktag-in-der-ehemalige-synagoge-lichtenfels-wird-mit-musik-und-einer-lesung-der-opfer-gedacht-113185075

The day of remembrance, which has been celebrated internationally since 2006, commemorates the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on January 27, 1945. It was proclaimed by the United Nations in 2005 and is also enshrined in law in Germany as a “Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism”. In Austria, a memorial rally has been taking place at Vienna's Heldenplatz since 2012.https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationaler_Tag_des_Gedenkens_an_die_Offer_des_Holocaust

A musical commemoration

The program in Lichtenfels promises a profound and moving experience. Jens Bühring, a songwriter from Plauen, will use his musical remembrance to take listeners into the world of songs and poems that were written in concentration camps and ghettos during the Third Reich. Many of these works were created illegally or on orders from the SS and show the complex, often painful connection between art and survival.https://www.mainpost.de/obermain/lichtenfels/holocaust-gedenktag-in-der-ehemalige-synagoge-lichtenfels-wird-mit-musik-und-einer-lesung-der-opfer-gedacht-113185075

The focus is on how such cultural activities influenced the lives of prisoners - both as a source of comfort and despair. Live performances, supplemented by narrative elements and multimedia recordings, will remind listeners of the dark chapters of history that continue to have an impact in Germany today.https://www.dw.com/de/holocaust-auschwitz-erinnerungskultur-deutschland-gedenktag-nationalsocialismus-v3/a-71300299

Culture of remembrance in Germany

Commemorating the victims of National Socialism is a central element of the culture of remembrance in Germany. Over 300 memorials and Nazi documentation centers ensure that the horrors of the past are not forgotten. Schools and educational initiatives help to address crimes against humanity in history lessons and raise awareness of the victims.https://www.dw.com/de/holocaust-auschwitz-erinnerungskultur-deutschland-gedenktag-nationalsocialismus-v3/a-71300299

Nevertheless, it is a topic that always meets with resistance. Right-wing extremist and right-wing populist groups are questioning the culture of remembrance, which shows how relevant and controversial this topic still is today. The upcoming Remembrance Day in Lichtenfels gives civil society the opportunity to actively engage with its own history and advocate for a diverse culture of remembrance.https://www.dw.com/de/holocaust-auschwitz-erinnerungskultur-deutschland-gedenktag-nationalsocialismus-v3/a-71300299