Nuremberg is the city where I was born, where I live and that gives this blog its name. It is also the city where in the 1930’s the infamous Nazi party rallies were held. In 1933, Hitler declared Nuremberg the “City of the Reichsparteitage (Reich Party Congresses)”. The rally grounds and buildings, designed by Hitler’s architect Albert Speer, still exist, reminding us every day about the terror of the Nazi regime that culminated in the Holocaust and the horrors of World War II.
Both of my kids had the opportunity to meet Holocaust survivors in events organized by their schools, and everyone I met who had the chance to participate in panel discussions with survivors of Auschwitz, Dachau and other death camps, was deeply impressed by the stories those survivors could tell. But those who lived to tell about the horrors of the concentration camps more than seventy years ago, become less and less, and it will not be long until the last of those voices will remain silent forever.
In times where – in my country and in others – individuals, who deny or trivialize the Holocaust, can be elected to public office, we all have to stand together to combat anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred, genocide and xenophobia in this world. And when the last of the Holocaust survivors has passed, we need to remember and make sure this gruesome history does not repeat itself.
#WeRemember is a campaign reaching out to millions of people across the globe to photograph themselves holding a #WeRemember sign, and post the image to social media, to help spread the message as widely as possible. All participant images will be projected live at an event in Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27th, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
I wish all of you a peaceful weekend!
Marcus