“Historical responsibility cannot be voted away.” With these words, the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation called on the federal and state governments last Sunday to legally safeguard the independence of memorial sites – particularly in Saxony-Anhalt – by: through funding structures that ensure these institutions remain operational even in the event of a politically motivated withdrawal of state funding; through the targeted involvement of smaller memorial sites and local initiatives; and through the expansion of existing networks for joint educational work, legal advice and public support in the event of attacks on the institutions and their staff.
Just how urgent this demand is became clear that very same evening at the joint themed event ‘GEMEINSAM – GEGENWART – ERINNERN’, organised by the CPPD in collaboration with the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation as part of the Weimar Arts Festival. Shortly after 6 pm, Jens-Christian Wagner, Director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, Noa K. Ha, Research Director of the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), and Nicole Schweiß, a teacher and advocate for anti-discrimination education, joined the audience in following the first exit poll results for the state election in Saxony-Anhalt. Although the result came as no surprise to anyone, it prompted a moment of pause and brief silence, until clear words followed: “Let’s not allow ourselves to be divided!”.
Thementag
Through two workshops, a panel discussion and a concert, the day explored the question of what remembrance means today, how it relates to the present, and how it can be practised as a collective, active endeavour. Participants from the CPPD network, as well as from the fields of education, academia and contemporary arts, came together to discuss.
Workshops
“Songs as Memory”: Musicians Yael Gat and Alex Stolze from the Dagesh network explored Jewish songs with the participants as vehicles of memory and expressions of resistance, combining historical narratives with musical practice.
“Dimensions of a plural culture of remembrance”: Nicole Schweiß and Igor Mitschnik, managing directors of Austausch e.V., asked participants whose history is remembered and whose is not. Using a coordinate system illustrating the interplay between past and future, they highlighted various themes of remembrance, areas of tension and missing perspectives.
The highlight of the evening was the panel discussion between Jens-Christian Wagner and Noa K. Ha. Moderated by Nicole Schweiß, the two spoke about how remembrance can be co-opted and how memory can become the foundation of solidarity – a question that took on added urgency in the wake of election night.
Konzert
To round off the day, Yael Gat and Alex Stolze interwove Jewish musical history with contemporary sound aesthetics in their concert and, with the spontaneous participation of attendees from the preceding workshop, created a soundscape that closely linked historical roots with the present.
The theme day demonstrated once again that a pluralistic culture of remembrance requires space for diverse experiences and a critical engagement with German and European history. We would like to thank the Kunstfest Weimar and the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation for their collaboration, and our Netzwerkwerk members for their contributions. We look forward to continuing this exchange!
Fotos: Thomas Müller & Candy Welz | Kunstfest Weimar
