Demmin commemorates the Reichspogromnacht: reminder for the future!

Demmin commemorates the Reichspogromnacht: reminder for the future!

In a moving act of commemoration, representatives of the Demmin city administration and all factions represented in the city parliament gathered at the Jewish cemetery on Bergstrasse to commemorate the Reichspogromnacht of November 9, 1938. Among those present were the member of the state parliament Dr. Anna-Konstanze Schröder (SPD) and social director Michael Löffler, who lay down flowers at the Davidsohn family. This ceremony was not only a sign of respect, but also an urgent warning to the horrors of the past.

The participants also put small stones on the tomb, a symbolic gesture that keeps the memory alive. "Every stone is a memory as long as a stone is dating, the memory is kept up," explained Robert Fingerloos. Mayor Thomas Witkowski (CDU) spoke of the unspeakable suffering, hatred and cruelty that the Jewish fellow citizens had suffered during the Nazi regime. "The Nazi regime has spread unspeakable disaster. Millions of people have lost everything, including the will to live. November 9th is a day of reminder and eternal vigilance," emphasized Witkowski.

Current covers and responsibility

With urgent words, the mayor made the relation to the current crimes of Hamas against the Israeli people: "The unthinkable was done again in October 2023. Innocent people were murdered," said Witkowski. He criticized the persistent rocket attacks on Israel and the sympathy for the criminals. "In memory of November 8 and October 7, the obligation to show no indifference and act responsibly themselves."

Former Mayor Ernst Wellmer added: "As a folk covenant, we regularly commemorate all victims of violence and war. We maintain and maintain their graves in order to learn from the mistakes of the past and at the same time to remind peace. This is particularly important today." These words underline the urgency of learning from history and actively fighting against forgetting.