Memorial celebrations for the Reichspogromnacht: remind and remind you in Heidelberg

Memorial celebrations for the Reichspogromnacht: remind and remind you in Heidelberg

Heidelberg will hold an important commemoration on Saturday, November 9, 2024 to remember the victims of the pogrom night. This is the 86th anniversary of one of the darkest chapters in German history when the National Socialists brutally acted against the Jewish population in the night from November 10th to November 10th, 1938. Numerous shops and synagogues were destroyed in Heidelberg. With this event, the city would like to preserve the memory of the Jewish citizens at the time and remember their fate.

The commemoration takes place at 6.30 p.m. on the old synagogue square in the old town. Today there is a symbolic memorial that marks the former walls of the destroyed synagogue with white marble stones. The speakers include the first mayor Jürgen Odszuck and Halyna Dohayman, the 2nd chair of the Jewish cultural community. Students of the Federation of Jewish Students Baden e. V. are read the names of the then murdered and deported Heidelberg Jews. Subsequently, Rabbi Jona Pawelczyk-Kissin will speak the traditional Kaddisch, the prayer of the dead.

additional memorial events

To commemorate the Jewish community in Rohrbach, a separate event will take place at the old town hall in Rathausstraße at the same time. This will start at 6 p.m. and by the district association and the punker e. V. aligned. Dr. Norbert Giovannini, an expert in Jewish history in Heidelberg, will speak about "Violence and devaluation in the context of the November pogrom 1938". In his many years of research, he dealt intensively with the fate of the Jewish population in the region and was awarded the Obermayer German Jewish History Award in 2020. In this memorial event, too, young people will present the names of the Jewish fellow citizens who lived and suffered in Rohrbach.

The commemorative celebrations are public and all interested citizens are welcome to take part. Astrid Bock, an organizer of the memorial events, emphasizes the importance of these memories: "It is important that we learn from history and ensure that such atrocities never happen again." In addition, from around 7.45 p.m., another commemoration will take place in the House of Encounter, in which the Abraham Cup is handed over to schools. This prize is awarded at educational institutions that actively deal with topics such as anti -Semitism and interreligious dialogue.

The commitment of the city of Heidelberg and the various organizations shows how important it is to keep the memory of these tragic events alive. The joint efforts are intended to make a sign of tolerance and against agitation so that future generations are aware of the history and actively stand up for a fairer society.

For more information about the memorial events, visit www.mrn-news.de .