Bundestag commemorates the victims of National Socialism

78 years after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Bundestag commemorated the victims of National Socialism. For the first time, queer people were the focus.

With a ceremonial hour of remembrance on Friday, the Bundestag commemorated the victims of the National Socialist persecution of members of sexual minorities. “The last survivors of this group of victims died without us hearing them,” said Bundestag President Bärbel Bas. It is the first time that queer victims are the focus of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which the Bundestag celebrates every year with an event on January 27th.

“Auschwitz is the scene of the crime and a symbol of the genocide of European Jews,” said Bas. Many people in Germany believed that the country had already dealt with the Shoah more than enough. “That’s a mistake,” said Bas. “There can be no final line.” During the commemoration, Bas also recalled that the persecution of gays, lesbians, transsexuals and other minorities initially continued in the Federal Republic after the end of National Socialism.

Queer people were exposed to omnipresent violence without protection. “Many were misused for medical experiments,” said Bas. “Most died after a short time or were murdered.” It is the task of every generation to deal anew with the crimes of history and to tell the story of all those who were persecuted. Sexual minorities had waited in vain for a long time to be recognized as victims of the National Socialists.

“Anyone who did not conform to National Socialist norms lived in fear and distrust,” said the SPD politician. “The hardest hit were the many thousands of women and men who were deported to concentration camps because of their sexuality – sometimes under pretexts.” Also with a view to today, Bas warned to take a closer look at discrimination against queer people. “Queer-hostile crimes are increasing,” said the SPD politician. “Gay, lesbian and trans people are insulted, harassed and attacked.”

The memorial speech itself was given by Holocaust survivor Rozette Kats, who campaigned early on for the memory of queer victims of the National Socialists. The promise “never again” did not mean all groups of victims. “It makes people sick when they have to hide and be in denial,” Kats said.

It is striking that many chairs remained vacant at the commemoration in the AfD parliamentary group. The CDU politician Serap Güler commented on Twitter: “Big gaps in the #noAfD at the #Holocaust commemoration hour in the German Bundestag. Don’t just say a lot, say everything.” 27 out of 78 AfD deputies were present at Kats’ speech.

Another speech is given by Klaus Schirdewahn, who was sentenced in 1964 for having sexual relations with another man. The actor Jannik Schümann and the actress Maren Kroymann presented texts about two victims whose life stories are exemplary for the persecution of sexual minorities during National Socialism. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also attended the event.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously recalled Germany’s historical responsibility for the murder of millions of Jews during the National Socialist era. “The suffering of six million innocently murdered Jews is unforgotten – just like the suffering of the survivors,” wrote the SPD politician on Twitter on Friday. To ensure that this never happens again, Germany’s historical responsibility is remembered on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

On January 27, 1945, Red Army soldiers liberated the survivors of the German concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz in occupied Poland. The Nazis had murdered more than a million people there. Since 1996, the date has been celebrated in Germany as Holocaust Remembrance Day. Wreaths will be laid in memory in many places this Friday.

The International Auschwitz Committee drew a parallel with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “This year, the survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps are confronted with new pain and terror on this day of remembrance, which is always painful for them: the memory of their murdered family members and fellow prisoners is mixed with horror at the horror of a new war in Europe.” , the committee said on Friday morning.

The survivors of Auschwitz remembered with gratitude the Red Army soldiers who liberated them. “They are all the more aware that the Russian army is waging a brutal war of aggression in Ukraine these days, from which the survivors of the Holocaust in Ukraine are also suffering, and whose memories are flooded with new horrors and trauma,” the Auschwitz statement said -Committees.