'Never Again!': Holocaust remembrance under pressure

Holocaust remembrance is facing increasing pressure, as incidents of disrespect and desecration at memorial sites continue to rise. Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, expressed concern over the desecration of memorial trees and the growing frequency of such incidents. He emphasized that these actions ultimately cause victims to die a second death.

The founder of the Holocaust exhibition "Never Again! Against Forgetting the Crimes of the Nazi Regime" in Bonn's Bundeskunsthalle, Wagner, sees Holocaust remembrance under threat due to right-wing populism, historical revisionism, and the decline of Holocaust survivors. The upcoming exhibition aims to address these concerns by showcasing works of art and historical artifacts, hoping to engage a broader audience.

Wagner and other curators are concerned that young people might perceive the Nazi era as a distant past, making it challenging to evoke an emotional response. To counter this, Buchenwald organizes full-day programs for students, allowing them to engage with historical sources and draw connections between the past and present issues like migration.

A survivor, Eva Umlauf, shared her harrowing experience of being deported from Slovakia to Auschwitz-Birkenau at the age of two, only to survive the camp's liberation and the birth of her sister three months later. She has dedicated her life to speaking about the Holocaust, emphasizing the importance of not forgetting the victims and the need for people to confront these atrocities.

Despite the challenges, Eva remains committed to ensuring that the memory of the Holocaust endures for future generations.