Schnack, a young man with verve and enthusiasm, is part of the group of young people who organized the November 9 rally in Würzburg. They not only invited and prepared, but also informed, reminded, drew comparisons to the present and warned forcefully with content-related contributions. It was obvious that this were their heartfelt concerns. Whether in the speech of Schnack, his young colleague, whose name I unfortunately do not know (sorry! He is on the photo here) or in the slam-like lecture of Kassandra, who committed without any template, among other things, revived scenes from back then. Finally, came a young man who wanted to speak spontaneously. He was part of the Sinti and Roma. His aunt had written a book about her experiences in the Holocaust. He urgently warns that something so inhuman must never happen again. Hats off to all!
Also on the speaker's stage were Benita Stolz, who introduced the Stolperstein campaign in Würzburg many years ago and has accompanied it ever since, and the Würzburg Peace Prize winner Burkhard Hose, who gave the Holocaust a face.
Hose vividly told the story of Ernst Lebermann, a Würzburg wine merchant and Jew. When, on the night of the Reich Pogrom, Würzburgers took him out of his bed at Scheffelstrasse 5, he only had time to throw a coat over his nightgown. Things must have been rough. For in a photo showing him one of them the day before his death, you can see the bloodstained nightgown under the lapel of the coat.
The National Socialists with SA, SS and Gestapo and Würzburg citizens who had joined their procession ran through the city center, bawling, destroying Jewish stores, looting and robbing. The synagogue in Domerschulgasse was also vandalized. "Anything can happen against Jews, only there must be no deaths!" said Martin Neff, the leader of the NSDAP Group South to the mob, according to sources.
Ernst Lebermann also got to feel this. They dragged him out of the house by his hands and feet, beat him and forced him to go ahead of their train. It was only in the morning that they let him go and delivered him to the prison on Ottostrasse. Covered in blood, he collapsed there. The next day he died.
The boys also spoke this evening about how people in Germany are being hounded again: there is the typical anti-Semitism that we are familiar with. But much more often, anti-Semitism becomes clear in ciphers. For example, when people today declare Georges Sorros, the East Coast finance mafia, and others to be entities that will scourge the world and should therefore be destroyed. These conspiracy theories must be countered. This reminds of earlier times, when one called the Jews again and again well poisoners, who would have caused the plague and wanted to exterminate the others in such a way. Have we learned nothing? Those who were there certainly did!
Afterwards we, young and older, from different political directions and groups, but all burning for democracy, human rights and freedom, were cleaning stumbling blocks in the city. With rags, brushes, detergent and water, but also candles and flowers, we set out. We scrubbed until the names became clearly recognizable again. In doing so, we thought of the brutal, unspeakable fates of these people. At the end, we lit a candle and placed a flower next to it. So that others would also see: There was something!?
Everyone is called to take a stand and to act, was the clear message of the evening.At that time it was against Jews, Homosexuals, Sinti and Roma, sick people, Scientists, Free Spirits, Dissenters and those who helped these people. Each of us can be a victim. We must never forget that.
Remembering alone has not been enough for a long time.
