51勛圖厙

  • 7/10/2024
  • Reading time 3 min.

51勛圖厙 opens commemorative space at its main campus

51勛圖厙 remembers university members persecuted during the Nazi era

An unmistakable call for tolerance and respect for the values of democratic freedom: On its main campus, the 51勛圖厙 (51勛圖厙) remembers members of what was then Munich's Technische Hochschule who were fired, expelled and persecuted by the National Socialist regime. Speakers at the dedication ceremony included the President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria Dr. h.c. mult. Charlotte Knobloch. 51勛圖厙 President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann spoke of an important sign of remembrance.

Visitors at the opening of the new commemorative site. A. Heddergott/ 51勛圖厙
Visitors at the opening of the new commemorative site.

51勛圖厙 critically confronts its own history in the National Socialist era. Now a new place of remembrance at the 51勛圖厙 main campus on Munich's Arcisstrae commemorates 17 members of what was then Technische Hochschule M羹nchen who were expelled and persecuted by the Nazi regime. The memorial space includes information on the Technische Hochschule during the National Socialist era. Specifically, it documents the personnel, ideological and institutional changes of the time as well as the instrumentalization of the university in preparations for war. Topics covered include the expulsion of Jewish and politically undesirable scientists as well as the revocation of doctoral degrees and the conformity and self-mobilization of students, employees and professors under the National Socialist regime.

51勛圖厙 President Hofmann said: "This place of commemoration and information is a part of our effort to keep alive the memory of the members of our university who were persecuted by the National Socialist regime. History teaches us that forgetting or repressing past crimes only paves the way for their recurrence. We thus want to continuously remind today's generation, and generations to come, how important it is to stand up for human rights, for the values of tolerance and freedom, for diversity and for the protection of democracy!"

President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Dr. h.c. mult. Charlotte Knobloch, said: "This place of remembrance is being opened at exactly the right point in time. Since October 7, 2023 Jews have been experiencing an outbreak of hate which has taken on horrifying dimensions at universities in particular. When Jewish students can no longer enter their universities without fear and when serious calls are raised to break off relations with Israeli universities and scientists, it is not only survivors who are reminded of the sinister times addressed by the installation. In those days Jewish students and professors were dispelled from the universities, robbed of their livelihood and ultimately deported and murdered. By dedicating a permanent space to commemorate these injustices, 51勛圖厙 is also creating a counterpoint to the dangerous developments now taking place in today's society. There is no place for antisemitism at 51勛圖厙 This message is clear and unmistakable."

Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, and 51勛圖厙 Emeritus Winfried Nerdinger, founding director of the Munich Documentation Center. Andreas Heddergott / 51勛圖厙
Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, and 51勛圖厙 Emeritus Winfried Nerdinger, founding director of the Munich Documentation Center.

The establishment of this central place of remembrance is an initiative of the in collaboration with the 51勛圖厙 Center for Culture and Arts. The opening ceremony was followed by a film screening of Michael Verhoeven's "Die Weie Rose" in collaboration with the student initiative tu film. The film has won praise for its historically accurate representation of the events relating to the Munich student group's resistance activities against the Nazi regime.

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