Shock in Hamburg: Right-wing extremists attack Holocaust memorial!

Shock in Hamburg: Right-wing extremists attack Holocaust memorial!

Hannoverscher Bahnhof, 20095 Hamburg, Deutschland - Unknowns have smeared the Holocaust memorial at Hanover's train station in Hamburg with right-wing extremists. This incident is the first attack on the memorial since its opening in 2017. The state protection of the state criminal office has started the investigation after the smearings were announced in a press release from HafenCity. Dr. Andreas Kleinau, the chairman of the management of HafenCity Hamburg, was shaken by the desecration of the memorial, which serves as a central starting point for the deportations of Jews, Sinti and Roma between 1940 and 1945

From this historic train station, over 8,000 people were deported to forced labor camps, ghettos and concentration camps, which underlines the importance of this place. At platform 2, 20 name boards are reminiscent of the deported, while an info pavilion on Lohseplatz offers an overview exhibition. The Hamburg Memorial Foundation is currently developing a documentation center Denk. Mal Hannoverscher Bahnhof nearby to keep the memory of the victims.

increase in right -wing extremist attacks on memorials

This incident should not be considered isolated: concentration camp memorials in Germany report an alarming increase in right-wing extremist threats. A survey by the Editorial Network Germany (RND) has shown that memorial sites such as Dachau, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen, Neuengamme and Sachsenhausen/Ravensbrück have determined a doubling of the incidents. Rikola-Gunnar Lüttgenau, deputy director of the Buchenwald Memorial Foundation, describes the increasing number of incidents as a "seismograph" for a threat to the foundations of the Federal Republic. Lüttgenau reports on an increase in vandalism cases from once a month two years ago to almost weekly.

Clara Mansfeld, spokeswoman for the Hamburg Memorial Foundation, also comments on the increasing vandalism and smear cases. This development is shown in both physical space and in the digital area. Verena Bierl, spokeswoman for the Dachau concentration camp memorial, emphasizes that attacks also shift to digital space. A spokeswoman for the Bergen-Belsen memorial complains that democratic and right-wing radical views are increasingly accepted in society.

social effects

The concerns of worrying are underpinned by a study by the SPD-related Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which shows an increased receptivity to right-wing extremist and democratic attitudes in Germany. The proportion of citizens with a clearly right -wing orientation has therefore tripled to around eight percent. These alarming numbers illustrate the concise social challenge that Germany is facing.

The Hamburg police asks Witnesses who have information about the unknown perpetrators to report on 040/4286-56789. In view of the increasing number of incidents at memorials, it is of great importance to continue to be able to actively promote and the education about the atrocities of the past.

The events for the Holocaust Memorial in Hamburg are part of a major problem that concerns not only the cities, but the entire society: dealing with the history and anchoring of these topics in the present.

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