Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

160   SPEECHES | POLITICS AND SOCIETY Politics and Society ©Flossenbürg Memorial / T. Dashuber Ladies and Gentlemen, 80 years have passed since the liberation of the Flossenbürg concentration camp.While the immediate terror may have ended on that fateful day, the memory of it has never faded. Today, we recall not only the physical suffering inflicted in our dark past, but also the wounds that remain etched onto our soul and cannot be healed. That is why my visit here today, as Minister-President of   Bavaria, is not just an official duty. It is a personal commitment. Especially in times like these, where we are witnessing devel- opments that would have been regarded as unimaginable ten or twenty years ago.We have often discussed the principle of “Never again!”. But now we are witnessing a fundamental shift. That makes it all the more important not only to declare our commitment, but to demonstrate that the state, our society and all who bear responsibility stand firm in their resolve. “Never again!”must be more than a phrase. It must be reflected in our actions. And it must be continually upheld. I am here today to reaffirm this conviction. We have gathered here today to commemorate the moment in history – 80 years ago – when the Flossenbürg concentration camp was liberated by American soldiers. It is a truly special day, a remarkable anniversary. The memory of liberation evokes profound emotions. It is deeply moving. It is a day of mourning for the victims. A day of gratitude to the liberators. A day of hope that humanity has learned from those dark times. And yet it is also a day of doubt as to whether this hope has truly been fulfilled. In 1938, the SS established a concentration camp in Flossen­ bürg. A total of 100,000 prisoners from 47 nations were incarcerated here between 1938 and 1945, in the main camp and in almost 80 subcamps: 84,000 men and 16,000 women, Dr Markus Söder, MdL Minister-President of the Free State of Bavaria 80th anniversary  of the liberation of Flossenbürg  27 April 2025 including countless children and teenagers. They had to quarry granite in the stone pits under the most horrific conditions, exploited as rightless slaves to supply material for the Nazi regime’s grotesque monumental architecture. From 1943 onwards, prisoners were also forced to work on the produc- tion of the “Messerschmitt” fighter aircraft in repurposed stone-cutting halls, making the camp another cog in the Nazi armaments industry. A vast array of groups were imprisoned here: so-called “career criminals”, political prisoners, Jews, social democrats, communists, homosexuals, dissenting journalists, artists, clergymen and around 1,000 Sinti and Roma. Many of them died. Many endured terrible suffering. Some of their names are still known today. Yet no individual is more important than another. Every person, every victim, every fate touches us equally.We will never forget the final words uttered by Dietrich Bonhoeffer before his execution here:“This is the end. For me, the beginning of life”.We are joined today by His Royal Highness Max Emanuel in Bavaria. He and his brother, Franz of Bavaria, were also held in Flossenbürg as “special   prisoners” – and only survived by the narrowest of margins. Franz of Bavaria once recalled:“The corpses were piled up so high that our barracks were dark”. These are memories that cannot fade – even after decades. Flossenbürg was not a “classic” extermination camp like Auschwitz or Treblinka. But it was an extermination camp nonetheless – one that exterminated its victims through   labour. 30,000 people were murdered here and in the sub- camps – not to mention the many who were deported to other extermination camps to be killed. Some died as a result of merciless exploitation and forced labour. Others succumbed to malnutrition, disease and the complete absence of medical care. And others were simply executed in cold blood. This was a godless place. There was no humanity, no compas- sion. In the final days of this camp, nearly 15,000 people were cramped together under catastrophic conditions. Hygiene had