Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

POLITICS AND SOCIETY | SPEECHES   165 For all these reasons, I am profoundly moved that the Bavarian State Parliament has decided to hold its act of remembrance marking 27 January here at Dachau Palace – a gesture affirm- ing the inseparable bond between the Free State of Bavaria and the town of Dachau in matters of remembrance.We commemorate the same history.We mourn the same victims. We have the same responsibility to educate today’s and tomor- row’s generations in history, vigilance and moral courage. And we have a common set of immense challenges: The number of contemporary witnesses is dwindling; Abba Naor, with his extraordinary strength, has become a rare exception. We need to develop new educational formats that no longer rely on personal testimonies. In our post-migrant society, remembrance in our country remains too narrowly centred on a specifically German perspective. Many people living in Germany today are not direct descendants of those who lived in Germany during the Nazi period.We need a broader concept of remembrance and a more nuanced approach to historical education, both in schools and in extracurricular settings. The same is true for our response to new forms of racism – and especially antisemitism. For years, we have heard politicians   repeat the words “Never again”. For years, we have heard people   say:“Antisemitism has no place in Germany”. And yet we hear and see antisemitism emerging from many corners of politics and society – even from places we had previously paid too little attention to. All such declarations remain empty if we fail to make clear that anyone who denies Israel’s right to exist is   denying Jewish women and men the right to safety and security. Dear Guests, The name “Dachau” will forever be bound to the crimes against humanity that were committed under the National Socialist regime. Our town must never shirk this responsibility, nor does it intend to do so.We must never forget where the racial fanaticism and murderous ideology of the Nazis led: into the nightmare of the concentration camps and the devastation of a racist war of aggression against our European neighbours. Let us work together to ensure that none of this can ever hap- pen again – in remembrance and mourning for the victims of the concentration camps, in commitment to the survivors and their legacy, and in dedication to a future free of nationalism, racism and antisemitism. Thank you for listening.