Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

166   SPEECHES | POLITICS AND SOCIETY Politics and Society ©Dachau Memorial / G. Hassel Dear Mr Boueilh, Dear Mr Naor, Dear Mr Freller, Dear Mr Hartmann, Dear Ms Bering, Dear Dr Hammermann, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for joining us in such great numbers for today’s act of remembrance. The 79th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau is an important day for all of us. It is a day where we honour the approximately 41,000 people who were tortured to death in this camp. And we remember all those who endured unimaginable suffering here. We also pay tribute to the American soldiers who liberated this camp. The suffering of the victims, the courage of the libera- tors and the commitment of the survivors – who have kept the memory alive ever since – stand before us as both as a warning and a call to action. Ladies and Gentlemen! The unforgettable Max Mannheimer, who spent a great deal of time speaking as a contemporary witness at our schools, once reminded our future generations:“You are not responsible   for what happened. But you are responsible for ensuring it never happens again”. This is a responsibility we all share – now more than ever. Here in Germany, attacks on our democracy are all too pres- ent: Right-wing extremists are plotting to expel people with a migration background; members of parliament face trial over alleged sedition; and there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents in our country following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Anna Stolz, MdL Bavarian State Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs  and Chair of the Foundation Council 79th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau  5 May 2024 This gives us all the more reason to empower young people to stand against such misguided ideologies and hatred. This is the responsibility we owe to our own history. Education is key to upholding a strong democracy – and to ensuring that our young people are imbued with confidence and committed to values such as freedom, tolerance and humanity. That is why the Free State of Bavaria is strengthening its political education and extremism prevention in schools:We have appointed regional commissioners for democracy and tol- erance; we have devised a comprehensive strategy to combat antisemitism; we are providing youth ambassadors with train- ing so that they can spread the word of our values; we have introduced a new “constitutional quarter-hour”; and we have established a culture of remembrance that forms an integral part of everyday teaching. Our coalition agreement states that every pupil should visit   at least one memorial site remembering the crimes of the   Nazi era over the course of their schooling. To facilitate this,   I intend to double the subsidies for trips to concentration camp memorial sites. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all teachers who bring Bavaria’s memorials closer to their students. These visits are a profound source of learning and help to strengthen our culture of remembrance. Through our comprehensive approach to remembrance work, we systematically promote the preservation and development of the most important sites associated with perpetrators and victims in Bavaria. This keeps the memory alive, reinforces our   constitutional identity, and fortifies our resilient democracy. The Dachau Memorial plays a central role in this effort: This concentration camp represents all phases of National Social- ist terror – from the first camps to the murderous years of 1944/45. Dachau has become a symbol of the inhumanity and deadly brutality of the Nazi regime – both here in Bavaria and far beyond.