Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

INSTITUTIONS | SPEECHES   211 Institutions ©Dachau Memorial / G. Hassel Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Contemporary Witnesses, Dear Abba Naor, Vice-President of the CID, Dear Mr Zabarko, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Jews – Former Prisoners of Ghetto and Nazi Concentration Camps, Dear Mr Finsches, Dear Mr Lafaurie, Dear Mr Candotto, It is an honour to welcome you here today, along with your relatives and the families of those who are no longer with us. Dear President of the CID, General Thomas, Honourable Minister of Culture Prof. Piazolo, Dear Dr Hammermann, We are here today to remember the victims of National Social- ist tyranny. 77 years after the liberation of the Dachau concen- tration camp, we especially honour those who lost their lives here in the main camp and its subcamps, or on death marches, as well as those who survived the horror and suffered from its after-effects for decades – and continue to suffer to this day. The pandemic has prevented us from meeting in person for the past two years, so we are delighted to see you again today. Ladies and Gentlemen,  You are returning to this place of terror, where you or your relatives endured unimaginable suffering. • You have come to remember the end of immeasurable torment. • You are here to honour the act of liberation by the Allied forces. • Every act of remembrance also serves as a warning – and an urgent demand – that the atrocities committed by the Nazis must never be repeated. Karl Freller, MdL Director of the Bavarian Memorial Foundation  77th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau  1 May 2022 • This is the mission embodied by the Dachau Memorial and all other memorial sites. They are: • central places of remembrance and learning about the crimes of National Socialism in Bavaria; • stone witnesses that serve to warn future generations. The preservation of these sites is a permanent duty and   responsibility. In 2019, before the pandemic, the Dachau Memorial welcomed around 1 million visitors – making it the most visited concen- tration camp memorial site in Germany. Places like this must be authentically preserved for future generations. Bavaria’s policymakers have clearly acknowledged this   responsibility. The state government has declared a “Decade of Remembrance” and will provide the necessary funding.   I am confident that by 2033 – 100 years after the Dachau concentration camp was established by the National Socialists – we will have achieved our current goals. After completing a number of important projects in recent years – such as our new visitor centre, expanded administrative facilities and modernised parking area – we are now pressing ahead with the further development of the Dachau Memorial: 1.We are looking to renew the historical barracks area – with construction set to begin in early 2023. The barracks show   visitors what everyday life was like in the concentration camp – a life of suffering and deprivation. 2.We will soon be starting another project to restore and safe- guard two buildings of particular historical significance: the new crematorium and the prisoner compound. These buildings confront visitors with the harrowing reality of dying and death in the camp.