Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

INSTITUTIONS | SPEECHES   219 Institutions ©Bavarian State Parliament Photo Archive / R. Poss Ladies and Gentlemen, We are all deeply moved by the conversation we have just heard with the two contemporary witnesses. Encounters like these remind me time and again how precious the memories are of those who lived through those events and bore their suffering. I would therefore like to express my heartfelt thanks to you,   Ms Havránková, and to you, Ms Hackl. Today, you have shown us with striking clarity what human beings are capable of inflicting on others, what human beings can endure, and how courageous a person can be in doing good – even when this means putting their own life at risk. Your life achievements command my greatest respect! For all generations that follow, one thing remains true: They must know this history – and they must be able to bear it.   Each generation will only be able to learn from the crimes of National Socialism if they are actually willing to confront them. Those who are too cowardly to face the truth or open their ears will effectively give up – carelessly and irresponsibly – the chance to safeguard and strengthen our democracy and the rule of law. Anyone who understands the abyss represented by Auschwitz would never gamble with human dignity! In Judaism, remembrance is a religious commandment. Beyond commemorative days and rituals, the Shoah is present in every Jewish family. The Israeli writer Yishai Sarid recently said that the Shoah is “engraved into our souls”. Dr Josef Schuster President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Act of remembrance for the victims  of National Socialism in Passau  24 January 2020 However, this is not true of the non-Jewish majority – in fact, we tend to see the opposite. I sense that more and more   people would rather draw a line under the past to remain within their comfort zone. To quote Adorno, who noted in his renowned essay Educa- tion after Auschwitz that “the monstrous has not penetrated people […] and therefore the possibility of its recurrence […] persists”. The monstrous has not penetrated people – Adorno’s analysis of society in 1966 is now more relevant than ever. As the number of contemporary witnesses grows ever smaller, I believe it is absolutely essential that we continue to convey fundamental democratic values and promote Holocaust   education. The Shoah must be taught as a unique crime against human- ity – and one that unfolded not only within the confines of concentration camps. It was not a crime that is merely attrib- utable to a small clique called the Nazis; it was one in which the vast majority of the German population was directly or indirectly complicit. Its victims were not an anonymous mass; they were individuals, each with their own life story. Today, we face the difficult task of conveying this monstrosity to young people for whom these events feel as distant as the German Empire. This presents an immense responsibility – especially for schools. But where do we stand in terms of teacher training and professional development? Are we setting priorities when it comes to passing on new research findings in Holocaust   studies or recent developments in remembrance culture?