Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

88   ALBUM 2021 | ACT OF REMEMBRANCE IN WÜRZBURG 2021 J A N U A R Y Act of remembrance in Würzburg On 25 January, the Bavarian Memorial Foundation joined the Bavarian State Parliament in remembering the victims of National Socialism. The act of remembrance took place at the “DenkOrt Deportationen” near Würzburg Central Station, a local memorial inaugurated in 2020 consisting of symbolic pieces of luggage. Suitcases, rucksacks and bundles made of concrete, stone, metal and other materials evoke the memory of those who were torn from their homes. Matching objects are located at the deportees’ former addresses.Würzburg Central Station, alongside the Aumühl loading yard, served as a key hub for deportations fromWürzburg and Lower Franconia. It was used to deport 2,069 Jewish citizens to concentration camps in Eastern Europe, where all but 63 were murdered. The abandoned items of luggage symbolise loss and the erasure of Jewish life from the local community. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the act of remembrance was held without a public audience. After a welcome address from Ilse Aigner (President of the Bavarian State Parliament), com- memorative speeches were delivered by Karl Freller (Director of the Bavarian Memorial Foundation) and Christian Schuchardt (Lord Mayor of Würzburg). A group of pupils from the Gustav-Waller Mittelschule read texts written by deportees. Dr Josef Schuster (President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany) offered some moving words of remembrance, and Barbara Stamm (former President of the State Parliament) led a prayer for peace. The event concluded with a wreath-laying.