Viaggio della Memoria with 550 school pupils from the province of Cremona on the 81st anniversary of the murder of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the military resistance at the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial

Flossenbürg, 10 April 2026 – Around 550 school pupils from the Lombardy province of Cremona took part in a commemorative ceremony yesterday at the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial. The visit forms part of the project ‘Essere cittadini europei. Paths to an active European memory’ – an educational programme for pupils and teachers in the province of Cremona that has been running for 29 years.

9 April 2026 marks the 81st anniversary of the murder of key figures in the German resistance against National Socialism: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Wilhelm Canaris, Ludwig Gehre, Hans Oster, Friedrich von Rabenau, Karl Sack and Theodor Strünck were executed on 9 April 1945 in Flossenbürg. The commemoration of these men of the military resistance therefore took on particular significance during yesterday’s event.

Following an introduction by staff from the Education Department, the participants toured the site, the permanent exhibitions and the former quarry – the place of forced labour and death for thousands of prisoners.

At 1.00 pm, an official commemorative ceremony took place in the former detention yard. Representing the city and region of Cremona were the Mayor of Cremona, Andrea Virgilio, and the President of the Province of Cremona, Roberto Mariani. Speaking on behalf of the concentration camp memorial were the Head of the Education Department, Dr Christa Schikorra, and the Chairman of the Friends’ Association, Dean Karlhermann Schötz. Following this, a wreath was laid in the Valley of Death – the site of the executions in the camp’s final weeks.