26. January 2024 | Magazine:

Contempt for humanity has no place at TU Braunschweig! Commemoration of the victims of National Socialism at TU Braunschweig

It has become a tradition at Technische Universität Braunschweig to commemorate people who were discriminated against and persecuted because of their origin, religion or gender on the International Memorial Day for the Victims of National Socialism. TU members also observed a minute’s silence in front of the “Stolperschwelle” (memorial stone) in front of the Historic Main Building in memory of the more than 50 members of our university who were expelled, dismissed or murdered by National Socialism. TU President Angela Ittel and Steffen Dohmen from the Anti-Fascism and Anti-Racism Department of the AStA laid flowers at the Stolperschwelle in front of the Historic Main Building.

Together with Steffen Dohmen and Nele Schnars, President Angela Ittel laid flowers in front of the Stolperschwelle. Photo credit: Ahmed Nassef/TU Braunschweig

TU President Angela Ittel and Steffen Dohmen from the AStA commemorated the victims of National Socialism. Photo credit: Ahmed Nassef/TU Braunschweig

Members of TU Braunschweig commemorated the victims of National Socialism with a minute's silence. Photo credit: Ahmed Nassef/TU Braunschweig

Since 2014, the Stolperschwelle has been the place of remembrance at TU Braunschweig. Photo credit: Ahmed Nassef/TU Braunschweig

In her speech, President Angela Ittel called on us to actively defend the foundations of our social order with democracy, the rule of law and freedom.

(Extract from the speech) “In this day and age, after so many years, one might think that the world and we would have learnt the lessons of the Second World War. But Russia’s war of aggression and Hamas’s terrorist attacks on Israel last October show that peace, human rights and freedom cannot be taken for granted. Nor can democracy be taken for granted. And even the declaration “Never again” cannot be taken for granted.

The radicalisation of political discourse in parts of our society is currently taking alarming forms that pose a direct threat to our system of values. Attempts are being made to place racist, right-wing extremist and inhumane ideas and concepts at the centre of society. In the face of these developments, it is all the more important that we actively protect the foundations of our social order.

It is of vital importance to our university that we take a clear and firm stance against discrimination, anti-Semitism and all forms of inhumane behaviour at this historically explosive time. Our university is a place where all people, regardless of their background or sexual orientation, can study, research, work and be valued. We are actively committed to ensuring that our university remains a place where the principles of freedom, democracy and science are fully practised and promoted.”

In his speech, Steffen Dohmen from the AStA’s Anti-Fascism and Anti-Racism Department emphasised that right-wing violence and terror have long since become omnipresent again and that National Socialist ideas did not simply cease to exist after 1945.

(Extract from the speech) “Like no other place, the Auschwitz concentration camp symbolises National Socialist terror and the greatest crime in the history of mankind. Auschwitz is a memorial to where fascism, nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism lead. Or rather, it should be a memorial.

Today, more than 90 years after the Nazis seized power, right-wing extremists are once again sawing away at the pillars of democracy. Right-wing violence and right-wing terror have long since become omnipresent again. So when we remember the victims of that time, we also remember all the victims of right-wing violence after 1945, because National Socialist ideas did not simply cease to exist after 1945. On the contrary, they lived and continue to live in the minds of many people. The recently uncovered deportation plans are only the preliminary result of a development that has been going on for decades.

Leading politicians have long since adopted the rhetoric of the right and are thus ensuring that the “firewall to the right” is being torn down piece by piece and that hatred can penetrate ever deeper into society.

In the face of these developments, it is all the more important for civil society to rise up and stand together. Let us fight together to ensure that history does not repeat itself. Let us stand together for a liberated society based on solidarity and let us remember the victims, past and present.

Never again is now.”

Memorial Day

The Memorial Day for the Victims of National Socialism on 27 January has been a nationwide, statutory memorial day in Germany since 1996. As 27 January this year falls on the Jewish Sabbath, TU Braunschweig is following the practice of many public institutions by commemorating the Memorial Day for the Victims of National Socialism on Friday 26 January.

Further information

The Memorial Day

On 27 January 1945, Soviet soldiers liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, where more than one million people were murdered by National Socialists between 1940 and 1945. Since 1996, this has been a nationwide, legally enshrined memorial day that remembers the crimes of Nazi regime. At TU Braunschweig, the Stolperschwelle on the steps in front of the Historic Main Building has been a place of remembrance since 2014. This was laid by the Cologne sculptor Gunter Demnig in cooperation with the association “Stolpersteine für Braunschweig e.V.”.

“In memory of the victims of National Socialism at our university. Discriminated, dismissed, expelled, persecuted, murdered,” reads the inscription on the Stolperschwelle, which keeps the memory of the darkest chapter of German, but also of our university history alive at this prominent location and at which a commemoration has been held since 2018.

The Technische Hochschule under National Socialism

The expulsion of politically and racially disliked persons began at the Technische Hochschule as early as 1930. With more than a third of the entire teaching staff, the proportion of expelled teachers was far higher than the average at other universities in the German Reich. Two publications by TU Braunschweig contributed to processing the period of National Socialist persecution. In 2010, the volume “Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung an der Technischen Hochschule Braunschweig 1930 bis 1945“ (Victims of National Socialist Persecution at the Technische Hochschule Braunschweig 1930 to 1945) was published by Michael Wettern and Daniel Weßelhöft under the direction of Hans-Ulrich Ludewig.

With 51 short biographies of those persecuted for racist and political reasons at the TH, TU Braunschweig wants to commemorate the victims and keep the diversity of their fates in mind. In the second publication “Von fleißigen Mitmachern, Aktivisten und Tätern. Die Technische Hochschule Braunschweig im Nationalsozialismus” (About industrious participants, activists and perpetrators. The Technische Hochschule Braunschweig under National Socialism) by Daniel Weßelhöft, 72 short biographies of people who were active in various functions at TH Braunschweig between 1930 and 1945 in the sense of National Socialism show how different a National Socialist commitment could appear.

You can find more information on the website “Unsere Geschichte – Aufarbeitung der NS-Zeit“ (Our History – coming to terms with the Nazi Era)

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