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Deswegen! – 75 Jahre Grundgesetz
Aktion, ArtikelVon Paul Jährling
Deswegen – 75 Jahre Grundgesetz Das Projekt „Deswegen! 75 Jahre Grundgesetz“, setzte sich aus einem archivpädagogischen Streetart-Workshop, als auch aus einer öffentlichen Diskussionsveranstaltung mit der Verfassungsrichterin Astrid Wallrabenstein zusammen. Schüler*innen zeigten, was ihnen persönlich das Grundgesetz heute bedeutet und diskutierten mit dem Darmstädter Oberbürgermeister Hanno Benz und der Verfassungsrichterin über die Gefährdungen und die Wehrhaftigkeit unserer Demokratie. Eine Veranstaltung am 06.06.2024, kurz vor der Europawahl, die nochmal zeigte, wie wichtig das persönliche Engagement jedes Einzelnen für den Schutz von Menschenrechten und Demokratie ist. Die Ausstellung „Deswegen! – 75 Jahre Grundgesetz“ zeigt auf innovative Weise, warum das Grundgesetz so formuliert…
Der 01. Mai 1933 – „Tag der nationalen Arbeit“
Artikel, NS-Zeit ORVon Paul Jährling
Der 1. Mai 1933Ober-Ramstadt am „Tag der deutschen Arbeit“ Marsch der NSDAP Ober-Ramstadt am „Tag der deutschen Arbeit“ (1933) 01.05.1933. Der kleine südhessische Ort Ober-Ramstadt ist längst ein Teil des NS-Regimes geworden. Das war lange nicht absehbar. Vor 1930 stellte die SPD die größte Partei in der Stadt dar, allerdings hatte sie keine absolute Mehrheit, denn ihr gegenüber standen starke konservativen Parteien und die KPD. Alles ändert sich 1930 mit der Gründung der NSDAP. Ab 1932 bilden sich in Ober-Ramstadt zwei Blöcke: Die NSDAP mit 52,65 % der Stimmen und die SPD, die zusammen mit der KPD insgesamt 45,6% erhielt. Verloren…
The Horror did not start in Auschwitz or Treblinka but right in front of our doorsteps…
““I should like someone to remember that there once lived a person named David Berger,“
(Daniel Berger (19), who was shot by the SS in Vilna 1941, last letter to his girlfriend) Source: Jad Vashem
“Truly dead are only those that are forgotten“. Memorial plaques, called “Stolpersteine” in Ober-Ramstadt
“Stolpersteine” were created by the cologne resident and artist Gunter Demnig. Beginning in 1995 Demnig placed small brass plaques outside the homes of victims of the NS regime to memorialize them. “Stolpersteine” are small concrete cubes coated in brass engraved with the dates of birth and death of a victim.
Numerous Communities in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and in Netherlands have taken part in this project dedicated to the Remembrance of victims of the NS State violence. In 2007 a group of students and teachers of the Georg Christoph Lichtenberg school started researching the history of the Jewish community of Ober-Ramstadt before World War 2. During March of 2010 the first 10 “Stolperstein” were placed on the streets of Ober-Ramstadt. The ceremony was accompanied by many Ober-Ramstadt citizens as well as Julius Bendorf. Julius Bendorf was born in Ober-Ramstadt survived Auschwitz and fled to the USA. The students kept in regular contact via letters with Julius. Only through the support of the students, the local history Club, the city officials, and both churches this project flourishes.
A lot of the findings are based on the extensive work of Otto Weber, Prof. Helmut Beier, and Prof. Gerd Steffens that had already been researching the local NS history and have earned themselves great praise.
It is the goal of this project to lift the veil of anonymity from the victims and return their faces. Statistics have turned into stories with pictures and words that can now be remembered. Not only were the stories of their lives uncovered during the work for this project, but also contacts between the families of the victims and survivors and numerous townspeople were reestablished and new friendships were formed. That’s far more than anybody could ask for. Additionally, the understanding of Ober-Ramstadts history during the 20th century has deepened.
The project is financed through multiple sponsors who each adopted a commemoration stone as a patron. This concept is widely accepted and supported among the people of Ober-Ramstadt. The local politicians of all parties have voiced support of the project.
The Students and their Supporters hope that the “Stolpersteine” help people remember the victims – especially now that many of the contemporary eyewitnesses are no longer around and more and more people forget their lessons for us. Meanwhile there are more and more demands to stop talking about this particular chapter of German history.
In this modern interconnected world understanding the “other” is more and more important. Tolerance and lived democratic values must be at the forefront of our souls. Dialogue across so called cultural differences and those democratic values might be more important than ever before.