Preserving the memory, opposing the hate
The World Jewish Congress has launched a photo campaign under the hashtag “#WeRemember” to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 that will commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp for the 73rd time. The campaign reached more than 250 million people in 2017. The objective of the day is to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, honor the victims and speak out strongly against anti-Semitism and racism.
Together with the International Auschwitz Committee (IAK), trainees at Volkswagen commemorated the victims of National Socialism during a memorial service. Last year, trainees from Wolfsburg and Hannover helped maintain and upkeep the Holocaust Memorial in Oświęcim, Poland. During events in Berlin, Munich and Wolfsburg, the young women and men now share the stories of suffering, murder and survival told by those who experienced the horrors of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau first-hand.
Patrica Harms, an office management trainee at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, spoke at the opening of the exhibition “Auschwitz – eine deutliche Spur” (Auschwitz – a clear trail) in Berlin. The 20-year-old shared the experiences she had while working at the memorial with the audience:
“Auschwitz is a place where I learned to see life in a new way. Since last summer, things that I used to take for granted – my family, my home, food, shoes, clothes, good health and freedom – have taken on a whole different meaning.”
On roof-to-ceiling photo displays, survivors of the death camp, young visitors, Volkswagen trainees from Germany and vocational students from Bielsko-Bieła, Poland, report about their shared encounters and experiences in Auschwitz. And they also talk about their hopes, questions and expectations. The exhibition will be open through March 30 during the regular hours of the German Resistance Memorial Center, Stauffenbergstraße 13-14 in Berlin. Entry is free of charge.