Political education and more.
- melanieschmoll1
- 6. Juni
- 5 Min. Lesezeit
After sending out my new newsletter last weekend and refraining from posting a blog entry, this week I'm back with information on what's been going on in my life.
This week was a bit strange because it was sandwiched between two public holidays: Ascension Day and Pentecost. I completed a project and a nice new assignment came in, which I will be working on over the next few days.
In the middle of the week, I accompanied a group of members of the navy as a seminar leader. That was a really nice task! Among other things, we visited the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung: Ausstellungen and also the former concentration camp in Neuengamme (https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/en/).
The camp was primarily intended for political prisoners, but unfortunately there were of course also many other prisoner groups. What I found most impressive was the original gate, which is on display inside.
“Because the site was used as an internment camp then as a prison after the war, the concentration camp was largely forgotten. For many decades, Neuengamme concentration camp faded from public memory – both in Germany and in Hamburg. The memorial was established gradually in the face of strong opposition. In 1953, a simple monument was erected on the edge of the grounds. Thanks to the endeavours of the main organisation representing all former camp prisoners, Amicale Internationale de Neuengamme, an international memorial was erected in 1965. In 1981, an exhibition building (Dokumentenhaus) was added, and the first exhibition was shown there with information on the history of the site. In 1984, after protests halted the demolition of the former brick factory, the brickworks and several buildings of the former concentration camp were designated as heritage sites. In 1995, a permanent exhibition opened in the former Walther factory and the exhibition building (Dokumentenhaus) was remodelled into the House of Remembrance, where the names of the victims are kept.
Finally, when the prison closed in 2003, a memorial and documentation centre were built on the site of the former prisoners’ compound. The new Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial was inaugurated on the 60th anniversary of the camp’s liberation in May 2005. Today, the Memorial encompasses virtually the entire grounds and 17 original buildings of the former concentration camp. Measuring 57 hectares, it is one of the largest memorials in Germany. It is a site for remembering and learning that preserves the memory of the victims of SS terror, while also providing opportunities to explore the causes and consequences of the Nazi regime.” (Source: Memorial)
In addition to visiting the places in Hamburg and having an interesting time, I would like to share the following:
I am really pleased that there are people who think and are not afraid to express their opinions. That's encouraging and was really refreshing.
The event was organized by Bleicherhaus e.V., Sarah Zimmer. I will also be holding some events here in the fall. If you would like more information now and book your ticket, please do so here: Dr. Melanie Carina Schmoll - Bleicherhaus e.V.
The focus will be on the following topics:
Three great moments of German democracy
The future of the Germans has always been decided on November 9. Like a red thread, this date leads from episode to episode in our history and combines great moments with dark nights and wrong decisions. November 9 was never an inevitable fate, but a date on which people made decisions: Cowardly decisions and courageous ones, together and alone, right and wrong.
Our three-part series sheds light on three particular episodes and asks what influence people had on the outcome of “their” November 9.
Especially in times when democracy is under pressure, the question of how people behaved in the past provides good answers that we just need to see and take to heart. And then this date can also be a powerful sign of a defensive and self-confident democracy. Because our November 9th will also come, and then we should do the right thing.
On November 9, 1848, Robert Blum from Cologne was executed for taking part in an uprising against the imperial troops in Vienna. Blum gave his life for a German nation state. His death is considered a milestone in the history of German democracy, as it shows how far people were prepared to go in the early days of our republican history in order to live in freedom, unity and democracy.
On November 9, 1923, Hitler's coup against the still young Weimar democracy failed. It failed because of functioning democratic institutions, but also because of the stability of democratic society. The young republic resisted right-wing terror and protected its freedom against street terror from the right.
And on November 9, 1989, the people on the streets of the GDR finally refused to be dissuaded from their path of unity, justice and freedom. With unprecedented courage against their own state power, they fulfilled Robert Blum's dream of a democratic nation state 140 years after his execution.
Come with us on this exciting journey and experience how people courageously and resolutely stood up for justice and freedom at decisive turning points in German history, because that is what democracy is. And it is only because we have been experiencing democracy together for 80 and 35 years respectively that its continued existence is always our task. Not only on November 9.
I will also be speaking on another topic in November, namely:
Yitzchak Rabin: A brusque peacemaker
Military man and Nobel Peace Prize winner
On November 4, 1995, Yitzchak Rabin spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv under the motto “Yes to peace, no to violence”. It was his last speech before an Israeli right-wing extremist shot the Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner. His life and work shaped his country and his country shaped his life and ultimately also his death. At a time when not only Gaza and Israel need peace so urgently, but also Russians and Ukrainians and many others, we take a look at a man who was able to overcome rifts, seek peace and create balance. Apparently, an ability that is so urgently needed and yet so rare. Perhaps his death, three decades later, is a signpost for how peace could be achieved in the Middle East?
Many thanks for the great preparation of my ideas and the texts to Matthias Fischer, Managing Director and Director of Studies, Bleicherhaus.
The events are in German and I look forward to seeing familiar and less familiar faces in the audience.
And I would like to thank Dr. Katja Baumgärtner. She is currently reading my book Hatred of Jews-A Failure of Holocaust Education? : Schmoll, Melanie Carina: Amazon.de: Bücher and reported about it on https://www.instagram.com/kstreegardener/.
Many thanks for mentioning and pictures!
There was also news about me here https://hef.northwestern.edu/about/newsletters/. Thank you too!
So much for my review and outlook - a nice long weekend and hopefully lots of sunshine.
