Commemoration of the victims of National Socialism
Wreath-laying ceremony in the Park of the Victims of Fascism on 27 January
To mark the nationwide day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism, an event will be held in Chemnitz on 27 January 2018 at 10 a.m. at the memorial in the Park of the Victims of Fascism. Mayor Barbara Ludwig will give the speech. She will lay a wreath on behalf of the city and the city council. Citizens and representatives of city council groups are invited to join the commemoration. Pupils from Georgius Agricola Grammar School will provide the programme with poetry recitations and a musical contribution. In addition, Andreas Manz-Kozár, actor at the Chemnitz Municipal Theatre, will recite thematic texts.
Since the end of the war, the victims of National Socialist tyranny have been commemorated in Karl-Marx-Stadt/Chemnitz. On 27 January 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. Following an initiative by former Federal President Roman Herzog, 27 January has been observed as a day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1997.
In 1933 - immediately after the National Socialists seized power - the persecution of political opponents, Jews, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals and other groups began. The National Socialist regime victimised an incalculably large number of people throughout Europe. Millions of Jews were gassed, prisoners of war and political prisoners were exterminated through forced labour, the sick were murdered and hostages were shot.