Commemoration of the victims of the Reichspogromnacht 1938

On Thursday, 9 November at 10 a.m., the city of Chemnitz will commemorate the victims of the Reichspogromnacht on 9 November 1938 and the six million Jewish people murdered during the fascist tyranny. Mayor Sven Schulze lays a wreath at the stele on Stephanplatz, the former site of the Chemnitz synagogue. Numerous classes from Chemnitz secondary schools have confirmed their attendance. The choir of the Chemnitz Jewish community performs music at the commemorative event.

Inauguration of an information stele on the former synagogue

Afterwards, exactly 85 years after the horrific events, a new information stele will be unveiled on Stephanplatz, providing information about the history of the former synagogue and its destruction on the night of the pogrom.

Road closure

Due to the commemoration at the stele on Stephanplatz, Reichsstraße will be completely closed between Zwickauer Straße and Weststraße on Thursday, 9 November from 9.30 am to around 12 noon. A bypass is available via Weststraße - Barbarossastraße or Zwickauer Straße - Barbarossastraße or alternatively via Leipziger Straße - Hartmannstraße - Theaterstraße - Falkeplatz - Zwickauer Straße. The police will provide additional operational security for the event. CVAG will announce any changes to bus services separately.

Panel discussion on "Perspectives on Jewish life in Chemnitz"

In the evening at 6 pm, on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the pogrom night, the "Perspectives of Jewish Life in Chemnitz" will be discussed in a public panel discussion in the art collections on Theaterplatz. Renate Aris, the last Holocaust survivor in Saxony, the chairwoman of the Jewish community Dr Ruth Röcher, Daniel Dost from the Buntmacher*innen and Lord Mayor Sven Schulze will speak on the panel. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Peter Stawowy.

The discussion is part of the supporting programme for the exhibition "From Chemnitz. A piano".

The event is co-financed by tax revenue on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon state parliament.

Paths of light and points of light

In the late afternoon, from 4.30 pm, the Chemnitz Stumbling Stones will be cleaned and commemorated on this day of remembrance. For many years, they have drawn attention to the fates of the victims of National Socialism. All 307 Stolpersteine, which have been laid in Chemnitz at the last places where the victims lived or worked, will be cleaned as part of the Lichterwege campaign initiated by the Buntmacher:innen. A large network is implementing the project: the AG Stolpersteine, Omas gegen Rechts, the Friends of the Jewish Community Chemnitz, the Saxon Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz (smac), pupils from the Georgius Agricola Grammar School and the Evangelical School Centre Chemnitz, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. James in Chemnitz, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. James in Chemnitz and the Evangelical School Centre Chemnitz.Luth. St.-Jakobi-Kreuzkirchgemeinde Chemnitz, the Catholic parish of St. Joseph, the district office Reitbahnviertel, the Gute Zieten e. V., the learning and memorial site Kaßberggefängnis, the Bürgerhaus City and numerous other private individuals. On this day, they will clean the Stolpersteine and place a candle.

Actors from Chemnitz civil society will also gather at various Stolpersteine at so-called "Lichtpunkte wider das Vergessen" (light points against forgetting) and commemorate the victims of the pogrom night together. Initiated by the Chemnitz Alliance for Humanity, there will be opportunities for active remembrance, commemoration and encounters at numerous locations in the city.

In addition, the Buntmacher*innen will present the results of an art and remembrance project at the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz from 7 p.m., which they implemented in cooperation with the Friedrich August III Oberschule, the Holzkombinat and eridur. The project involved creating wooden duplicates of stumbling blocks, which will be used for educational purposes from 2024.

The project is funded by the Local Action Plan for Democracy, Tolerance and a Cosmopolitan Chemnitz, as part of the federal programme "Live Democracy!" by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the City of Chemnitz.

All the locations of the stumbling blocks can be found at www.chemnitz.de/stolpersteine. The photos of the actions are also published on this page, as well as on the social channels of the City of Chemnitz and the Buntmacher*innen with the hashtag #lichterwege.

Information on the Stolpersteine project:

The Stumbling Stones commemorate citizens of Chemnitz who were murdered, deported, expelled or driven to suicide by the National Socialists.

The ten by ten centimetre Stumbling Stones are set into the pavement in front of the house where the people to be honoured had their last address. The victims' names and dates of death are engraved on the brass plate of the concrete stones. Anyone who sees them as they pass by should stumble over them in their mind, pause for a moment and read the engraving.

The stumbling blocks can be cleaned with a tried and tested household remedy: a flour, salt and vinegar mixture consisting of two tablespoons of flour, two tablespoons of salt and sufficient vinegar.