Commemoration of the victims of the Reichspogromnacht 1938
Wreath-laying ceremony at the stele on Stephanplatz on 8 November, 10 a.m.
On Friday, 8 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. Lord Mayor Sven Schulze will lay a wreath at the stele on Stephanplatz, the former site of the Chemnitz synagogue.
Dr Ruth Röcher, Chairwoman of the Jewish Community, and Rafi Wertheim, initiator of the Kirjat Bialik town twinning programme, will also give welcoming speeches. Numerous classes from Chemnitz secondary schools have confirmed their attendance. The Chemnitz Jewish community choir will provide the music for the commemorative event.
Due to the Jewish Shabbat, the commemoration will be brought forward one day.
Road closure
Reichsstraße will be fully closed between Zwickauer Straße and Weststraße on Friday, 8 November, from 9.30 am to approx. 12 noon for the commemorative event. 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.
Inauguration of the "Bench for Justin Sonder"
On Saturday, 9 November at 12 noon, the "Bench for Justin Sonder" on the Brühl will be officially inaugurated. With this special memorial project, the City of Chemnitz and the International Auschwitz Committee commemorate the late honorary citizen Justin Sonder, who was deported to Auschwitz in 1943, survived the horrors of National Socialism and shared his memories with subsequent generations. (see PM 737)
Paths of Light campaign on 9 November, from 4.30 pm
As in previous years, the Chemnitz Stumbling Stones will be cleaned and commemorated on 9 November 2024 to mark Remembrance Day. All 330 Stolpersteine that 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. More than 100 private individuals, including sponsors of stumbling stones, as well as associations and institutions, are supporting the project and will be out and about on the day to clean stumbling stones. These include, for example, the AG Stolpersteine, Omas gegen Rechts, the Friends of the Jewish Community of Chemnitz, the Saxon Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz (smac), the Ev.-Luth.Jakobi-Kreuzkirchgemeinde Chemnitz, the Gute Zieten e. V., the Lern- und Gedenkort Kaßberggefängnis, the Bürgerhaus City, the Don Bosco Haus Chemnitz, the AG Ukraine-Chemnitz-Europa and the SFZ Förderzentrum as well as numerous private individuals. On this day, they will clean the Stolpersteine and place a candle.
All the locations of the Stumbling Stones can be found at www.chemnitz.de/stolpersteine. The photos of the actions will also be published on this page, as well as on the social channels of the City of Chemnitz and the Buntmacher:innen with the hashtag #lichterwege.