On Sunday 26 January at 4 pm, the cinema version of the film about Justin Sonder's life will be shown for the first time at Clubkino Siegmar, Zwickauer Straße 425. In a moving interview, Justin Sonder, deceased honorary citizen of Chemnitz and Auschwitz survivor, talks about his time in the concentration camp, among other things. The film is the cinema version of the three-part short film series that was released in November 2024 (see press release 809 from 2024).
This premiere will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Mayor Ralph Burghart, Kerstin Claus, Justin Sonder's daughter, Wolfgang Langer, teacher and companion, and film producer René Kästner. They will shed light on Justin Sonder's life and work and our responsibility for the future. Markus Mehnert from Aktion Zivilcourage will be the moderator.
Participation is free of charge. If you want to be sure of a place, you can reserve one via the participation portal at https://mitdenken.sachsen.de/1047838. In this case, guests should be at the cinema by 3.45 pm, otherwise tickets will be reallocated on site.
There will be another screening of the film on Monday, 27 January at 11.30 am at the Metropol Chemnitz cinema, Zwickauer Straße 11. It is not necessary to register for this, but larger groups and school classes are requested to register at protokoll(at)stadt-chemnitz.de. Attendance is also free of charge.
Background:
27 January 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. To mark the occasion, the city of Chemnitz is showing the newly produced film about Justin Sonder's life.
Justin Sonder was born in Chemnitz on 18 October 1925. He experienced growing anti-Semitism in his early youth and was deported to Auschwitz on 27 February 1943. He returned to his hometown in June 1945, where he has lived ever since. In many events, he told schoolchildren about the horrors he lived through and despite the terrible experiences of his youth, he never lost his humanity. His life story and his reminder to stand up for peace and democracy impressed many thousands of pupils. The films are intended to help keep the memory of Chemnitz's honorary citizen alive and make a valuable contribution to the culture of remembrance and commemoration.
The film describes Justin Sonder's childhood in Chemnitz, which is overshadowed by the increasing exclusion of Jews from everyday life in society. Justin Sonder repeatedly told school classes about this time and his subsequent ordeal in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Finally, the question "What remains after Justin Sonder's death?" is posed and dedicated to the memorial project "A bench for Justin Sonder", which the International Auschwitz Committee and the City of Chemnitz have jointly realised. This has created a unique place of remembrance on the Brühl where you can sit down with Justin Sonder and talk to him.
Numerous companions have their say in the film: Christoph Heubner, initiator of the memorial project, Kerstin Claus, Justin Sonder's daughter, historian Dr Jürgen Nitsche, teacher Wolfgang Langer, Enrico Hilbert, friend and chairman of the VVN-BdA, and artist Julia Kausch. But Justin Sonder also tells many stories himself. An extensive interview was conducted with him in 2017. Parts of it were published in the film "Children at War", which deals with the war experiences of Chemnitz children around 1945. This film was shown to the public for the first time on 5 March 2018 and - like the current film - was produced by the Chemnitz production company Red Tower Films on behalf of the city of Chemnitz.