Inauguration of the "Bench for Justin Sonder"
Public event: on 9 November, 12 noon, Brühl, starting in the gym of the Rosa Luxemburg primary school - registration requested by 5 November
Please note press release 769.*
On Saturday, 9 November at 12 noon, the "Bench for Justin Sonder" will be ceremonially inaugurated on the Brühl. Lord Mayor Sven Schulze and Christoph Heubner, Chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee, cordially invite you to attend the event. Interested parties can register until Tuesday, 5 November, at the following link:
https://mitdenken.sachsen.de/1046598
Former German President Christian Wulff, Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer and numerous members of Justin Sonder's family are also expected to attend. The inauguration will begin in the gymnasium of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Grundschule, Brühl 59.
We kindly ask media representatives to register at pressestelle(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
The International Auschwitz Committee and the City of Chemnitz would like to commemorate Justin Sonder, an honorary citizen of Chemnitz, in his home town. A sculpture depicting Justin Sonder sitting on a bench will be erected on the Brühl. It is intended to invite people to sit down and engage in thoughtful dialogue with Justin Sonder.
Justin Sonder was born on 18 October 1925 in Chemnitz, the son of a housewife and a merchant and wine salesman. He was confronted with growing anti-Semitism as a child and experienced the pogrom night in Chemnitz on 9 November 1938. He was deported to Auschwitz in 1943. He survived the camp and returned to his hometown with his father in 1945.
He did not want to let the old and new Nazis have the last word. And so Justin Sonder, who died in 2020, was a sought-after dialogue partner far beyond Chemnitz in the last decades of his life, who intervened, testified in court proceedings and, especially in conversation with young people, became a witness to his time and a witness to a philanthropy that continues to counter the anti-Semitic hatred and speechlessness of our day.
The memorial project was made possible by numerous donors and a contribution from the Free State of Saxony and was created by the Rostock artist Julia Kausch and the Chemnitz stonemason Till Apfel.
More information at www.chemnitz.de/justinsonder
Further films about Justin Sonder will soon be published on the City of Chemnitz website. These include interview material that was recorded in 2017 as part of the film project "Children at War". Companions, such as Justin Sonder's daughter, friends and historians have their say. Another short film deals with the current memorial projects and the examination of Justin Sonder's story. The films were produced by the Chemnitz agency Red Tower Movies.
The project is co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon state parliament.
* modified on 7 November 2024