Commemoration of the victims of National Socialism on 27 January
To mark the nationwide day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism and the more than 60 million people murdered during the fascist tyranny, a public commemoration ceremony was held at the memorial in the Park of the Victims of Fascism on 27 January 2026.
Lord Mayor Sven Schulze, other representatives of the City of Chemnitz and the city council groups walked from the roundabout in front of the Georgius Agricola Gymnasium Chemnitz to the memorial and laid wreaths.
Lord Mayor Sven Schulze and Dr Harald Langenfeld, Honorary Consul of the Republic of France in the Free State of Saxony, gave the commemorative speeches.
Pupils from the Georgius-Agricola-Gymnasium and the music school at Thomas-Mann-Platz provided the cultural and musical backdrop to the event.
National Socialism did not suddenly fall from the sky.
It did not begin with deportations and gas chambers.
It began in people's minds.
It began with words.
With mockery.
With marginalisation.
With the creeping death of compassion and responsibility.
Fascism begins there,
where people deny that other people have the same dignity.
Where the world is once again divided into "us" and "them".
Into valuable and worthless.
Into strong and weak.
Background:
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 in the Federal Republic of Germany as a day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism since 1996.