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| Germany marks 80 years since rise of Hitler with 'project of remembrance' | Germany marks 80 years since rise of Hitler with 'project of remembrance' |
| (30 days later) | |
| As the German flag flew at half mast outside the Reichstag, Inge Deutschkron addressed rapt members of the Bundestag within. She recounted in vivid detail her experience of the day, 80 years before, that was to become a turning point not just for her but for the world. | As the German flag flew at half mast outside the Reichstag, Inge Deutschkron addressed rapt members of the Bundestag within. She recounted in vivid detail her experience of the day, 80 years before, that was to become a turning point not just for her but for the world. |
| The 90-year-old Jewish-German author recalled details of the two life-changing events of 30 January 1933, the day Hitler came to power. One was the torchlit parade of SA stormtroopers and SS detachments marching through Berlin to the cheers of thousands of Germans. The other was a poignant conversation with her mother, who was trying to prepare her for the difficult times that lay ahead. "My child, you are a Jew," she said. "You belong to a minority and you must defend yourself." | The 90-year-old Jewish-German author recalled details of the two life-changing events of 30 January 1933, the day Hitler came to power. One was the torchlit parade of SA stormtroopers and SS detachments marching through Berlin to the cheers of thousands of Germans. The other was a poignant conversation with her mother, who was trying to prepare her for the difficult times that lay ahead. "My child, you are a Jew," she said. "You belong to a minority and you must defend yourself." |
| Deutschkron and her mother became so-called "U-Boote" – submarines – staying alive in Berlin throughout the war thanks to German families who hid and cared for them. "The guilt of having survived has persecuted me ever since," the author told German MPs, "and it has never let me go." | Deutschkron and her mother became so-called "U-Boote" – submarines – staying alive in Berlin throughout the war thanks to German families who hid and cared for them. "The guilt of having survived has persecuted me ever since," the author told German MPs, "and it has never let me go." |
| Deutschkron's account was one of hundreds of personal stories in Berlin on Wednesday as the city started a year of events to commemorate the Nazis' accession to power, in what the state secretary for culture, André Schmitz, described as "the biggest project of remembrance that has ever taken place in Germany". | Deutschkron's account was one of hundreds of personal stories in Berlin on Wednesday as the city started a year of events to commemorate the Nazis' accession to power, in what the state secretary for culture, André Schmitz, described as "the biggest project of remembrance that has ever taken place in Germany". |
| Exhibitions, concerts, art shows and guided tours are among the many hundreds of events inviting Germans to reflect on Hitler's rise to power and the extent to which ordinary citizens aided his accession. | Exhibitions, concerts, art shows and guided tours are among the many hundreds of events inviting Germans to reflect on Hitler's rise to power and the extent to which ordinary citizens aided his accession. |
| In the Berlin Philharmonie, the Frankfurt-based Roma and Sinti Philharmoniker performed a requiem for the hundreds of thousands of their people believed to have been murdered in death camps, as pictures of scores of victims in happier times were projected on to a screen behind the orchestra. | In the Berlin Philharmonie, the Frankfurt-based Roma and Sinti Philharmoniker performed a requiem for the hundreds of thousands of their people believed to have been murdered in death camps, as pictures of scores of victims in happier times were projected on to a screen behind the orchestra. |
| Opening the exhibition Berlin 1933 – The Road to Dictatorship at the documentation centre Topography of Terror, on the former grounds of the SS and Gestapo headquarters in Berlin, the chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the rise of Hitler had been made possible because "the majority had, at the very best, behaved with indifference". | Opening the exhibition Berlin 1933 – The Road to Dictatorship at the documentation centre Topography of Terror, on the former grounds of the SS and Gestapo headquarters in Berlin, the chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the rise of Hitler had been made possible because "the majority had, at the very best, behaved with indifference". |
| "The co-operation of the German elite and broad swaths of society" had allowed it, she said, speaking almost precisely to the minute that Paul Hindenburg, then the president of the Reich, had sworn Hitler in as chancellor eight decades before. | "The co-operation of the German elite and broad swaths of society" had allowed it, she said, speaking almost precisely to the minute that Paul Hindenburg, then the president of the Reich, had sworn Hitler in as chancellor eight decades before. |
| The exhibition Destroyed Variety – Berlin 1933-1938 at the German History Museum charts the consequences of the National Socialists' dominance of German life between January 1933 and November 1938, when the Kristallnacht pogrom saw thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues torched to the ground across the country. Displaying examples of the Nazi party's propaganda, the exhibition describes how the party came to power through democratic means, promising Germans "work and bread" at a time when the world economic crisis had created a breeding ground for extremist views. SS knuckledusters, weaponry and uniforms are among the many objects used to illustrate how Jews, Gypsies, gay people and political "undesirables" were subjected to state-institutionalised terror practices even before 1933. | The exhibition Destroyed Variety – Berlin 1933-1938 at the German History Museum charts the consequences of the National Socialists' dominance of German life between January 1933 and November 1938, when the Kristallnacht pogrom saw thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues torched to the ground across the country. Displaying examples of the Nazi party's propaganda, the exhibition describes how the party came to power through democratic means, promising Germans "work and bread" at a time when the world economic crisis had created a breeding ground for extremist views. SS knuckledusters, weaponry and uniforms are among the many objects used to illustrate how Jews, Gypsies, gay people and political "undesirables" were subjected to state-institutionalised terror practices even before 1933. |
| It also focuses on the avant garde cultural figureheads who, having transformed Germany into a modern, open-minded metropolis famous for its theatres, cabaret and dance during the Weimar Republic, abandoned Germany in droves in 1933, leaving the country bereft of much of its best talent. | It also focuses on the avant garde cultural figureheads who, having transformed Germany into a modern, open-minded metropolis famous for its theatres, cabaret and dance during the Weimar Republic, abandoned Germany in droves in 1933, leaving the country bereft of much of its best talent. |
| At the Brandenburg Gate an open-air exhibition recalls the SS and SA's torchlit parades, staged by the Nazis in order to undo the images of battered troops returning from the first world war. It links up to an outdoor exhibition of portraits on huge pillars across the city which will highlight the biographies of around 200 Germans who were persecuted by the Nazis. One, outside the department store KaDeWe, tells the story of its Jewish owner who like many was robbed of his property. | At the Brandenburg Gate an open-air exhibition recalls the SS and SA's torchlit parades, staged by the Nazis in order to undo the images of battered troops returning from the first world war. It links up to an outdoor exhibition of portraits on huge pillars across the city which will highlight the biographies of around 200 Germans who were persecuted by the Nazis. One, outside the department store KaDeWe, tells the story of its Jewish owner who like many was robbed of his property. |
| Among the projects is a "Zeitzeugen" or "Witness" app, created by the Geschichtswerkstatt or History Workshop which can be downloaded on to smartphones and will guide visitors between sites connected to 1933 and Hitler's takeover. | Among the projects is a "Zeitzeugen" or "Witness" app, created by the Geschichtswerkstatt or History Workshop which can be downloaded on to smartphones and will guide visitors between sites connected to 1933 and Hitler's takeover. |
| The author Deutschkron welcomed the efforts to keep history alive, recalling her first attempt to return to Germany in the 1960s and how her "feeling of survivor's guilt suddenly gave way to one of amazement" when people suggested to her: "Why don't you just forget it … you have to be able to forgive, it happened such a long time ago after all." | The author Deutschkron welcomed the efforts to keep history alive, recalling her first attempt to return to Germany in the 1960s and how her "feeling of survivor's guilt suddenly gave way to one of amazement" when people suggested to her: "Why don't you just forget it … you have to be able to forgive, it happened such a long time ago after all." |
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