Lecture by Dr. Jens-Christian Wagner, Managing Director of the Foundation of Lower Saxony Memorials

On Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 7 p.m., Dr. Jens-Christian Wagner, Executive Director of the Foundation of Lower Saxony Memorials, will speak about the importance of memorial work for shaping and preserving an open and democratic society in the town hall hall of the Hanseatic town of Gardelegen. The event is part of the accompanying program to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's exhibition "Some Were Neighbors," which we will present at the Gardelegen Library from September 3-27, 2019. The exhibition and accompanying program are sponsored by the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future".

Many people around the world envy the Germans for their culture of remembrance. But in many cases, this has ossified into rituals. The talk of "remembrance" has taken the place of critical examination of the causes and consequences of the crimes. But do the associated pathos, the moral appeals, and the focus solely on the victims do justice to the questions about the causes, the way things functioned, and the willingness to participate in National Socialist society? In view of increasing exclusion in society, the importance of memorial work is more topical than ever.