Holocaust remembrance and new stumbling blocks

The day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism is commemorated in various ways in Erlangen. Since 1996, January 27 has been observed in the Federal Republic of Germany as a day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism. On this day in 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp was liberated by Soviet soldiers. Various forms of commemoration have also been used in Erlangen in recent years, this year with a video due to the pandemic. In it, Lord Mayor Florian Janik and Dorothea Rettig, research assistant at the city archives, talk about stumbling blocks. This year, two more Stolpersteine are to be laid in Erlangen for victims of National Socialism: Lotte Bauer (Theaterplatz) and Athanas Berow (Gabelsberger Straße).

As part of the "Week of Brotherhood", a stumbling stone was laid in front of property 4 on Theaterplatz on 9 March. The city of Erlangen thus commemorates Lotte Bauer. She was born in Erlangen on March 12, 1923 and was killed by the SS with her parents on November 25, 1941. With the Stolpersteine project, artist Gunter Demnig commemorates the victims of the Nazi era by placing brass memorial plaques in the sidewalk in front of their last chosen place of residence. In December 2005, Erlangen City Council decided to join the nationwide "Stumbling Stones against Forgetting" campaign.