Speech at the wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Reichspogromnacht on 9 November 2025

Dear members of the German Bundestag and the Saxon State Parliament, dear members of Chemnitz City Council,

Dear Dr Röcher

Dear members of the Jewish community of Chemnitz,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we are standing at a special place - at the stele where our city's synagogue once stood. Here, on Stephanplatz, there was a place of faith, meeting and togetherness until 9 November 1938. That night, this place was destroyed - and with it the trust and security of our Jewish citizens.

The Reichspogromnacht marked a dramatic turning point in German history. Exclusion became persecution, hatred became murder. Synagogues were burned, people were humiliated, deported and beaten to death. The mob also raged in Chemnitz. The synagogue was burnt down, Jewish businesses were destroyed, people from our city were disenfranchised and deported.

We remember this night today because it was the beginning of a civilisational collapse whose abyss remains unspeakable. But we also remember because we know: Remembrance is the prerequisite for responsibility - and responsibility is the basis for humanity.


[Salutation],

I am particularly pleased to welcome a guest today whose family history is so closely linked to Chemnitz: Dr Herbert Lappe from Dresden.

His father Rudolf Lappe was born here in Chemnitz in 1914. In 1933, like so many other Jews, he fled to England to escape the Nazi terror. Herbert Lappe was born there in 1946 before the family finally returned to Dresden in 1948.

Dr Lappe has been committed to Jewish life in Saxony throughout his life - as a long-standing board member of the Jewish Community of Dresden, in the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation and as co-initiator of the New Synagogue Dresden. He gives lectures in schools, communities and educational institutions - and reminds us all of how important it is to keep recounting what we have experienced as long as people are still able to do so.


Dear Dr Lappe,

Thank you for spending this important day with us in Chemnitz and for building a bridge between the past, present and future with your presence.


[Salutation],

When we come together today, it is not just to look back. It is also to understand today.

Since 7 October 2023 - the day on which the terrorist organisation Hamas carried out an unprecedented massacre in Israel - the world has changed. Around 1,200 people were murdered, hundreds abducted. And since then, we have seen an alarming increase in anti-Semitic attacks, insults, threats and acts of violence.

It is not only on a day like today that we say quite clearly: it must never again come to the point where Jewish citizens have to be afraid to wear a kippah or speak in Hebrew. It must not be taken for granted that synagogues have to be under police protection. That Jewish students have to hide their identity in order to feel safe.

Anti-Semitism is not a marginal problem. It is a danger to our coexistence - to our democracy. That is why we must name it clearly, contradict it, oppose it - always, everywhere, resolutely. The shift to the right in Germany, populist slogans, the division of society - all of this shows that democracy is not a foregone conclusion. It thrives on people who take notice when hate speech becomes loud, when racism becomes socially acceptable, when people are defamed.

Chemnitz has proven many times in recent years that this is possible.

I am thinking of the many citizens who are involved in networks, associations, religious communities, schools or cultural projects.

I am thinking of the many active people who clean stumbling blocks every year, of the colourful people who bring remembrance to life on this day.

They all show: Chemnitz is a city that takes responsibility, that looks, that does not forget. I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart.


[Salutation],

Commemoration is not an end in itself. It is both a mission and a warning. So let us move forward together - in the knowledge of the past, but with a view to a better future.

Following this event, the "Buntmacher:innen" will start right here on Stephanplatz with the Lichterwege. They are signs of remembrance, hope and solidarity. They symbolise that the light of compassion is stronger than the darkness of hatred.

And the coming year also has a special symbol: in 2026, we will be celebrating the Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony.

The opening of this themed year will take place here in Chemnitz - with exhibitions, music, dialogues and encounters. I am particularly looking forward to the "Threads - Verflechtungen" project, which tells the stories of Jewish families from Chemnitz - families who were disenfranchised, expelled and murdered, but whose traces are returning to us.

These are the signs we want to set:

Signs of remembrance, of dialogue and of the strength of our open, democratic society.

[Salutation],

9 November reminds us of the darkest side of our history.

But it also reminds us that it is in our hands how we shape the future.

Our city, our country, our Europe need people who stand up when things get uncomfortable and who stand up for humanity, solidarity and democracy.


Let us not be guided by hate, but by humanity.

Not by fear, but by responsibility.

Not by division, but by cohesion.


This is how the light of remembrance stays alive - here in Chemnitz and beyond.

Thank you very much

(The spoken word prevails)