The Eighth of May
Berlin / Weimar / Paris The initiators of the ,,Open Letter"to the Deutsche Bahn AG (the German Railroad Corp.) are awaiting a lifting of the ban on exhibitions in passenger train stations from the direction of the corporation and have set the final deadline for May eighth. The Deutsche Bahn AG has been refusing for months to permit the passengers to view photos and other documents concerning the fate of 11,000 children, who were deported via the German rail network to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Guilty of complicity in their murder is the predecessor of the Deutsche Bahn AG, the ,,Deutsche Reichsbahn"in whose cattle wagons the 11,000 children from France were channeled through Germany. Numerous appeals and pleas, asking for the allowance to be able to conduct memorial services at least in the through stations of the death transport, (e.g. Saarbrucken, Frankfurt, and Dresden) have remained unanswered. If, by May 8th, the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, the Deutsche Bahn AG has not given its accord, the exhibition will have to be made without their consent, explain the initiators in a recent declaration made available to the editors. If this becomes the case, one would ,,gladly accept any help offered from persons in Germany or abroad."In several German cities, committees and initiative groups are working on the realization of this idea.
As the initiators explain, ,,in light of the crime committed (...) [they] will not waiver the public memorial services along the death route of 11,000 children".1). Since photos and other documents concerning the fate of those murdered are available in France, the ,,traveling exhibition of the French organization, 'Fils et Filles des Deportés Juifs de France' (...) [must] be granted space in German public train stations."An offer to this effect from the organization (FFDJF), has been repeatedly turned down by the Deutsche Bahn AG. FFDJF has had its exhibition on display also in Paris' Gare du Nord and had been decisively aided in this enterprise by the French national railroad.
On Behalf of
Since the end of January the Deutsche Bahn AG has circulated a letter, in which it is maintained that any further contact with the FFDJF and their representative, Ms. Beate Klarsfeld, is out of the question. The demanded memorial services at the German public train stations are referred to in this letter as ,,actionism, that irresponsibly plays with emotions."Rather than inform the passengers about the last voyage of 11,000 children over the German rail network, the railroad prefers ,,projects with a more lasting effect."Particularly long-lasting, the letter asserts, would be when the memorial would be placed in a museum. One has ,,experience"with museum solutions. This is why Ms. Klarsfeld ,,could benefit"from ,,the museum pedagogical program"of the Deutsche Bahn, writes the descendents of the culprits, about the advantages, they furnish for the remembrance of the victims. Of course one cannot translate the French perspective on the ,,Holocaust, verbatim to that of the situation in Germany (...)"observes the letter that was expressedly written on behalf of the director of the corporation, Mehdorn.
Costs
Since the corporation's directorate refuses to give in, in spite of international protests, initiative groups in several German cities are preparing for independently holding commemoration ceremonies for the victims e.g. in Freiburg, Frankfort and Leipzig. In Weimar, an ,,Open Committee"is active, that calls itself ,,11,000 Children". The committee is supported among others by the Political Education Department of the Bauhaus University.2) In its founding appeal, the committee calls on the Deutsche Bahn to live up to its historical responsibility and to allow the exhibition to be shown at the Main Station in Weimar and to assume the ,,costs for (...) [its] transportation". The Deutsche Bahn - worth millions - had previously declared that it neither has the finances nor the personnel to make available the exhibition of photos and other documents of the deported to the passengers. More than 250 individuals and organizations - including many personalities from abroad, who have signed the ,,Open Letter"- have protested against this and other pretexts.
Faces
At a central event, the initiators are planning to show the protests' international character and their determination to hold the commemoration. They are planning the presentation of elements of the French exhibition, that will be brought from Paris and has already been shown in the USA. ,,We are hoping that representatives of the French organization 'Fils et Filles des Deportes Juifs de France' will participate and we are in contact with some of the survivors of the transport through Germany with the Reichsbahn", the initiators explained. ,,The Deutsche Bahn's attempt to ban the faces and fates of these children from the German public train stations, has already proved unsuccessful on Januray 27. The victims must have their respect and dignity redeemed: in the stations through which their last journey took them to Auschwitz."
1) Eleven thousand Children
2) Contact: Open Weimar Committee: gerbereins@yahoo.de