On February 6, Max Mannheimer would have been 100 years old. This was celebrated with a big ceremony in the Waldramer bathhouse, which he encouraged during his lifetime.
Wolfratshausen - A portrait of Max Mannheimer, painted by his friend Otto-Ernst Holthaus, had been hanging in the central exhibition room of the bath house for a long time, and supposedly there were visitors who greeted the picture with respect. Now, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the great contemporary witness, the room was christened in his name. From then on, it was called the Max Mannheimer Forum. On Sunday, the 100 invited guests toasted the charismatic man from Moravia, who survived four concentration camps and did everything to ensure that the horrors of the Nazi era were not forgotten. It was an evening of love and veneration.
Valuable memory: Max Mannheimer kept coming to life in film clips.
© Photo: Hans Lippert
Many companions of the Mannheimer who died in 2016, all of whom were just Max, spoke. Dr. Sybille Krafft, chair of the Badehausverein, remembered how Mannheimer contacted her by phone after learning about the struggle for the building on Kolpingplatz. "He said he wanted to support us morally," said the filmmaker, who later interviewed him several times. He linked his commitment to the condition of being allowed to be number one - as a sign of how much he showed solidarity with the good cause. What would he say if he knew there was an AfD list for the upcoming local elections in Wolfratshausen?
Serious conversation: Emanuel Rüff interviewed Max Mannheimer's granddaughter, Judith Faessler.
© Photo: Hans Lippert
The Bavarian State Government's Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Ludwig Spaenle, urged that the crimes of the Nazi era, this “one-time civilization crash”, should never be forgotten. Spaenle did not name Thuringia by name. But everyone knew what was meant when he said: "This is especially true in days like this." Especially the young people, who will be responsible well into the 21st century, should be sensitive when suddenly people about their religion, their origin or skin color are excluded. That is currently the case.
The conversation between Emanuel Rüff and Mannheimer's granddaughter Judith Faessler was touching. She said that her grandfather told little or nothing about his past in the concentration camps. "He was very easy on us." The report by Dieter Klug, whose father had once volunteered for the Waffen SS and was involved in atrocities about which he was silent for the rest of his life, was moving. "Max always said to me: 'Dieter, you are not responsible for what your father did'." Abba Naor, Holocaust survivor and successor to Mannheimer, chaired by the international Dachau committee, declared on behalf of everyone: "Max we miss. "
And then there was Otto-Ernst Holthaus, the man who had painted the portrait under the artist name Ernesto. He could hardly be stopped, his heart and mouth went so much when he talked about his friend. How he met Mannheimer on a flight to Tel Aviv. How they would have worked together for the Death March memorials. How he admired Mannheimer for the way he spoke in front of school classes, "so matter-of-fact, so eloquent, so full of passion." And what a "happy person" he was, despite everything.
Read also: Why the bathhouse does not only concern Wolfratshausen
Holthaus also had a gift with him: a street sign that reads "Max-Mannheimer-Allee". So it has its own reason. Because the - fictional - street sign was once a gift for Mannheimers themselves, presented for his 90th birthday. "He got nervous three weeks before his death and really wanted to give me the sign back," said Holthaus. Now it has its place in the bath house. Max would be happy.