In 1942 the Schongau couple Moritz and Rosa Kugler were murdered in Theresienstadt, their sons Norbert and Joseph only survived the war because they emigrated in time.
Now four stumbling blocks at Marienplatz Schongau are reminiscent of fate.
Schongau
- Michel Kugler is, as he himself says, not a man of great emotions.
But visibly moved, the great-grandson of the murdered Jewish couple Moritz and Rosa Kugler, together with Mayor Falk Sluyterman, unveiled the stumbling blocks on Schongau's Marienplatz on Wednesday.
“I came to represent my family at the ceremony and to honor the memory,” said Kugler, who lives in Colombia.
“It is important not to forget.” He also thanked the city of Schongau and everyone who had contributed to it for their desire for justice.
Mayor Sluyterman had previously wished in his speech that Michel Kugler felt welcomed back to Schongau, on behalf of his family.
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These four stumbling blocks at Marienplatz Schongau now commemorate the victims of National Socialism.
© Hans-Helmut Herold
The married couple Moritz and Rosa Kugler lived with their two sons Norbert and Jospeh in the former Schrimpf houses - today Marienplatz 12 - where they ran a shop for men's outfits.
With 2500 citizens in Schongau at the time, it did not go unnoticed that some of them disappeared, according to Sluyterman.
In 1935 the couple moved from Schongau to Munich - presumably at the instigation of the then NS mayor of Schongau.
Both were then deported to Theresienstadt in 1942, where they died just a few days apart.
The sons were able to flee to France in time and survived.
Norbert Kugler had joined the Resistance and even came back to Schongau with his wife Mira for a few years after the war, but apparently no longer felt at home.
He died in East Berlin in 1982.
Joseph Kugler also became a French citizen and died in a car accident in 1948.
The two children of Joseph and Herta Kugler, Roger and Simone, now live in Toulouse.
Roger has two sons: Michel and Jean-Pierre.
“The stumbling blocks are where people pass every day, they should help to preserve and hold on to the memory of the Kugler family,” says Sluyterman.
He recalled the special date: on September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Race Laws were enacted, which formed the basis for the systematic murder of six million Jews.
In his closing remarks, Sluyterman quoted the Talmud: "A person is only forgotten when his name is forgotten."
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Former Landrat Luitpold Braun initiated the memory of the Kugler family.
© Hans-Helmut Herold
It was former district administrator Luitpold Braun who first initiated the commemoration through his memory of the Kugler family and his research for the Schongau yearbook of the historical association "Der Welf".
For the guests of the celebration he once again outlined the life of Moritz Kugler and his second wife Rosa Blumenstein, whom he married in 1905.
In his address he made it clear what position the family had in Schongau.
“They really arrived in the city,” said Braun, and lived in the midst of society.
Braun concluded his remarks by quoting the journalist Jacques Schuster: "Hitler and his people did a great job: They physically murdered the Jews and the Germans psychologically."
Musically, the two music teachers from Schongau, Manuel Wolf on the clarinet and Manuel Draxler on the piano, created a dignified atmosphere. Among other things, they chose the theme from Steven Spielberg's film “Schindler's List”.
Corona had long prevented the laying of the stumbling blocks - a suggestion by Green City Councilor Bettina Buresch - and artist Gunter Demnig could not be there himself.
The now Europe-wide art project is a reminder of the expulsion and extermination of all victims of National Socialism.
On Tuesday, the building and environmental committee will discuss an additional information board with further background on the Kugler family (September 21, 5 p.m., Ballenhaussaal).
The city is also in the process of further processing the Nazi era in Schongau and making it visible.
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