"Violence is always wrong!": Moving and impressive commemoration of the Poinger death train in 1945

Created: 04/28/2022, 17:00

By: Armin Roesl

On April 27, the victims of the death train are commemorated in Poing.

© Johannes Dziemballa

In 1945, a train carrying 3,600 concentration camp prisoners stopped where the S-Bahn stops in Poing today.

Many of them were shot and injured trying to escape.

Now was the anniversary.

Poing – When a schoolgirl reads from an eyewitness report that the “Poing death train” was around 30 to 40 wagons long, in which a total of around 3,600 mostly Jewish concentration camp prisoners were crammed in, an S-Bahn is just pulling in in the background.

For a brief moment, past and present merge and a cold shiver runs down your spine.

Of course, an S-Bahn has nothing to do with the prisoner transport at the end of the Second World War, but it was a depressing coincidence of the interaction.

Poing: Memories of atrocities

On April 27, 1945, the transport of prisoners on the way from Mühldorf to Seeshaupt stopped at the Poinger train station.

The locomotive was defective, and many of the emaciated occupants tried to escape from this circumstance.

According to reports, at least 50 people were shot by SS henchmen, more than 200 were injured and forced back onto the train, which continued its journey.

In 2010, the municipality of Poing erected a memorial (designed by local artist Karl Orth) on the south side of the S-Bahn station. Since then, a memorial event has been held every year on the anniversary.

This was not possible in the past two years because of Corona, and a good 100 people came together on Wednesday.

By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.

Pupils from the Politics and Contemporary History working group from the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium in Markt Schwaben brought the hours of April 27, 1945 to life in a scenic reading with texts by train passengers and contemporary witnesses.

They succeeded in a very impressive way, but unfortunately the buses and cars driving by almost every minute on the Bahnhofstraße disturbed the intense and at the same time depressing atmosphere under the trees at the memorial created by the moving descriptions.

Moving reading by high school students

Poing's Mayor Thomas Stark warned in his speech that "Holocaust and war crimes must not be ignored" and that it is important to learn from history.

This also applies currently with a view to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, which he sharply condemned: "Today we also commemorate the victims of the inhuman attack on Ukraine."

Michael Simonsen, evangelical pastor, appealed that "the world we live in should be open and tolerant".

His simple wish: “Live peacefully together”.

Poing's Catholic pastor, Philipp Werner, said the same thing, urging insistently: "Violence is always wrong!

Exclusion is always wrong!”

Appeals from mayors and pastors

Display boards will be set up at the memorial for the next two weeks to provide information about the "Poinger Death Train".

At the end of the Second World War, this had transported concentration camp prisoners from Mühldorf to Seeshaupt.

The prisoners were crammed into cattle cars, about 60 people per car.

The long train had to stop in Poing because of a damaged locomotive.

One of the inmates was Max Mannheimer, who survived the Holocaust and the Death Train.

Until his death in 2016, Mannheimer was often in Poing, both at the commemorative events and at lectures in schools.

His daughter Eva Faessler came to Poing for the commemoration on Wednesday.

On Saturday, the Respect@Poing action group will be showing the film “The White Raven” about Mannheimer's life in the community center (which is named after Max Mannheimer).

It starts at 7 p.m. and admission is free.

Director Carolin Otto will be there and will be available for questions and discussions after the film.

You can find more current news from the district of Ebersberg at Merkur.de/Ebersberg.