On Holocaust Remembrance Day, North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) and representatives of Jewish associations appealed for the memory of the crimes of the National Socialists to be anchored more firmly in society.
"It must be clear to all Germans: There is no German identity without Auschwitz," said Wüst on Friday at a commemoration ceremony in the state parliament.
Dusseldorf - "Everyone who lives in Germany is called upon to deal with the horrors of the past again and again."
January 27th is the anniversary of the liberation of the survivors of the German death camp Auschwitz in 1945 by soldiers of the Red Army.
In Auschwitz alone in Wehrmacht-occupied Poland, the SS murdered at least 1.1 million people, mostly Jews.
Around six million Jews fell victim to the Holocaust across Europe.
When the "direct way of contact" through reports from survivors and eyewitnesses no longer exists, then commemoration will "certainly become more difficult, but no less important," emphasized Wüst.
"But we also have to receive a commemoration that touches us emotionally, that makes us feel sympathy."
Zwi Rappoport, chairman of the regional association of Jewish communities in Westphalia-Lippe, recalled the words of former Federal President Roman Herzog that January 27 should not have an "alibi effect".
According to a survey, almost half of Germans would like to draw a line under the Nazi crimes.
Only a third think that's wrong.
"If it is not possible to convey the collective responsibility for remembering the Shoah and National Socialism to future generations, commemorations like today actually threaten to become routine," warned Rappoport.
Today almost 30,000 Jews live in 22 communities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Jewish community feels at home in NRW and is recognized.
But given the rampant anti-Semitism, there is always a feeling of insecurity and doubt.
State President André Kuper warned that the fight against anti-Semitism and against any intolerance begins "for all of us in the immediate personal environment".
"Let's intervene when injustice is being done to our fellow human beings!" he demanded.
dpa
