“74 years ago today, on January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp was liberated. Since 1996, the victims of National Socialism have been commemorated on this day in Germany and those who resisted the Nazis are also remembered. Nowadays, when there are hardly any people left who lived back then, it seems more necessary than ever to remember the monstrosities committed by millions of people in German society during the Nazi era.
“Any debate about educational ideals is void and indifferent to this one thing, that Auschwitz should not be repeated” – this is what Theodor W. Adorno wrote in the mid-1960s in his text Education after Auschwitz. It is imperative that we humanists also ask ourselves whether our ideals could prevent us from becoming followers in a dehumanizing society. It is more necessary than ever to raise awareness of the racist, right-wing extremist and inhuman tendencies that are once again finding their way into our society and politics today – and we must actively oppose them.
Under no circumstances should freedom of expression, justified criticism of religions or unjustified fear of foreigners lead us to hatred or lack of compassion towards groups of people. Anti-fascism is not a political trend, but an essential part of our humanistic value system. It is unacceptable that German society today is seriously debating whether the slogan “Nazis out” should be uttered.
Under National Socialism, the Jewish population was dehumanized, made the scapegoat of all evil and systematically exterminated. And even today there are tendencies to stylize (religious) minorities as the enemy. History repeats itself, they say. But this history must never be allowed to repeat itself. We humanists must also stand up for this.”
