A monument as a social seismograph for democracy

Justin Sonder, an honorary citizen of Chemnitz, survived the Auschwitz concentration camp and was one of the few German Jews to return to his hometown. Until his death in 2020, he spoke as a contemporary witness in countless classrooms about his memories of the Nazi era. The International Auschwitz Committee has now erected a memorial to him in Chemnitz: a life-size bronze figure sits on a bench opposite the Rosa Luxemburg Primary School - facing those who sit down next to it.

The follow-up project, A MEMORIAL AS A SOCIAL MEMOGRAPH FOR DEMOCRACY, combined remembrance work with active action and created a lively space for reflection and engagement. Dialogue formats such as workshops and open memorial days created space for exchange with European partners. In this way, history became tangible and accessible along the Sonder lifeline - as a reminder and as an impetus for a democratic future.