Autor/Autorin
Even though February is always very short, we still managed to get a lot done this month. We visited the Bundestag, continued to network with various actors from the judiciary and civil society and can now announce a new book for our series with the Madrid Berg Institute „Literature and Human Rights“. There are also updates on the progress of the construction work.
On 8 February 2023, we were invited by Max Lucks (Bochum MP for Alliance 90/The Greens) to present the Fritz Bauer Forum and our projects to the German Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. Together with the MPs invited by Max Lucks, we talked about human rights violations and the future work of the Forum. The participants were all very interested and showed how important the topic of human rights is to them.
Our Interactive Fritz Bauer Library met with particular interest, as there is also a common starting point here with the „ Parliamentarians protect parliamentarians “ programme. The MPs and, once again, the Bochum-based Max Lucks (Green Party) and Michelle Müntefering (SPD) assured us of their support and further networking. For example, they also want to establish contact with the Federal Centre for Political Education. We are very pleased about the trust the MPs have placed in us and would like to take this opportunity to thank them once again for the invitation and the open discussion.
Dr Irmtrud Wojak and Max Lucks @Max Lucks (MP), Berlin
Immediately afterwards, our Managing Director Dr Irmtrud Wojak travelled on to the German Judicial Academy in Wustrau, Brandenburg. After a lecture and interesting discussion about the memory of Fritz Bauer and the culture of remembrance in Germany, in which criticism of the alleged hero worship of Fritz Bauer by various actors was also addressed, one thing was clear: the Fritz Bauer Forum must also become the first point of contact for questions about Fritz Bauer and the voices of the survivors. Irmtrud Wojak already laid the foundation for this with her book about Fritz Bauer: Fritz Bauer 1903-1968: A Biography , on which our exhibition „When I leave my office, I enter hostile territory“ is also based.
At the invitation of the artist and recipient of the City of Bochum’s Ring of Honour, Annette Dabs, we were also able to present the Fritz Bauer Forum at one of Bochum’s Rotary Clubs. And we were delighted to be present at the first annual review of Steele-bleibt-bunt e.V. in Essen, which also led to a discussion about opportunities for cooperation. We are excited and look forward to continuing our work together!
On 16 February 2023, lawyer Dr Florian Fischer gave a presentation on the connection between the economy and human rights.
After an overview of the European Convention on Human Rights and its legal implementation, which he explained using various examples from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), he turned to the correlation between the economic situation and human rights violations. Finally, Fischer addressed a mechanism that he calls the „institutionalisation of human rights“. According to Fischer, human rights must not be administered by state institutions, but must be demanded and practised by a broad civil society. This was followed by a lively discussion.
Lawyer Dr Florian Fischer as a guest at the Fritz Bauer Forum ©Fritz Bauer Forum | BUXUS STIFTUNG
he Bochum-based photographer and artist Richard Lensing has begun documenting our construction site. He will continue to document the transformation of the former Havkenscheid mourning hall and the associated former municipal depot into a seminar, workshop and exhibition centre with a café and garden. Thanks to Richard Lensing’s photographs, we will be able to impressively present the progress of the construction work into a place of research, encounters and open dialogue.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but we would still like to tell you something about the progress of the construction work on the site of the former Havkenscheid mourning hall. Not only has the crown of the former mourning hall now been restored, but progress is also being made inside the future library. The first parts of the walk-in bookshelf are already finished! We hope that things will continue to progress so well and that we will be able to welcome you to the first events on site in the summer. If you are more interested in the construction progress: there are still places available on the construction site tour on 23 March 2023 and we will continue to offer these construction site tours in the future.
Registration is possible via the Bochum Adult Education Centre: www.vhs-bochum.de, phone number 02 34 / 910 – 15 55, course number: G12023
Fritz Bauer Library under construction, photographed by Richard Lensing (Bochum) © FRITZ BAUER FORUM | BUXUS STIFTUNG
Due to the highly topical nature of the work, we would like to announce the German translation of Jamie B. Raskin’s The Unthinkable as part of our „Literature and Human Rights“ series.
The author is an American politician and a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives. Jamie B. Raskin deals with two traumas in his politically and emotionally moving book, which he has labelled „The Unthinkable“. The death of his son Tommy by suicide at the end of 2020 and the attack on the Capitol in Washington, fuelled by then President Donald Trump just a few days later on 6 January 2021. The fact that we were able to win Jamie B. Raskin for our „Literature and Human Rights“ book series is just as extraordinary a pleasure as the story and commitment of Jamie B. Raskin to the preservation of democracy in the USA is extraordinary. We are grateful to the Berg Institute in Madrid, especially Professor Joaquín Gonzáles Ibáñez, for the mediation and the good cooperation. More on this soon, we will keep you informed about the publication.
Cover Jamie B. Raskin, The Unthinkable ©FRITZ BAUER FORUM | BUXUS STIFTUNG