Autor/Autorin
May took us to two new places. Firstly, Irmtrud Wojak and filmmaker Jakob Gatzka visited the US member of the House of Representatives Jamie B. Raskin in Washington and talked to him about his book The Unthinkable . Secondly, we have planned our move to Feldmark 102 this month.
As part of our event series „Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights“, lawyer Dr Thomas Galli presented his podcast „Schuld. Punishment. Recht?“, in which he will address questions about our criminal justice system once a month in future. We were also able to make new contacts with citizens‘ initiatives at the Bochum Bicycle Scavenger Hunt and Irmtrud Wojak was able to present the Fritz Bauer Forum to the Witten SPD.
Last month, BUXUS EDITION published the book The Unthinkable by the member of the House of Representatives and constitutional lawyer Jamie Raskin. Together with Dr Joaquín Gonzáles Ibáñez, Director of the Madrid Berg Institute and editor of the Spanish edition, Irmtrud Wojak presented the book in Washington. On this occasion, a film interview was made with the author, in which Jamie Raskin described how the two traumatic events of the turn of the year 20/21 led to the creation of the book: the suicide of his 25-year-old son Thomas Bloom Raskin and the attempted coup by then US President Donald Trump on 6 January 2021. The book deals with the misguided policy in dealing with the Covid-19 epidemic and how this fuelled the rise of the far-right movement in the USA, through to Trump’s big lie about the alleged election defeat of the current President Joe Biden (Democratic Party):
„That was such a shock to people ,“ Raskin says in the interview, „that the government was not on the side of the general public in a public health crisis, that it led to tremendous dejection and depression and a loss of confidence in the country in our own government. And it was also fertile ground for lies, propaganda, disinformation and misinformation, all the same kinds of lies, propaganda, disinformation and misinformation that led to Donald Trump’s big lie that he won the election and led to the January 6th riot and the attempted political coup. That’s the story I try to tell in my book, how those traumas were really connected, at least from my perspective in our lives and what we lived through and what we’re still living through today because Donald Trump is still at large. And the movement that he unleashed against us is still out there.“
The film interview for the book is currently being translated and will be published shortly. Jamie Raskin is currently deciding whether to run for the United States Senate, one of the two chambers of the US Congress, and will announce his decision in June.
The unthinkable by Jamie B. Raskin © FRITZ BAUER FORUM | BUXUS STIFTUNG
On 11 May, Dr Thomas Galli spoke about the prison system in Bochum’s Q1. Galli’s synthesis ranged from the political and social circumstances as to why people are sent to prison in the first place, to life in prison and the social structures found there, to the question of the meaningfulness of a justice system centred on punishment. Thomas Galli is not only concerned with the abolition of prisons, but much more with truly far-reaching reforms and a reorientation of the criminal justice system that not only locks up people who have committed crimes, but also enables them to undergo genuine resocialisation. Resocialisation that focuses on people and their needs – as Bauer demanded back in 1957: „Democratic criminal law is based […] on the equality and solidarity of all citizens and aims to ’socialise‘ or ‚resocialise‘ the offender in the spirit of civic and human responsibility“.
You can find out what a humane approach to criminal offences can look like HERE in Thomas Galli’s monthly podcast „Schuld. Punishment. Right?“.
Until 13 May, the artworks of Witten painter Reinhold Spratte, including some of the book covers from our Fritz Bauer Library series, were on display at Bahnhofstraße 12 in Witten, the constituency office of the Witten SPD.
„Art enriches our everyday life. With its large open spaces and inviting shop windows, my constituency office in Witten is ideal for the exhibitions. It is also important to me to give local artists the opportunity to exhibit their works centrally and in a way that is recognisable to everyone. The feedback from passers-by has been good. Interested people who ‚just want to have a look‘ keep coming in,“ says Alex Echeverria, Chairman of the Witten SPD.
Irmtrud Wojak gave a lecture on the life and work of social democrat and resistance fighter Fritz Bauer at the exhibition’s finissage, where she also introduced our Fritz Bauer Forum. This was met with great interest by the many visitors to the event. A visit to the site in neighbouring Bochum is planned for the near future.
Dr Irmtrud Wojak and Axel Echeverria (SPD Member of Parliament for Witten), Photo: Sascha Roncevic
On 14 May, we were delighted to welcome many new and familiar faces who visited us as part of the first Bochum Bicycle Scavenger Hunt organised by bo-initiativ.de at the site of the new Fritz Bauer Forum. It was a great opportunity for us to present our plans, the location and the construction progress to a diverse audience in beautiful weather. At the subsequent evening meeting in the neighbourhood hall, we were able to network further with various citizens‘ initiatives from Bochum.
After two and a half years in the Wattenscheid Technology and Start-up Centre, we have now been given the opportunity to move into office space in Feldmark. Even though the remodelling and construction of our future workplace with seminar and exhibition rooms, archive and café has only just begun, we are looking forward to being more present at the location in the future. From 1 July, you will find us directly opposite the future Fritz Bauer Forum (Feldmark 107) at Feldmark 102.