On|Outlooks 09/2023

In September, the time had finally come and we were able to start the first events in the series „ Memoria Viva. Latin America on the move „.

On 10 September, the nationwide Open Monument Day took place under the motto „Talent. Monument“ took place. This was the 30th anniversary of this event and we were represented for the first time with our library – the former Havkenscheid mourning hall, which has been a listed building since 2015.

The Fritz Bauer Library opened its doors for this year’s Open Monument Day at 10 a.m. in glorious weather. It started at 10 a.m. with a short tour of the building site, followed by a lecture by Arne Keilmann, a social scientist specialising in the history of architecture during the Nazi era and early West Germany. He is also a grandson of the architect Ferdinand Keilmann, according to whose design the former Havkenscheid mourning hall was built. Ferdinand Keilmann joined the Was bedeutet das?NSDAP in 1932, underwent the denazification process twice after 1945 and played a major role in the reconstruction of the city of Bochum. In his lecture, Arne Keilmann offered an exciting mixture of specialised knowledge and personal insights, which he illustrated with the help of many pictures and documents.

In the afternoon, Arne Keilmann, together with Irmtrud Wojak, was available for further questions and discussions. He spoke to a large group of visitors about his research and critically categorised his grandfather’s career. There were also two further guided tours of the library and the construction site.

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the military coup in Chile on 11 September 1973, survivors who found asylum in Bochum spoke for the first time about their personal experiences of that day. They are all united by their witnessing of the brutal military coup that led to the fall of Salvador Allende’s government and which was to change Chile dramatically for many years to come.

A total of five survivors told the audience how they experienced the day from their own personal perspective. These included Pedro Crovetto, who was a member of the communist youth at the time and only returned to Chile 10 days before the coup. Annamaria Díaz, who viewed the day with concern for the future of her daughter, who was only two months old, and yet provided friends and comrades with news on the day of the coup. Iván Saldiáz, (?) member of a left-wing revolutionary group, whose moving letter was read out by Cornelia Baumgart. Mario Aguilar, who was a student on the day of the coup and spoke about the democratic resistance at his school, and Carlos Gonzales, who, like many other employees of the military who were loyal to the constitution, was arrested before the actual coup. For us, it was a moving evening that left us with admiration for the courage of the survivors. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the survivors once again for sharing their stories with us.

For all those who were unable to attend the event, you can find the stories on our YouTube channel in the coming weeks.

On 13 September, Berlin-based author and journalist Günther Wessel came to the Fritz Bauer Forum to present his new book „Salvador Allende. A Chilean History“ in front of an interested audience. In a fascinating discussion, he talked about Salvador Allende’s political career and the current situation in Chile. After a small refreshment for the registered reading participants, the film „Allende, mi Abuelo Allende“ by director Marcia Tambutti Allende was shown in the Fritz Bauer Library. In the film, Salvador Allende’s granddaughter goes in search of traces within her own family and gets to know the past in a whole new way through photographs and conversations.

Series of events „Memoria Viva. Latin America on the move“ in co-operation with Amnesty International Bochum

17 October, 6.30 – 8.30 pm: Chile: Book presentation and discussion

24 October, 6.30 – 8.30 pm: Colombia: book presentation and discussion

26 October, 17.30 – 22.00: Colombia: Workshop and film

All dates of the series here .