Autor/Autorin
In October, we dealt with many international topics, including the history of military dictatorships in Latin America and colonialism in football. A particular highlight was the book presentation of Ilse’s memoirs of Colonia Dignidad , published by BUXUS EDITION. As part of a lecture, we looked at the effects of the American election campaign on democracies in Europe. In addition, the last guided tours of the site took place.
Right at the beginning of the month, an event took place at the Fritz Bauer Library that tied in with the content of our Latin America series from the end of 2023. Günter Pohl, who is very familiar with various South American countries, spoke in his lecture „The backyard – Chile, Latin America and the USA“ about why we all remember the coup in Chile, but the military dictatorships in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina have largely been forgotten. He gave an overview of these various military dictatorships and how they were dealt with. An exciting discussion centred around the question of what consequences we can draw from this for our present: It is definitely important to clearly name the perpetrators and talk about their crimes. But above all, we must not forget the diverse resistance, because the victims were mostly political resistance fighters and the fight against forgetting and in favour of an open confrontation with history already began during the dictatorships. The fact that the Latin American culture of remembrance has a much less passive understanding of the victims of the dictatorship than, for example, the German culture of remembrance with regard to the victims of National Socialism, was one of the topics in the subsequent discussion and will continue to accompany us as a question.
On 4 October, sports journalist and author Ronny Blaschke presented his new book Spielfeld der Herrenmenschen. Colonialism and Racism in Football . The Fritz Bauer Forum was a co-operation partner for the event. The book, which has since been named „Football Book of the Year 2024“ by the German Academy for Football Culture, was written after extensive research and countless interviews on a total of five continents. In it, Blaschke not only describes the historical dimension of colonialism and racism in football, but above all its manifestations to this day. After the opening of the Fritz Bauer Forum in May 2025, the book will also be available to read in the Fritz Bauer Library.
On a Sunday morning, the Fritz Bauer Forum hosted a reading and discussion with author Günter Pohl in the library. This is the second time he has been a guest to present a book from his trilogy, „On the Order of the World“, this time the new publication Der Mensch ist Entwicklung (2024). In the discussion about the text passages, in which the protagonists Noem and Myop had their say, there was lively philosophising about the history of philosophy, the progress of humanity and the planet and being.
On 15 October, the author and historian Emma Sepúlveda Pulvirenti visited us to present her book Erinnerungen von Ilse an Colonia Dignidad , which was published on 25 September in the Fritz Bauer Bibliothek book series. The translator of the book, Dr Mathias Sasse, was also a guest.
The book tells the story of the protagonist Ilse, a survivor of Colonia Dignidad who denounces the crimes of the „colonos“. The reading of various passages by Bochum-based actress Maria Wolf gave visitors a deep insight into this emotional and dark story. Afterwards, Emma Sepúlveda Pulvirenti, Mathias Sasse and Irmtrud Wojak, editor of the series and director of the Fritz Bauer Forum, discussed the book and the current situation of the former Colonia Dignidad, now Villa Baviera, with the audience. The author then went on a reading tour to the book fair in Frankfurt, as well as to the Embassy of the Republic of Chile in Berlin and to Bremen.
The book presentation and reading will be published on our YouTube channel shortly. The book can be purchased here in our online shop.
Why conspiracy ideology and not conspiracy theory? What exactly does that mean? This was the subject of the three-hour workshop led by the two speakers Sebastian Pöppe and Ole Merkel at the Fritz Bauer Library on 22 October. It was part of our „We need need need to talk“ series of events, which is supported by Demokratie leben! By looking at the historical development of conspiracy ideologies, it became clear how closely they are still permeated by anti-Semitism today. In lively discussions, various aspects of this and the interaction of conspiracy ideology and anti-Semitic ideas were examined in more detail. At the end, possible courses of action for dealing with such ideas were outlined, rounding off an exciting and informative workshop in an encouraging way.
Dr David Berchem’s lecture at the Fritz Bauer Library on 30 October 2024 dealt with the question of which far-right strategies can be found in football and what means political education work can use against them. Based on several case studies, he gave an overview of the power of right-wing language, imagery and ciphers and highlighted how widespread they are in (amateur and professional) football. The emotionality generated by football is often used to relativise discrimination. Political education work, such as that carried out by the Reporting Centre for Discrimination in Football (MeDiF-NRW), can help to prevent this. For example, in the workshop taking place on 8 November from 09:00-15:30 in the Fritz Bauer Library: „What do Fritz Bauer, the Auschwitz trial and discrimination in football have in common?“ Registration is still possible at magdalena.koehler@fritz-bauer-forum.de .
On 31 October 2024, Member of the European Parliament Dr Tobias Cremer (SPD) spoke together with Prof. David Elcott (Wagner School of Public Service at NYU ) about the elections in the USA on 5 November and their significance for European democracies. In a packed Fritz Bauer Library, Cremer described the current situation in the USA. Cremer focussed in particular on the identity formation of the American population, which has changed in recent years. In the past, religion, trade union membership and class were the main identifying characteristics of the general population. It was the decline in the importance of these characteristics that plunged Americans into an identity crisis, at the end of which only the division into Republican and liberal remained.
For Europe, it is also clear that the relationship with the USA will change, regardless of the election result. This is because both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will put American interests at the forefront of their policies, partly, but not exclusively, due to the identity crisis of the population analysed by Cremer. At the same time, the whole world is looking at this election with the question: is liberal democracy still a viable idea in these times and is it worth fighting for?
David Elcott, live from the USA, painted an even gloomier picture. According to Elcott, a truly threatening scenario has developed within a single generation. Less than 20% of US voters trust the government. Donald Trump and his autocratic populism have no particular added value beyond ego and anger. Democracies thrive on democrats who abide by the rules of the game that apply to everyone, they are consensus-orientated and want to keep the structure running or improve it, but autocrats play this game differently. They are not interested in political participation and co-determination within a democratic framework. They want to win the game and when they win, the game is over, emphasised Alcott, because they are only interested in power.
The lecture by Cremer and Elcott will be published on our YouTube channel in the coming days.
On 2 and 23 October 2024, our last construction site tours took place on the site of the future Fritz Bauer Forum, because with the installation of the windows currently underway, the interior work on the building and thus its completion is drawing ever closer. Two groups of participants were therefore able to take another look at the construction site, discover the latest developments and view the latest photo documentation of the construction site and the roof, which was greened in the summer. The history of the building and the architect Ferdinand Keilmann was also highlighted.
Even though this was the last guided tour of the construction site, you will be able to observe further progress on the building at our upcoming events. We will also be following the further development of our forum on our social media channels, in the newsletter and on the Fritz Bauer Forum blog until the opening – so feel free to drop by.
Header image: Emma Sepúlveda Pulvirenti © BUXUS STIFTUNG | Fritz Bauer Forum