Discussion on the 2025 local elections | What do we want to remember?

The Fritz Bauer Forum and Ruhrpott für Europa invite you to explore the relevance of German remembrance culture today.

It has long been said that generational change poses new challenges for remembrance, because the survivors of the Holocaust will soon no longer be with us. Who will fight against forgetting in the future?

Equally urgent is the question of demographic change and the consequences of globalization, which are transforming our culture of remembrance. Outside Germany, including the Holocaust in transnational comparative scenarios is not considered taboo or relativizing; rather, the opposite is true. Given the diversity of our society, is there not a danger that we will offend people if we do not include their experiences in our culture of remembrance? Does this not cause our culture of remembrance to lose touch with current research findings? What do we want to remember in Germany and Europe in the future? At a time when a right-wing extremist party has become the second strongest force in European and federal elections, the question arises: Has our culture of remembrance failed and is it still in line with current research?

Ahead of the local elections in Bochum, we want to know more:

What does remembrance of Nazi crimes mean to the candidates here? What do they want to commemorate, and how can they overcome ritualized forms of remembrance culture in order to avoid provincialism and remain open to new developments?

The candidates for mayor are invited to present their positions in a five-minute statement. This will be followed by a discussion with the guests.

Welcome and opening remarks

Dr. Irmtrud Wojak (Fritz Bauer Forum)

Milad Tabesch M.A. (Ruhrpott für Europa)

Bochum mayoral candidates:

• Jörg Lukat (SPD/GRÜNE)
• Benedikt Gräfingholt (CDU – in Vertretung von Dr. Andreas Bracke)
• Wiebke Köllner (Die Linke)
• Jens Lücking (UWG:Freie Bürger)
• Oliver Linsel (FDP – in Vertretung von Susanne Schneider)
• Nadja Zein-Draeger (Volt/Die Stadtgestalter)

An event organized by the Fritz Bauer Forum and Ruhrpott für Europa.