The Community of GautingIn 1988, the mayor of Gauting Dr. Ekkehard Knoblach invited all municipalities along the Dachau Death March to have an art competition to design a monument. The idea was rejected at first but over time public attitude changed. Sculptor Hubertus von Pilgrim was chosen to design the memorials along death march and for the Yad Vashem.
July 3, 1989 1st monument was erected in Gauting. The German embassy in Israel sent out an invitation in the Tel Aviv newspaper to invite Jewish survivors. The commemoration efforts were to signify Adenauer's "acceptance of the past" and to make amends with the survivors. After years of debat among the communities, there are now 22 identical monuments on the route of the death march. |
Helmut Bachrach-BareeHelmut Bachrach-Baree was arrested and sent to a satellite camp of Buchenwald, Stassfurt in November 1944. In April of 1945, Bachrach-Baree was forced to march back to Buchenwald, on to Dachau and then joined the Dachau death march. Along his march he carried pencil and paper and drew images of the events he faced. After liberation, Bachrach-Baree donated his drawings to the Yad Vashem in the thought that others could understand the horrors that occurred.
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Vergangenheitsbewältigung |
Post-World War II, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer made a it a point for Western Germany to take responsibility for its actions during the war and understanding the Nazi war crimes.
Vergangenheitsbewältigung literally means "coming to terms with the past" in German. The municipality of Gauting very clearly demonstrated this by not only building a memorial but including other communities to participate commemoration and inviting the victims. |