78th anniversary of 20 July 1944
On 20 July 2022, Dominik Kretschmann took part in the commemorations on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of 20 July 1944 as head of the memorial of the Krzyzowa Foundation for European Understanding.
The official commemoration already began on 19 July. On the evening of that day, Prof. Dr. Benjamin Ziemann gave a lecture entitled "20 July 1932: A Missed Chance to Save the Weimar Republic?", which provided a broader context of the failed Weimar Republic in relation to the attempted coup d'état of 20 July 1944.
Read more: 78th anniversary of 20 July 1944
19th East-West European Memorial Meeting Kreisau
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Eyewitnesses in memorial work
After a gap of two years, a memorial meeting was held again in Presence from 30 March to 2 April 2022. The topic was contemporary witnesses.
For decades, the history of the 20th century has no longer been told solely through political decisions, incisive war developments or "great historical figures". Teaching history in dialogue with contemporary witnesses is particularly attractive for a broad public. Authentic accounts by Holocaust survivors or victims of the communist dictatorships preserve individual experiences and convey everyday memories and emotions. In the work on memorials in Eastern and Western Europe, individual memories are documented and used for historical and political education. It is precisely in this context that the topic of contemporary witnessing is often critically questioned. In view of the fact that contemporary witnesses of the Holocaust and the Second World War will only be able to tell their stories for a limited period of time, the "end of contemporary witnessing" was also the topic of the meeting.
Read more: 19th East-West European Memorial Meeting - Krzyżowa, 30.03.-2.04.2022
19th East-West European Memorial Meeting Kreisau
30 March to 2 April 2022
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Eyewitnesses in memorial work
We cordially invite you to this year's East-West European Memorial Meeting from March 30 to April 2, 2022 in Krzyzova/Kreisau. We, the team of organizers, have been thinking for a long time: At first, we were unsure whether we could hold the meeting because of Corona. Now the Russian invasion of Ukraine raises further big question marks.
Despite the tense situation, we decided to hold our meeting just now. We therefore invite historians, students, staff of memorial sites, contemporary witness projects, museums, and NGOs to a pan-European exchange of experiences and ideas in Kreisau. As before, the meeting will be simultaneously interpreted into Polish, Russian, English and German.
Read more: 19th East-West European Memorial Meeting Kreisau - 30.03.-2.04.2022
In the March-April newsletter of our partner institution - Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin, you can read the statement of Dominik Kretschmann, head of the Memorial Site of the Krzyżowa Foundation. Its subject is primarily the Ukrainian-Russian war, Dominik Kretschmann talks about it in the form of answers to questions about what is moving him at the moment, what is worth arguing about and what literature to read.
Read more: Mini-interview with Dominik Kretschmann in the newsletter Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin
