‘Never Again!’: Holocaust remembrance under pressure

Holocaust remembrance in Germany is facing growing pressure as survivors who can give first-hand testimony become fewer and acts of disrespect at memorials increase. Jens-Christian Wagner, who helps curate a new Bonn exhibition, says attacks on remembrance and historical revisionism also raise concerns about the future of democracy.

The exhibition combines art and historical artefacts to confront Nazi crimes and encourage visitors to connect the past with present-day exclusion. Wagner says Buchenwald uses full-day programmes in which students explore historical sources, rather than relying on short lectures. Eva Umlauf, now 83, was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau as a two-year-old in 1944 and survived; several members of her family were murdered.