To mark the unveiling of the memorial to the Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted and murdered under National Socialism, the Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe hosted a ceremony on 24 June 2026 in the Großer Tiergarten, near the Goldfischteich, where the new memorial was unveiled to the public.
Uwe Neumärker, Director of the Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, welcomed the approximately 900 guests who had attended the opening despite the intense heat.
The first to speak was Julia Klöckner, President of the Bundestag. She paid tribute to the victims of the Nazi era to whom the memorial is dedicated: “Jehovah’s Witnesses were executed as so-called conscientious objectors. Or they lost their lives in detention under inhumane conditions. […] The memorial is a symbol of our culture of remembrance. We owe a debt of remembrance to all those who were persecuted under National Socialism.” (Link to the full speech)
Ihr folgte Wolfram Weimer, Staatsminister für Kultur und Medien, mit den Worten: »Mit diesem Mahnmal erhält eine lange Zeit weniger bekannte Opfergruppe des Nationalsozialismus einen sichtbaren Ort des Erinnerns und Gedenkens. […] Wir schließen eine Lücke in unserer Erinnerungskultur.«
Für das Land Berlin sprach Felor Badenberg. Als Senatorin für Justiz und Verbraucherschutz erinnerte sie daran, dass die verfolgten Zeugen Jehovas meist von Gerichten verurteilt und im Anschluss eingesperrt oder ermordet worden waren.
Also speaking were Matthias Leeck, the artist who designed the memorial, Clara-Denise Dörner, the great-granddaughter of Bruno Seide, a victim of persecution, and Julius Glaser, the great-grandson of Wilhelm Ruhnau, another victim of persecution. The ceremony was accompanied by music from the Terra Nova Chamber Orchestra.
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Background
On 22 June 2023, the German Bundestag passed a resolution to erect a memorial to the Jehovah’s Witnesses who were persecuted and murdered under National Socialism. This Christian religious community, which also called itself the ‘Serious Bible Students’, was systematically persecuted in Germany from 1933 onwards and, from 1938, throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. Over 15,500 Jehovah’s Witnesses – both men and women – were imprisoned, including 4,500 in concentration camps, where they were stigmatised with a ‘purple triangle’. At least 1,800 Jehovah’s Witnesses lost their lives.
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To coincide with the unveiling of the memorial, the website www.biographien-verfolgter-zeugen-jehovas.de was launched. This knowledge portal, which was developed by young people, will serve as a digital complement to the memorial. The young people involved in the project – which was funded by the BKM and the EVZ Foundation as part of the ‘JUGEND erinnert vor Ort & engagiert’ programme – had also travelled to Berlin for the memorial’s inauguration and, following the official handover of the memorial to the public, met in person with Wolfram Weimer, Minister of State for Culture and Media, and Julia Klöckner, President of the Bundestag.
The Denkmal Foundation would like to thank the Arnold Liebster Foundation for its support.
