{"id":80776,"date":"2026-06-24T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stiftung-denkmal.de\/uncategorized\/handover-to-the-public\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:08:13","slug":"handover-to-the-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stiftung-denkmal.de\/en\/latest-news\/handover-to-the-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Handover to the public"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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To mark the unveiling of the memorial to the Jehovah\u2019s 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 Gro\u00dfer Tiergarten, near the Goldfischteich<\/a>, where the new memorial was unveiled to the public.<\/strong><\/p>

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Uwe Neum\u00e4rker, 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.<\/p>

The first to speak was Julia Kl\u00f6ckner, President of the Bundestag. She paid tribute to the victims of the Nazi era to whom the memorial is dedicated: \u201cJehovah\u2019s Witnesses were executed as so-called conscientious objectors. Or they lost their lives in detention under inhumane conditions. [\u2026] 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.\u201d (Link to the full speech<\/a>)<\/p>

Ihr folgte Wolfram Weimer, Staatsminister f\u00fcr Kultur und Medien, mit den Worten: \u00bbMit diesem Mahnmal erh\u00e4lt eine lange Zeit weniger bekannte Opfergruppe des Nationalsozialismus einen sichtbaren Ort des Erinnerns und Gedenkens. […] Wir schlie\u00dfen eine L\u00fccke in unserer Erinnerungskultur.\u00abF\u00fcr das Land Berlin sprach Felor Badenberg. Als Senatorin f\u00fcr Justiz und Verbraucherschutz erinnerte sie daran, dass die verfolgten Zeugen Jehovas meist von Gerichten verurteilt und im Anschluss eingesperrt oder ermordet worden waren. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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