Student project in Passau: Jewish history fights for visibility!

Student project in Passau: Jewish history fights for visibility!

In Passau, a city with an eventful Jewish history, students from the Leopoldinum Gymnasium are committed to the culture of remembrance. Under the direction of Antje Spielberger, 16 students launched the “Jewish to go” project as part of a P-seminar. A central player is Omid Babakhan, who is particularly interested in an old commercial building that once belonged to the Bernheim Jewish merchant family. Despite the deep history this building holds, there is still no indication of what it means for the city and its Jewish past. According to the report by Sunday paper The group would like to install QR code boards at historical locations to make history tangible for everyone.

The Bernheim family, once active in Passau from around 1898 to 1935, has an interesting past. In the period before the Second World War, she not only ran a successful business, but was also part of city life. So told Lower Bavaria Wiki that Alfred and Berta Bernheim were forced to sell their business in 1935. The family's descendants, who now live scattered across France, Israel, the USA and Great Britain, also remember their roots in Passau. A visit to the city by the Bernheim family in 2008 attested to this enduring legacy and interest in their history.

Memory and resonance

However, despite the intensive preparation and positive feedback the project received, requests for support from the city of Passau remain unanswered. This raises questions about how seriously the city treats its own history. Dean Jochen Wilde praised the project and would like to actively contribute to revitalizing the culture of remembrance. An initiative group was founded to develop a “path of remembrance”. It remains to be seen whether the city administration will comply with the students' wishes and whether there will be greater public involvement.

In a broader context, the discussion about the culture of remembrance is particularly relevant. In recent years, the view of how society deals with the National Socialist past has changed. The debate about an inclusive approach to memory and the question of how migrants can be integrated into this culture has become more explosive. An article by bpb addresses this aspect and shows that many voices and memories that are part of the diversity of society have so far remained unheard. A post-migrant culture of remembrance could help to include everyone in the discussion.

In conclusion, it remains to be said that the commitment of the students of the Leopoldinum Gymnasium is an important sign that the city's Jewish history should not be forgotten. The challenges that still exist are just as obvious as the opportunities that arise from new approaches and public participation.