"!Never again" is the slogan of the memorial day in German football, which will be commemorated again this year on and around 27 January, the date on which the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated in 1945. On this occasion, German football commemorates the victims of the atrocities of the National Socialists and sends out a signal against the dangers of forgetting.
As in previous years, FC Bayern will participate this year in the "Day to remember the crimes of National Socialism and send out a signal against all current forms of racism and any kind of discrimination in German football". On Saturday, between 1 pm and 4 pm for example, memorial islands will be set up in Munich's historic city centre where members of the FC Bayern family lived and worked until the Nazis seized power in 1933. The idea is to raise awareness of the commemoration among fans and passers-by.
The memorial islands will be located in Maximilianstraße (Kammerspiele), Theatinerstraße 35, Stiglmaierplatz (Löwenbräukeller) and Bayerstraße 27, among them the former Hotel Stadt Wien and the workplace of FC Bayern Honorary President Kurt Landauer. On Sunday, in the run-up to the Bundesliga home match against VfB Stuttgart the memorial islands will be on display for all stadium visitors from 1 pm to 3 pm on the esplanade in front of the Allianz Arena.
!Never again annual event
FC Bayern Munich have been supporting the "!Never again" initiative since 2013. Following the special exhibition "Kicker, Kämpfer, Legenden" [Footballers, Fighters, Legends], the conception of the touring exhibition "verehrt - verfolgt - vergessen: Opfer des Nationalsozialismus beim FC Bayern München" ["venerated - persecuted - forgotten: Victims of National Socialism at FC Bayern Munich"), the commemoration event surrounding Walther Bensemann and last year's reading from an exchange of letters between Kurt Landauer and his future wife Maria, this year's campaign is the next important piece in the culture of remembrance.
On 26 and 27 January, the whole of German football will fight against forgetting, so that people in Germany are "!Never again" discriminated against because of their faith, their race or their sexual orientation.
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