In cooperation with the city of Munich, FC Bayern handed over commemorative plaques for the two former club members Wilhelm Neuburger and Hugo Railing as well as their wives Irene and Hedwig on Monday afternoon.
"We must stand together against anti-Semitism. The past reminds us, the present reminds us, the future brings obligations! Our generations are not responsible for what happened, but we are responsible for ensuring that it is not forgotten and that it never happens again. Let us act accordingly," said chairman and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Club president Herbert Hainer declared: "FC Bayern meets its social responsibilities and sends a clear signal against the terrible crimes committed during the Nazi era. Through its remarkable popularity, FC Bayern can influence many people across the globe to ensure nothing like this ever happens again."
130 guests including Kurt Landauer's nephew Uri Siegel, honorary vice president Dr. Fritz Scherer and relatives of the honored families attended the event in the ceremonial hall of Munich's music school on 27 January, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Along with senior Munich mayor Dieter Reiter and mayor Christine Strobl, the FC Bayern officials had commemorated the two murdered members of Jewish descent at Innstraße 18 and Montgelasstraße 2. "FC Bayern helps keep the remembrance alive," said Reiter.
FC Bayern opened the touring exhibition "Venerated – Persecuted – Forgotten" in Los Angeles during the Audi Summer Tour in July 2019.
"We attach great importance to honoring the memory of our former members. FC Bayern is restoring the deceased members to our memories and in doing so commemorates the other members who were victims of National Socialism and who had been forgotten for much too long," said Rummenigge.
Before expanding on the lives of Hedwig and Hugo Railing, for whom the club initiated the commemorative plaques, Rummenigge praised the FC Bayern supporters: "Our fans, especially the Schickeria, have been taking a stance against racism for many years. They are an active part of our culture of remembrance. The south stand once again commemorated Hugo Railing with an impressive tifo before our match against FC Schalke on Saturday."
FC Bayern commemorated the victims of the Holocaust before the match against FC Schalke last weekend. The German record champions' fans staged a choreography on the south stand of the Allianz Arena.
After emigrating to the Netherlands in 1936, Neuburger (b. 1896), a Munich native and sports enthusiast, was murdered in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 22 January 1945. Railing (b. 1896), an industrious businessman and active Bayern member like his brother, was deported to the Sobibor extermination camp in 1942 and murdered.
The next important piece
Let us remember, lest we forget: this is always important, not only on 27 January. But it is helpful and important that the whole of German football fights against forgetting as part of the annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust. The call everyone shares: people in Germany must never again be discriminated against because of their faith, their race or their sexual orientation. FC Bayern has been supporting the day of remembrance since 2013, staging various initiatives. Following the exhibition "Footballers, Fighters, Legends", the touring exhibition "Venerated – Persecuted – Forgotten: Victims of National Socialism at FC Bayern Munich", a reading of Landauer's letters and other memorial events, the handover of the plaques is the next important piece in the culture of remembrance.
Two years after the first visit for FC Bayern supporters, a second group of Bayern fans traveled to Auschwitz in the context of the project "Erinnerung vereint" [Remembrance unites].
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