A joint Shabbat celebration, an impressive tifo by fans before the 4-3 win against Holstein Kiel at the Allianz Arena, educational city tours in the footsteps of FC Bayern during the Nazi era were all part of Bayern’s third weekend dedicated to the culture of remembrance with its ‘Red against Racism’ initiative together with the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria (IKGM). “I hope that we all stand up for our democracy, otherwise we risk history repeating itself. Anyone who forgets this is not taking the beginnings seriously: the indifference, the looking away, the whitewashing,” said Charlotte Knobloch, president of the IKGM, in front of 110 guests in the Ohel Jakob Synagogue in Munich, including goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, deputy CEO Michael Diederich and Jürgen Muth, managing director of the Allianz Arena. “History teaches us that the inertia of democracy puts democracy at the mercy of its enemies. This is exactly what must not happen,” she added.
In his speech, Herbert Hainer went back 125 years to the origins of FC Bayern. The founding charter from 1900 contains 17 names, including Benno Elkan, Joseph Pollack and, as has since become known, Willy Hirsch – three signatories with Jewish roots. “At the time, the founders were a group of young men who were forward-thinking and wanted to connect Munich with the world through the new sport of football,” said the FCB president. “Later, president Kurt Landauer became one of the most influential figures at our club. It is a great honour for us to be here for the third year in a row to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
Hainer: “Not today, not tomorrow and above all, not with us!”
Once again, several hundred members of FC Bayern had signed up to learn with club employees during Ellen Presser's guided tour and over dinner with members of the Jewish community. “FC Bayern wants to create space for encounters with ‘Red against Racism’ - this is a wonderful example,” said Hainer. Building bridges, overcoming borders in people's minds, bringing people together - all of this is unfortunately more important than ever in these times, the president explained: “A few days before FC Bayern's 125th anniversary, Germany will elect a new government. And 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, it looks as if one in five people will vote for a party that is categorised by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected right-wing extremist, that incites hatred against migrants and questions the free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany. There are moments when sociopolitical responsibility requires us to stand up. And so today, on behalf of the entire FC Bayern family, I once again say to all forces that divide and undermine democracy: Not today, not tomorrow and above all, not with us!” The hall responded with long applause.
Hainer said that listening to each other is the key to the fight against antisemitism, racism and marginalisation of all kinds: “Only when we listen to others can we imagine what moves their lives.” Ten years ago, around 200 witnesses to the Holocaust were still alive, now there are around 50, he recalled: “It is up to us to continue telling the story, because it is never finished.” Sunday was also organised as such by the ‘Red against Racism’ initiative, which was also represented this weekend by its two leaders Benny Folkmann and Andreas Werner as well as Kiki Hasenpusch, Erik Böhm, Susan Theis and Rio Grumbrecht. Sixty members of FC Bayern who were drawn by lot went on a special tour of Munich city centre together with Alexa Gattinger and Michael Hellstern from the FC Bayern Museum, with IKGM director Guy Fränkel and managing director Steven Guttmann as well as representatives of the Jewish community.
Knobloch: “A strong signal by Bayern”
The event concluded with lunch together at the Pastalozzi restaurant, as nobody should simply have to go home with their thoughts, but should have the chance to exchange ideas and discuss the topics in greater depth. Knobloch said: “FC Bayern has once again sent a strong signal for remembrance and against forgetting, for respect and togetherness. Thanks to the whole club.”
Find out more about Red against Racism here:
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