Donation appeal for IAC project: A bench for Justin Sonder :: International Auschwitz Committee :: Remember the past, be responsible for the future ::

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23.06.2023

Donation appeal for IAC project: A bench for Justin Sonder

16 June 2023: Presentation of the sculpture model "A Bench for Justin Sonder" at the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin, with Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, and the sculptress Julia Kausch from Rostock. Justin Sonder, Auschwitz survivor from Chemnitz, refused to abandon Chemnitz to the Nazis. Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025, often experiences xenophobic, anti-Semitic and extreme right-wing incidents. This only strengthens the aim of the International Auschwitz Committee to make this donation to the city of Chemnitz: a bench, on which a life-size Justin Sonder is sitting with his kind, inquiring gaze directed towards the former Jewish junior school and the people who choose to sit down next to him, to learn something about his life story and the causes of his persecution. The bronze sculpture of the bench and figure is being funded with donations from many well-wishing private individuals and institutions. Photograph: Eva Oertwig /SCHROEWIG/IAK

Justin Sonder refused to let the Nazis have the final say: that is why he returned to his home town of Chemnitz after his liberation from Auschwitz.

And that is why for many years he tirelessly talked with not just young people at innumerable meetings and events, telling about his ordeals, how he and his family were persecuted in Chemnitz as German Jews, and how he was finally deported to Auschwitz.

His objective was to combat denial and forgetting, and to warn against anti-Semitism, racial hatred and right-wing extremism. At the same time he called for solidarity and friendship between people – a message that he embodied and actively lived as an unassuming example of human kindness and compassion. Time and again Justin Sonder sought conversations and dialogue with his fellow human beings, and we need to continue these exchanges, as a necessity and as a sign of respect for Justin Sonder, although he is no longer with us. Sadly, he died in November 2020 aged 95.

Because his objective and his message are crucially important, now and in the future, the International Auschwitz Committee is realizing the project A Bench for Justin Sonder in Chemnitz, the 2025 Cultural Capital of Europe. Cast in bronze, Justin Sonder will be seated on a bench, welcoming the passers-by to sit down beside him, to rest, relax and reflect: A place of remembrance.

This symbol of remembrance and recollection will become an integral part of the public space, for present and future generations. It will be funded by the donations of many people who feel it is important not only to uphold the message passed on to us by the survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps, but also to take a stand against renewed hatred and anti-Semitism. This is why we are calling on you to help bring this project to fruition with your contributions.

(Please let us know if you require a donation receipt.)

Donations can be paid into the following account:

Internationales Auschwitz Komitee
Postbank Berlin
BIC: PBNKDEFF
IBAN: DE29 1001 0010 0575 6861 06
Purpose of transfer: Justin Sonder