Remembrance Day in German Football

Remembrance Day in German Football

A trip to Dachau, a museum visit in Munich, and a light show at the stadium: Eintracht Frankfurt did take part in the ‘Never Again’ campaign once again this year.

The 19th Remembrance Day campaign in German football did take place on Friday 27 January, which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Clubs and associations commemorate the victims of National Socialism as part of the ”Never Again” (!Nie Wieder) initiative. This year’s campaign was titled ”Women in Resistance”.

The opening event of this year’s Remembrance Day was held at the DFB campus in Frankfurt, at which Eintracht president Peter Fischer and Holocaust survivor Helmut “Sonny” Sonneberg did take part. Helga Roos, who has been involved with the Eintracht Museum for several years, did present the biographies of Frankfurt sportswomen Martha Wertheimer and Helli Knoll.

On 27 January, 40 Eintracht supporters did travel to Munich as part of the third Spurensuche (Searching for Traces) project. The itinerary included a visit to the FC Bayern Museum and a city tour tracing the footsteps of Bayern’s Jewish members.

On Saturday the group did attend Eintracht’s match against Bayern, and on Sunday there was a guided tour of the Dachau memorial. During the ‘search for traces’ in Munich and Dachau, the group did study the life of Emanuel Rothschild (1895 – 1975), who was temporarily imprisoned in Dachau as a victim of the Nazi regime, and who also survived the Holocaust. After the war he became a member of the Eintracht board of directors and, as a victim of Nazi persecution, he succeeded in obtaining permission from the Allies for Eintracht to resume playing. He was made an honorary Eintracht member in 1975.

#LightOfRemembrance

The ‘Searching for Traces’ project is organized by Eintracht Frankfurt’s fan liaison department and the Eintracht Frankfurt Museum. On the evening of 27 January, Deutsche Bank Park did light up in yellow – a ‘Light of Remembrance’ – in honour of the victims of the Holocaust. Eintracht fans were invited to post their photos on Friday evening using the hashtag #LichtDerErinnerung (#LightOfRemembrance).