Hesse Honors 80 Years of Displacement with Powerful Memorial Day
The Hessian Memorial Day has been commemorating since 2014 the suffering of millions of people who lost their homes due to war, tyranny, and expulsion in the 20th century. Simultaneously, it honors the significant contribution that expellees, refugees, and later resettlers made to the rebuilding and development of Hesse. Traditionally, the Hessian state association of the Federation of Expellees (BdV) also holds its central 'Day of the Homeland' on this occasion, which this year is themed '80 Years: Remember - Preserve - Shape'.
In his speech, Interior Minister Roman Poseck stated: 'We no longer have much time to remember together with still-living eyewitnesses of the events of flight, expulsion, and deportation. It is therefore up to us to preserve their voices and their stories.
Millions of people have lost their homes in the 20th century and still do today. Many families, including my own, have ancestors and members who were expelled from their former homes. They were uprooted, deprived of their rights, and robbed of their dignity. Behind the cold terms 'flight', 'expulsion', and 'deportation' lie countless personal fates: destroyed families, lost childhoods, broken lives. These stories must not be forgotten. The experiences and fears often haunt the affected people for a lifetime.
Today, we remember those who had to leave their homes due to war, violence, oppression, and arbitrariness. We remember the dead, the deported, and those who could never return. We also remember the approximately one million expellees who came to Hesse after World War II and the later resettlers.
We are deeply grateful to all these people who came to Hesse. They created a new home here and helped lay the foundation for our success and our democratic society.
