German Town Grapples with Nazi Past on Holocaust Remembrance Day “`

Tübingen, a prosperous German university town, grapples with a stark contrast between its present and its Nazi past.

This southwestern city of 90,000 inhabitants was once home to Theodor Dannecker, a high-ranking Nazi official and close associate of Adolf Eichmann. In 1933, the University of Tübingen, where many SS officers trained until 1945, declared itself “Jew free.” Today, Tübingen actively confronts its painful history.

“Our Christian congregation can only thrive here by acknowledging the city’s past,” Jobst Bittner, founder of Tübingen’s TOS Church and the March of Life initiative, told Israel’s Channel 11. This initiative involves descendants of Nazis marching against antisemitism alongside Christians and Jews worldwide.

Channel 11’s report showed the TOS church displaying a banner reading “Bring Them Home Now,” a plea for the release of Israeli and American hostages held by Hamas. The church houses a shop selling Israel-related merchandise and books. A “Museum of Guilt” downstairs exhibits photographs of Tübingen Nazis and images of mass graves, once concealed in cigar boxes as macabre souvenirs.

The report also featured young church members singing “Am Yisrael Chai,” despite limited Hebrew knowledge. They build Sukkot during the holiday, celebrating Israelite liberation from slavery.

Heinz Reuss, an TOS Church elder and March of Life director, described last year’s Sukkot celebration in the town square as “very beautiful,” noting the participation of rabbis from a neighboring town in reciting blessings, mirroring Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremonies.

A musical, “A Ship Makes History,” based on a Holocaust survivor’s story and the Exodus, is performed during Hanukkah. Michaela Buckel, the play’s author and March of Life program director, explained its non-threatening approach to teaching children about the Holocaust, inspired by Jewish resilience.

“I wanted to highlight the desire to live and fight for a new life, despite the hardships,” she stated.

Reuss explained that Christians in his church celebrate some Jewish holidays as a gesture of friendship and to acknowledge “the source of blessing, the Jewish roots.”

Regarding the town’s antisemitic past, Reuss recalled a turning point in 2003 when many congregants discovered their family members’ Nazi affiliations.

“It was a powerful time of repentance and healing,” he said.

Kim-Sophie Kasch, a 24-year-old TOS worship leader, told Digital that her family discovered her great-grandfather’s Nazi past after his death. He served in the Wehrmacht in areas where “crimes were committed against the Polish-Lithuanian population and the Jews.”

Kasch described her father’s shock at the revelation.

Reuss stated that the discovery of eight concentration camps around Tübingen, along with death march routes, made the town’s history undeniable. “Everything became visible. Everyone saw it.”

He described organizing a prayer march with descendants of both Holocaust survivors and Nazis, which grew into a three-day event.

“It was very meaningful for us,” Reuss said.

Since 2007, March of Life events have taken place in hundreds of cities across more than 20 countries, involving visits to concentration camps and mass graves.

In 2009, the movement expanded to the United States as the March of Remembrance, a spring Yom HaShoah memorial walk.

“The message is remembrance, reconciliation, and support for Israel against antisemitism,” Reuss said. “It teaches Holocaust lessons and encourages people to confront antisemitism in their own families.”

Reuss shared that his Dutch great-grandfather, an Orthodox reform Christian, saved Jewish lives by refusing to denounce his Jewish friends. He contrasted this with his German grandfather’s lack of similar courage.

“It’s crucial to speak out and not remain silent, because antisemitism is evil and doesn’t stop with Jews,” Reuss emphasized.

Reuss mentioned that Holocaust survivor Irene Shashar will be honored at the TOS church for Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. She will share her survival story the previous day.

The Nazis invaded Shashar’s Poland when she was two, and her father was murdered when she was five. Shashar credits her mother’s resourcefulness for her survival, hiding her in closets and sewers. Referring to her family in a 2020 UN speech, she declared, “I survived … Hitler didn’t win and I have proof.”

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