Never again! – A call to society

Almost exactly 80 years ago, on 27 January 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp was liberated. More than one million people were murdered there. Today, the name Auschwitz symbolises, among other things, the genocide of European Jews and Roma and Sinti during the Second World War. After the camp was liberated by the Red Army, survivors campaigned for a memorial to be built on the former site. A circumstance that applies to all former concentration camp sites: the fact that there are so many larger or smaller memorials today was not an inevitable development after 1945, but the result of years of struggle by survivors, their relatives and civil society initiatives - often and for a long time against state and social resistance.

For more than 20 years, the German football family has commemorated those persecuted, deported and murdered under National Socialism every year on match days around 27 January. ‘Never again!’ - is the appeal made by the survivors of the concentration camps to future generations. This appeal is all the more important today, as anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise again. TSG Hoffenheim accepts its responsibility to resolutely oppose all forms of anti-Semitism and discrimination. At the home match against Eintracht Frankfurt, both teams will pose together with a banner to draw attention to the campaign.

Football has a social responsibility. It brings many people together and uses its appeal to help prevent this dark chapter of history from repeating itself. TSG Hoffenheim have been involved in remembrance work for years. Among other things, TSG Hoffenheim recognises the annual "Remembrance Day in German Football".

As part of the "Never Again" Remembrance Day in German football, TSG Hoffenheim is organising various events around the home match against Eintracht Frankfurt (26/01/2014, 15:30 CET) to commemorate the victims of National Socialism and stand up for democracy. One special event is the panel discussion initiated by TSG Hoffenheim's remembrance work group. Fans, media and other interested parties are cordially invited to attend on Friday, 24 January at 18:30 CET to discuss what role football plays in the active culture of remembrance and what developments await us in the future.

Guests at the panel discussion in the PK room of the PreZero Arena will be:

• Julia Hirsch, granddaughter of the footballer and namesake of the renowned Julius Hirsch Award, for which she sits on the jury.
• Cornelius Kückelhaus, specialist for youth and mediation work, memorial site work department at the Baden-Württemberg State Centre for Political Education
• Caitlin Follo, member of the remembrance work group, TSG fan and working student at the Hoffenheim fan project
• Michael Börner, research assistant at Lernort Kislau e. V., historian with professional experience in historical-political education and cultural management

Admission is free. If you have any questions, please contact TSG fan support at fanbetreuung@tsg-hoffenheim.de or call 07261-9493305.

This year, the TSG Remembrance Work Group is inviting fans to explore the local traces of Auschwitz and delve deeper into the significance of remembrance work. Those interested can still register for the memorial site trip to Auschwitz in June 2025. It offers an in-depth examination of the crimes of National Socialism and the history of the Holocaust.