Today is the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism. To mark this day, we would like to tell you about one particular object from the collection of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, an object that Ambassador Robert Klinke, the Federal Foreign Office Special Representative for Holocaust Remembrance, has agreed to sponsor. This is intended to underscore the imperative “never forget”.

Josef Wolf’s briefcase accompanied its owner to a concentration camp and later on his escape towards Uruguay via England. It was the repository of all his papers, of his very identity. It serves to remind us of this man, of his family and his story.

Josef Wolf was 18 years old when he arrived in Greifswald. He married Charlotte Rotenberg who, like him, originally came from Poland. Their daughter Jutta was born in 1937. One year later Josef Wolf was arrested and imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was released, but was arrested again several times and sent to a forced labour camp.

 The Wolf family finally managed to escape to England, and from there made their way to South America. They had planned to go to Uruguay, but it had already closed its borders to refugees. They were able to settle in Bolivia. Josef Wolf died there when he was only 49 years old.

 As soon as it was possible, Charlotte and Jutta moved to Israel. Jutta Wolf donated her father’s briefcase to Yad Vashem as a testament of her family’s story of persecution and escape. It represents the fate of millions of victims of the Nazi regime.

Josef Wolf’s briefcase is part of the exhibition “Sixteen Objects”, which can be seen at the German Bundestag’s Paul-Löbe-Haus in Berlin until 17 February. This exhibition is also the first event here marking the 70th anniversary of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. These sixteen items from the Yad Vashem collection have been brought back to Germany for the first time ever for this exhibition.

Josef Wolf’s briefcase bears a universal message: Remember the past. Never forget!

“Sixteen Objects: An Exhibition marking 70 Years of Yad Vashem” will be shown in the German Bundestag’s Paul-Löbe-Haus until 17 February, and at the Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site in Essen (House 8) from 5 March until 10 April.

#NieWieder #NeverForget #WeRemember #YadVashem #HolocaustGedenktag #16Objekte