“Modern culture of remembrance” in the District of Düren: News on the removal of the information board on Julius Erasmus from the Vossenack military cemetery in 2021 (Published on 23/08/2022)
On this blog it has repeatedly been reported that in June 2021 the information board on Julius Erasmus, previously located in the entrance area of the military cemetery Vossenack, abruptly disappeared. Most recently, the unconvincing attempts of Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge NRW to explain this had been discussed.
Following an inquiry on the matter to the District Administrator of the District of Düren in July 2021, in response to which it was stated, amongst other things, that the exact date of the removal of the board was “not known (anymore)”, I addressed three further questions to there, namely (translation from German language)
1. By which official(s) was the removal of the information board from the Vossenack military cemetery initiated?
2. By which official(s) was the removal of the information board from the Vossenack military cemetery carried out?
3. What happened to the information board after its removal from the Vossenack military cemetery?
At the beginning of August, a letter was received from the District of Düren with the answers, which are as follows (translation from German language):
“Question 1.: By which official(s) was the removal of the information board from the Vossenack war cemetery initiated?
The removal of the information board was initiated by Mr Karl-Josef Mainz, Head of Central Facility Management [“Amtsleiter Zentrales Gebäudemanagement”].
Question 2.: By which official(s) was the removal of the information board from the Vossenack war cemetery carried out?
The removal was carried out by Mr Manfred Bonn, warden of the military cemeteries Vossenack and Hürtgen.
Question 3.: What happened to the information board after its removal from the Vossenack military cemetery?
The information board was broken during dismantling. Therefore, it does no longer exist.”
Particularly interesting is the answer to the third question, according to which the information board “was broken during dismantling” and “no longer exists”. Once again a very remarkable circumstance.
Should anyone have further information about the removal of the information board, he/she is welcome to make contact. All messages will of course be treated confidentially.
(Head picture: German military cemetery Vossenack, spring 2022)
Further articles on the topic “‘Modern culture of remembrance’ in the District of Düren”:
- The removal of the information board on Julius Erasmus from the Vossenack military cemetery in 2021 (03/10/2021)
- Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge NRW on the removal of the information board on Julius Erasmus from the Vossenack military cemetery in 2021 (17/06/2022)
- The “representative for the care of the war grave sites Vossenack and Hürtgen as places of a democratic culture of remembrance and commemoration” (“Beauftragter für die Betreuung der Kriegsgräberstätten Vossenack und Hürtgen als Orte einer demokratischen Erinnerungs- und Gedenkkultur”) (16/11/2022)
- The ban on laying flowers and candles at the military cemeteries in Hürtgen and Vossenack (12/02/2023)
- Administrative Court Aachen denies grant of a preliminary order against the District of Düren “flower ban”, appeal to the Higher Administrative Court (23/03/2023)
- Laying of wreaths by the Administrator of the District of Düren at the Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen and Vossenack on Remembrance Day 2022 – or: Quod licet iovi, non licet bovi? (21/04/2023)
- District of Düren denies “flower ban” on Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest to press and media (13/05/2023)
- “Flower ban” of the District of Düren on the Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest: Higher Administrative Court of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia rejects the appeal against the denial of urgent legal protection (03/07/2023)
- Administration out of control – District now also bans photos of the fallen in uniform at Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest (18/08/2023)
- The “permanent exhibition” on the Hürtgen war cemetery (20/12/2023)
- The removal of the memorial stone for Julius Erasmus by the District in September 2022 (06/02/2024)
- The distortion of remembrance on the national Remembrance Day (“Volkstrauertag”) (21/04/2024)
- The “Dance Theater” over the graves of the war dead at the military cemetery in Vossenack on the occasion of Remembrance Day (“Volkstrauertag”) 2023 (19/08/2024)
- The statement of the President of Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. on the “Dance Theater” at the military cemetery in Vossenack on the occasion of Remembrance Day 2023 – a “fact check” (13/11/2024)
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