Annual memorial service

Since 1979, we have held an annual memorial service on the anniversary of the deaths of the children from Bullenhuser Damm. Every year, relatives travel to the site to take part in an event that is increasingly organized by and with young people from Hamburg. Through speeches, music, and cultural contributions, we honor the victims: twenty Jewish children from Poland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Slovakia, two French doctors, two Dutch nurses, and at least 24 Soviet prisoners. The ceremony is mainly held in the gymnasium of the former school building, followed by the opportunity to lay or plant roses in the rose garden in remembrance.

In some years, the memorial service has been so well attended that we it moved outdoors to the courtyard, or held it at other venues in Hamburg. However, a visit to the memorial site - as the site of the crime - and a quiet moment in the rose garden remains essential for the relatives who attend.

For many years, the memorial service took place on April 20, the anniversary of the murder. However, as this date frequently coincided with Shabbat or major Jewish holidays, we, together with the relatives, decided to choose a different date for the official ceremony. It was important to ensure that as many people as possible could attend.

In years when the memorial service cannot take place on April 20, a small public commemoration is held in the rose garden on that day.

In 2020, the commemoration was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, we held a digital commemoration.