Since 2005, the city of Idar-Oberstein and the Schalom Association have jointly organized this commemorative event, this time focusing on the stage program 'Anne's Struggle' with cabaret artist and singer Marianne Blum and actor and dubbing artist Thomas Linke. The event was supported by the Partnership for Democracy in the Birkenfeld National Park district as part of the federal program 'Demokratie leben!
In his welcoming address, Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf emphasized how important this special day of remembrance is in light of current developments. "We must make our young people in particular aware of what happened back then and what must not happen again. We must do everything we can to prevent the exclusion, violence and murder of entire population groups."
The chairman of Schalom e. V., former district administrator Axel Redmer, began his speech by referring to Hitler's rise to power on January 30, 1933. "Back then, the National Socialists were not really taken seriously, but after taking power, they managed to bring the country into line and sweep away the opposition in a very short space of time." He then drew parallels with the present day, with the recent raid on a group of Reich citizens. "This group is also being made fun of, the danger is being misjudged. But, as a well-known quote goes: freedom always dies by the millimeter." This must not happen to our republic, he said, and we must not become careless in the face of anti-democratic developments. "That's another reason why this day of remembrance is important."
Marianne Blum and Thomas Linke then took to the stage, which was bathed in blue light. In the play 'Anne's Struggle - Anne Frank vs. Adolf Hitler', they juxtapose passages from 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. Blum slips into the role of the initially cheerful and naïve teenager, whose diary entries document the everyday life of the eight people in hiding in a Secret Annex in Amsterdam. Linke, for his part, comes amazingly close to the 'original' in gestures and tone of voice. The hate-filled passages in which Hitler incites hatred against the Jews in his political-ideological program are almost unbearable. The staged reading is pleasantly interrupted by authentic Yiddish songs sung live by Marianne Blum, giving the play the authentic sound of the time.
The two protagonists 'duel' for around an hour and a half - with a familiar outcome. The audience applauded the performances of Marianne Blum and Thomas Linke, who were then available for a discussion with the audience. A surprisingly large number of visitors then took the opportunity to exchange views. Among other things, Blum explained that she developed the play in 2016 together with the writer Guido Rohm. The occasion was the republication of Hitler's Mein Kampf and the rise of the AfD. "We wanted to counter this."