Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism

Survivors of the concentration camp Auschwitz were liberated by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945. Approximately one million people had been cruelly tortured and murdered there, because they didn’t fit in with the desired image of an ideology based around racial fanaticism, or because they had stood up against the Nazi regime. Ever since Federal President of Germany Roman Herzog established the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism in 1996, the University of Greifswald and the University and Hanseatic town of Greifswald have dedicated the 27January to one specific group of victims every year. The 2025 event was dedicated to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

Persecuted Artists

The University of Greifswald and University and Hanseatic town of Greifswald invite you to the Day of Remembrance for the victims of National Socialism

Tuesday, 27 January 2026
7 p.m.
Town Hall, Bürgerschaftssaal, Market Square, 17489 Greifswald.

The speakers will be Dr. Meike Hoffmann (art historian, Freie Universität Berlin) and Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck (art historian, University of Greifswald).
The event will be presented by Prof. Dr. Joachim Lege, University of Greifswald.
Members of Greifswald’s Music School will provide the musical accompaniment.
Entrance is free!

National Socialism did not regard art and culture as autonomous, expecting them to comply with its ideology. This was achieved through the “Gleichschaltung” (consolidation) of the art and cultural scene by the Reich Chamber of Culture under Reichsminister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Modern art and cultural movements, which were perceived to be ‘un-German’ and ‘degenerate’, were disapproved. Artists whose work conflicted with National Socialist cultural ideology, who were politically undesirable or of non-‘Aryan’ descent, were removed from public offices, banned from their professions, in some cases forced to emigrate, ostracised and murdered. This year, we would like to commemorate the suffering of these men and women.

As part of the commemorative event, Dr. Meike Hoffmann will focus on the fates of avant-garde artists during the Nazi regime. In his presentation, Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck will discuss the Jewish female painters belonging to the Hiddensoer Künstlerinnenbund. The musical accompaniment will be provided by Greifswald’s Music School.

The Speakers

Dr. Meike Hoffmann is an art historian and provenance researcher at Freie Universität Berlin, where she leads the ‘Degenerate Art’ research centre.
Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck is an art historian at the University of Greifswald. His areas of research include manor house architecture in the Baltic region and Romantic painting. His most recent work focuses on the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

Further events related to the Day of Remembrance 2026

Bringing it to light: Jewish life in Greifswald

Presentation of the app ‘Stolpersteine digital’ by the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung (LpB) and the Greifswald antisemitism project ‘erinnern lernen’ | Monday, 26 January 2026, starting at: 3 p.m., free entry, Bürgerschaftssaal, Greifswald Town Hall

Film: ‘Treasure’

Feature film, Germany/France 2024, directed by: Julia von Heinz, starring Stephen Fry, Lena Dunham, Zbigniew Zamachowski and others, 112 minutes, original version with German subtitles | Monday, 26 January 2026, starts at 8 p.m., entry €5 | Kultur- und Initiativenhaus STRAZE, Stralsunder Straße 10, 17489 Greifswald