cemetery
Whirlwind about grave: Church wants to honor researchers of Jewish origin
The grave of Max Friedlaender (r), a musicologist of the Jewish faith in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf. Photo: Jens Kalaene / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A Holocaust denier was found on the former grave of the Jewish scientist Max Friedlaender. The incident caused outrage. Now the Evangelical Church wants to pay tribute to Friedlaender.
The Evangelical Church wants to pay special tribute to the scientist Max Friedlaender of Jewish origin after the burial of a Holocaust denier on his former grave in Stahnsdorf.
“There is an effort to honor Friedlaenders memory in the cemetery,” said a spokeswoman for the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) in Berlin.
Looking at the funeral, she remarked: “We are working flat out to correct this mistake.” Regional Bishop Christian Stäblein had apologized and announced an examination to reverse the process.
According to the church, the Holocaust denier was buried last Friday in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf in Brandenburg, on the south-west edge of Berlin, on the former grave of the musicologist Max Friedlaender. The grave of the Protestant of Jewish descent (1852-1934) was open for reoccupation in 1980. His tombstone is still there because it is a listed building.
Nationwide outrage
The funeral had caused outrage nationwide, including the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the federal government. The anti-Semitism commissioner of Berlin, Samuel Salzborn, filed a criminal complaint against unknown people on suspicion of disturbing the peace of the dead.
According to their own statements, the regional church and cemetery knew that it was a Holocaust denier. The EKBO decided not to refuse the request for a grave site in Stahnsdorf, since everyone has the right to a final resting place. According to the church, the man wanted a central grave site.
After his death, his authorized representative bought a grave in August, which was withdrawn because there were many graves of the Jewish deceased in the central area. On the basis of the funeral register, in which Friedlaender with a Protestant denomination is listed, the church then chose a decentralized grave site so that there was no contact point for right-wing extremists.