Timing Troubles
January 23, 2008
Munich Mayor Christian Ude said there was no legal way to stop the planned parade for Fasching, as carnival is known in Bavaria.
"The memorial day is not a holiday and has no particular legal protections," Ude told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. Thus the authorities had no "legal means" of stopping people from celebrating on that day.
The annual remembrance date was established by the UN General Assembly in 2005 and is not a public holiday in Germany.
Central Council of Jews critiques move
Germany's Central Council of Jews strongly criticized the decision to plan a Carnival parade for that day, and the Munich Jewish community said that a fun event on Jan. 27 showed a total lack of sensitivity.
The International Auschwitz Committee on Wednesday called the idea of holding the parade on Sunday an "absurd signal."
"The fact that Munich, on this day, plans and is going ahead with a Carnival celebration shows the thoughtlessness and ignorance of the officials," the organization said.
According to Ude, parade organizers learned of the Holocaust remembrance date too late to change their plans. But he said the city would be careful to avoid such date conflicts in the future.
The head of the group that planned the parade, Peter Bosse, said he was "concerned" by the late criticism. The date had been set since May of 2007, and no one had voiced opposition to the procession.
Still, he acknowledged that the date was ill-chosen.
Remembrance on date Auschwitz was freed
The memorial day held on Jan. 27 is meant to remember the more than 6 million Jews and other victims of the Nazi regime. On that date in 1945, the survivors of the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau were freed by the Red Army.
In 1996, then-German President Roman Herzog declared the day a national day of remembrance "for the victims of National Socialism." The UN made it official in 2005.
The timing of Carnival, which is tied to the date of Easter in the Catholic Church, changes every year.