With the message “Remember – Reconcile – Set an example against anti-Semitism and for Israel” people around the world have been taking to the streets for more than 17 years. Under this year’s slogan “Never Forget October 7th”, various rallies took place around the world on October 7th, including in Winterthur.
In a silent march from Neumarkt through the Old Town, around 300 participants expressed their solidarity with the Jewish people and the State of Israel. The consternation and grief shared by all Jews was expressed by a minute’s silence.
Polished stumbling blocks
Particular attention was paid to the three stumbling blocks on Marktgasse. The stumbling blocks are reminiscent of the Levitus family, who lived at Marktgasse 45 around 1892. The family’s three daughters were expelled from Switzerland and deported to Auschwitz and Theresienstadt around 1942, where they fell victim to the National Socialist extermination system. The stumbling blocks were freshly polished as part of the march.
Various speakers recalled what happened a year ago. They expressed their dismay at the 1,170 victims and 255 Hamas hostages. The Israeli ambassador spoke up in a letter and thanked everyone present for their solidarity with Israel. A personal report from October 7, 2023 gave the participants another little insight into the terrible event.
Repentance prayer about Winterthur’s history
Winterthur’s history with its Jewish fellow citizens was not very praiseworthy. At the time of the plague around 1349 and again around 1401, the Jews of Winterthur were taken to the Brühlberg and killed there. The 330 Jewish people who were taken in at the Kyburg were killed and burned in the Eschenberg forest.
A church representative said a prayer of repentance and a Winterthur pastor, representing the Evangelical Alliance Winterthur, delivered a greeting.
The event was accompanied by klezmer music and a dance group to the song “Am Israel Chai” (German: the people of Israel live). The event concluded with a shared commitment to the Jewish people and against anti-Semitism.
Initiative from Germany
The March of Life is an initiative by Jobst and Charlotte Bittner and the Evangelical Free Church TOS services from Tübingen in Germany. Together with descendants of German Wehrmacht, police and SS members, they organize memorial and reconciliation marches at Holocaust sites in Europe and around the world. Since the movement began in 2007, marches have taken place in over 20 nations and hundreds of cities and towns in collaboration with Christians from a wide variety of churches and denominations as well as many Jewish communities. In Switzerland, this year’s marches took place in Winterthur and other cities, including Basel, Zurich and St. Gallen.
To the website:
March of Life for Israel
On the subject:
Dossier: Israel
Marches in the USA and France: Hundreds of thousands against anti-Semitismus
Riehen and St. Gallen: First “March of Life for Israel”
