(use google translation for other languages) APR 24, 2018 — do read the latest article in Mitteldeutsche Zeiting - Local Wittenberg News - by Michael Huebner - https://www.mz-web.de/wittenberg/spottbild--judensau--jetzt-kommt-das-relief-vor-gericht-30065162 (via google translate) Mockery "Judensau" Now the relief comes to court From Michael Huebner 24.04.18, 12:18 Wittenberg - Thomas Tilch will lead the most spectacular hearing for years at the Wittenberg district court. In a court order he has scheduled the oral hearing on the 7th of May from 11.30 in room 104. It's about the mockery at the city church. The church is a World Heritage Site and is a listed building. And the controversial plastic that mocks Jews dates back to 1305. All that does not make the affair easier. Michael Düllmann, a private citizen from Bonn, has filed a lawsuit against the Protestant church parish. He demands the removal of the relief. Postcard from 1921 - see web article This postcard from the year 1921 from the Wittenberg Max-Senf-Verlag belongs to the collection of city councilor Richard Thomas (Freie Voters). Incidentally, the anti-Jewish mockery there is not called "Judensau". It is, inter alia, the charge of insult. But that, as Tilch points out in his ruling, is a criminal offense and more of a case for the prosecutor than for a civil court. However, then a possible preliminary investigation can not be conducted against the entire "Evangelical church parish". One would have to take responsibility. And there is another responsibility problem. That's the value in dispute. The should amount to 10,000 euros. The Wittenberger limit is 5,000 euros. Accordingly, the District Court Dessau would be the contact. Questionable praise from Luther The case is already causing a stir. Wittenberg's problem is reported in the latest edition of "Jewish Europe", a major journal of European Jewry. That is to say, according to the author Alexis Canem, especially Martin Luther. "It is certainly no coincidence that on Luther's 455th birthday on November 10, 1938, the synagogues were burning all over Germany. Although Luther's writings were not the cause of the Nazi crimes, but they act as accelerators, "said the journalist. "The reformer's anti-Semitism has left a fatal legacy," Margot Käßmann is quoted as saying. The ambassador of the Reformation underlined the co-responsibility of Luther and the Protestant church for German Jewishness. And the mockery in which it goes in the court proceedings, Luther has praised in his writings. Düllmann, on the other hand, goes to the barricades. The man does not give way. In Bonn, he has even taught a hotel concern to fear: In excavation work for a new luxury home in May 1987, the very well-preserved foundation of the old main synagogue was uncovered. Under the motto "Save the Synagogue Square", there was a ten-day building occupation, in which a prayer tent was built. On September 17, 1987, the excavators moved in and made facts. The squatters were fined for trespassing. "There was no house at all," said Düllmann. But perseverance pays off. In 1996, the Memorial to the Victims of National Socialism was opened "after a long tough struggle". The man, born in Saxony-Anhalt in 1943, is converted to Judaism because of his love for a Brazilian woman. His now ex-wife lives with his daughter in Israel. And in times of the Cold War, Düllmann announced in writing to Willy Brandt and Walter Ulbricht that he would punch a hole in the wall on Christmas Eve. Armed with a hammer and a chisel, he was stopped by security forces. Düllmann can not go to the action, that should now be different in the mockery picture. "There is no alternative to acceptance," he says and recommends the whereabouts of contemporary witnesses in the Lutherhaus. There the relief could be exhibited "with the anti-Jewish writings of Luther". In Wittenberg itself there are hardly any public statements. An offer of the MZ does not use the lawyer of the city church community. In contrast, Councilor Richard Thomas (Free Voters) has rummaged deep in his collection and discovered a postcard from 1921. On the back is written in Sütterlin script: "Wittenberg / sandstone relief at the parish church from the 15th century for ridiculing the Jews". The print (see picture on website) was published by Max Mustf Verlag. Thomas concludes: "So in 1921 the name Judensau was not yet widespread". Only the Nazis took care of that. Power Word of the City Council "Since last year, many people have called for this relief to be removed. Unfortunately, these people do not give peace, "says Dirk Hoffmann (AfD). The city council in June 2017 spoke a word of power. "All parliamentary groups were in favor of the whereabouts of Judensau at the city church. This relief is a priceless memorial and an irreplaceable testimony to this era, which is not just an option, but our duty, "said Hoffmann. (Mz) – Quelle: https://www.mz-web.de/30065162 ©2018