Bishop Kramer: Relocacte the "Judensau" in Wittenberg 

21.12.2019epd discussion: Romy Richterepd
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Magdeburg (epd). The regional bishop of the Evangelical Church in central Germany, Friedrich Kramer, speaks out in favor of the removal of the abusive plastic at the Wittenberg town church. It should be removed and integrated into a new memorial directly at this location, said Kramer to the Evangelical Press Service (epd) in Magdeburg. However, he refuses to accommodate the "Judensau" in a museum: "It is about not always continuing memory as a rigid ritual, but rather reformulating it." There are Jewish people in this country who feel offended by this "sow". That must also be heard, said Kramer.

It is also a question of how to deal with monuments that exclude people. From the point of view of the regional bishop, the shame sculpture in Wittenberg goes beyond the limits of allegory. It is an anti-Semitic abuse, here Jews are denied humanity. That also shows the swear word "Judensau". These sow portrayals in Europe and Central Germany are an expression of a Christian sermon that also fueled the pogroms at the time, said Kramer.

He pointed out that a memorial had already been built in Wittenberg in the 1980s with which the community clearly distanced itself from anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism and that commented on this abusive plastic. However, this memorial itself is problematic today. At that time it worked as a dialectical model of thought: thesis, antithesis and synthesis, but today it just didn't work anymore. "The insult remains, the monument itself raises questions, such as whether it is appropriate for the holiness of God's name to be engraved on a base plate and that anyone can walk around on the four Hebrew letters," said the theologian.

With regard to the legal dispute, Kramer said: "We cannot legally clarify questions relating to memories." It would be questionable if a court decision decides how to deal with it and thereby legally decide the process of further dealing with this story.

The Higher Regional Court of Naumburg will hear on January 21 next year about the removal of the sandstone sculpture "Judensau" in an appeal process. The plaintiff, a member of a Jewish community, wants to convict the Evangelical parish to remove the plastic and, as a precaution, have the sandstone relief prove that the insult was true.