Around fifty people demonstrated before the first meeting of the Cultural Committee after the summer break for a “clear stance against the right”. The reason was the new chairmanship of the committee: for the next five years, this will be held by the AfD. The chairman of the committee is Alexander Tassis, deputy chairman of the AfD parliamentary group. In 2016, he put Angela Merkel in the same league as Walther Ulbricht and Adolf Hitler.
Almost 500 cultural actors had already had a Open letter signedto protest against the AfD chairmanship. The fact that the cultural actors are closely observing what is happening in the committee was also evident during the meeting: with around 30 guests, there were more observers than ever before. Social Affairs Commissioner Brigitte Meier, who has been Departure of Walid Hafezi who is holding the fort provisionally, reminded the audience that they were not entitled to express their opinions. They stuck to that.
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Tassis introduced himself as a “modern historian, 54 years old” and said: “There will be no political statements or abuse of the agenda from my side.” Despite all the “lack of common ground,” “in view of the gloomy municipal budget, there will certainly be unanimous decisions, for example for the full funding of culture.”
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There are probably different views on what “fully funded” means. However, the topics left no doubt that the committee intends to promote a critical culture of remembrance with regard to the Nazi era. Tobias Büloff, a research assistant in the administration, reported on anti-fascist commemoration in public spaces: A concept for commemorating the 1945 death march through Potsdam is to be presented soon.
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The status of planned information columns at sites of Nazi forced labor was also discussed. According to Büloff, forced labor was a “mass phenomenon” in Potsdam, so one column per city area would be a good idea – although not currently affordable. Lutz Boede from the Die Andere faction called for a “binding timetable.”
Commitment, stringency, efficiency: the members of this committee were clearly looking for these. Tassis had little to do, he made no comments, but struggled with the rules of procedure a few times. “Tassis has restricted himself to his original tasks,” said Jürgen Scharfenberg (BfW). “We are all very attentive committee members and will ensure that it stays that way.” Boede spoke of a noticeable greater willingness of the factions to work together: “It is important not to let anyone take the bread and butter from our mouths.” Sarah Zalfen (SPD) was elected deputy chairwoman.
