iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Eine Bemerkung: Michail Paweletz trägt zu seinem Anzug New Balance 990-Turnschuhe (so sieht es zumindest aus), während er die Tagesschau moderiert. NB 990s? I feel seen. (Normalerweise können die Zuschauer seine Schuhe nicht sehen, aber zu Beginn der Sendung waren sie 2 Sekunden lang zu sehen.)

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Of all the family memoirs of Jews who escaped the Holocaust, all the books about German Jews, and all the books about the parallels between the 1930s and today, why would the @nytimes.com review this particular book? Apparently, billionaires have access to better book review venues too.

nytimes.com

A Billionaire Reckons With His Family History: Escaping the Nazis

In “Ausländer,” Michael Moritz, the former managing partner of a venture capital firm, examines his inheritance.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Isn't UN Resolution 181 (II), approved by the General Assembly on 29 November 1947, still in force? It hasn't been repealed, has it?

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I get why she feels this way, but it is a minority position, and I find it extremely unfortunate that almost solely because of her opposition, Germany’s third largest city, which had a Jewish population of 9000 in 1933, cannot have Stolpersteine.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Typo alert. In post 13, I meant to write: "Of course, Knobloch is rightly outraged about what has happened in Heidenau. But she is repeatedly on record as opposing Stolpersteine for this reason, and now she's in a somewhat difficult position regarding argumentation and logic."

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Additional, location-specific context:

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It ignores the essence of the persecutions during that era. It gives everyone (or many, many more people) a claim to the material and rhetorical support for victims and a claim to have a say in how that era is taught and publicly commemorated.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This lack of differentiation is not accidental. There is a long history of blurring the lines between "victim groups" intentionally. Ultimately, it allows non-Jewish/Roma/Jehovah's witnesses/etc. Germans to say that during that era, they too were victims on equal footing with Jews and the others.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It places Jews--not to mention Roma, socialists, communists, homosexuals, Jehovah's witnesses, & other targeted victims--alongside Germans who suffered from wartime bombings (by the Allies!), ethnic Germans expelled from eastern Europe after the war, and all victims of other wars and terrorism etc.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Of course, they were not the only ones. But they clearly should be mentioned by name. However, this whole phrasing is very reminiscent of both East German propaganda about the Nazis' crimes and far-right German characterization of the suffering of the years 1939-1945.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Even more invidious, the memorial at the cemetery is to be dedicated to the memory of all victims of "war, terror, dictatorships, expulsions, and especially National Socialism in Heidenau." Jews are not mentioned by name, though they were the primary victims of the Nazis' murderous actions.

taz.de

Gedenken an NS-Opfer in Sachsen: Eine Kultur des Vergessens

Der Stadtrat Heidenau hat Stolpersteine für Opfer der Nazis aus der Stadt verbannt. Die Rechten setzen zu ihrem lange geforderten Schlussstrich an.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The AfD and CDU in Heidenau want to place the town's Holocaust memorial at the cemetery. Many cities have BOTH, i.e., a memorial at the Jewish cemetery and Stolpersteine. By choosing only a memorial at a cemetery, it literally removes the memory of the Holocaust from the urban landscape.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Of course, Knobloch is rightly outraged about what has happened in Heidenau, she is repeatedly on record as opposing Stolperstein for this reason, and now she's is a somewhat difficult position regarding argumentation and logic.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

But -- and this is my personal opinion -- it doesn’t help matters that the AfD can repeat the same argument that has been made for years by a prominent, even dominant Jewish communal leader.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Moreover, Knobloch opposes Stolpersteine for the exact same reason that the AfD offered as its explanation for opposing them in Heidenau. Of course, the AfD‘s explanation was a bad faith argument.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

What I find interesting about the news coverage of this story is that Knobloch is widely quoted. Why quote the president of the Jewish community in faraway Munich and not the nearby city Dresden the state of Saxony? Knobloch opposes Stolpersteine. As a result, Munich has none on public property.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Between the moral authority of being a Holocaust survivor and the accrual of influence over four decades, it seems that nothing can happen in Munich vis-à-vis the Jewish community or the Jews without her approval.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Charlotte Knobloch was also quoted in the story. She will be 94 years old next month. She has been the president of the Munich Jewish community since 1985. Yes, for 41 years!

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Incidentally, there have been discussions about her as the CDU’s candidate for federal president in the forthcoming election. However, that seems doubtful as she is considered part of the moderate wing of the party, and the conservative wing is currently dominant in the party.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The article quotes Katrin Prien. Prien was a minister in the state government of Schleswig-Holstein and now is a federal government minister. She had several Jewish great-grandparents who were Holocaust victims. So she obviously has strong feelings about Stolpersteine and Holocaust commemoration.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Generally speaking, in the last 35 years, the CDU has been solid on the issue of Holocaust commemoration. Not perfect and not always nuanced, but definitely a part of the liberal-democratic consensus on the matter.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The real shock here isn't that the AfD opposes Stolperteine. That party has wanted to minimize or eliminate Holocaust commemoration for a long time. The real shock is that the CDU in Heidenau joined them, indicating a split between the local (or Saxony) CDU and the national CDU.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The article is accurate. The following is just extra context for people who want to dig deeper into the issue.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Full disclosure: 1. I published two books on the reestablishment of Jewish life in Germany after the Holocaust and aspects of Holocaust memory in Germany. 2. I was part of the effort to lay Stolpersteine in one town in western Germany. I helped local citizens (laypeople) with historical research.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Now that the BBC has picked up this story, it has gone "viral" and gone beyond the bubble of experts on German politics and society. www.bbc.com/news/article... I thought I would add some more context that isn't in the article. #Stoplersteine #Germany #HolocaustMemory

bbc.com

German town bans stumbling stone memorials to Nazi victims

Germany's education minister has branded the ban on the small brass memorial plaques a "scandal".

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

If you want to know more about this topic from an Israeli perspective: The Great Repair by Gideon Reuveni from a German perspective: Divided Memory by Jeffrey Herf from a German-Jewish perspective: Jews in Post-Holocaust Germany by Jay Geller

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

While the speech itself had some strangely (though politically clever) exculpatory passages, it was an important milestone in the post-history of the Holocaust and in Germany's relationship with its own National Socialist past.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

On this day 75 years ago, West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer announced in the Bundestag that his government would support the payment of reparations to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. germanhistorydocs.org/en/occupatio...

germanhistorydocs.org

Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on the Federal Republic’s Attitude towards the Jews (September 27, 1951)

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Der Wortlaut seiner Rede: www.konrad-adenauer.de/seite/27-sep...

konrad-adenauer.de

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

An diesem Tag vor 75 Jahren verkündete Bundeskanzler Konrad Adenauer im Bundestag, dass seine Regierung die Zahlung von Wiedergutmachung an jüdische Opfer des Holocaust befürworten würde. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSn9...

youtube.com

Archivradio 27.9.1951 Bundeskanzler Adenauer kündigt "Wiedergutmachung" an

YouTube video by Kalenderblatt

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Yes, engineering majors have no need to understand what caused World War I or why Putin wants to annex much of Ukraine to Russia, while subduing the rest. It’s not important for engineers to know the background to today’s Indo-Chinese rivalry or cold war between India and Pakistan.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Or Saxony in general For example: bsky.app/profile/aush...

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

But back to Heidenau... It's a complete disgrace, especially for the Christian Democratic Union, though I suspect that it says something about the CDU in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Incidentally, Knobloch has condemned this decision by Heidenau's leading political parties. She called it a "völlig falsche Weg" and said she's "entsetzt, dass eine demokratische Partei sich dafür hergibt, ein so durchsichtiges Manöver der Extremisten von der AfD zu unterstützen".

mdr.de

"Affig, kann ich nicht nachvollziehen": Bürger und Betroffene über Aus für Stolpersteine in Heidenau

Die Entscheidung des Heidenauer Stadtrats gegen weitere Stolpersteine stößt auf scharfe Kritik. Während die Antragsteller die Form des Gedenkens infrage stellen, warnen Gegner vor einem Verlust sichtb...

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

There are other Jewish voices in Munich that want to see Stolpersteine in the Bavarian capital, but her opposition is decisive. She has been president of the Jewish community in Munich for 41 years. She is very powerful. And the 93-year-old is a Holocaust survivor and, thus, has moral authority.

tagesspiegel.de

Gedenken an die Shoah: Stolperstein-Verbot spaltet München

Berlin hat schon 6000, in München sind sie verboten: Erinnerungstafeln für ermordete Juden. Das könnte sich jetzt ändern. Und schon gehen die Emotionen hoch.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

That said, it does not help matters that Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish community of Munich*, makes the same argument -- namely that it desecrates the memory of Holocaust victims to step on their names. *Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde München und Oberbayern

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

And that the fact that the political party of Konrad Adenauer -- or that of Otto Nuschke, if you want to keep the discussion limited to eastern Germany -- went along with this resolution is a disgrace.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It is disgusting when a political party that is famous opposing Holocaust commemoration and Holocaust education cynically claims that it is preserving the dignity of Holocaust victims by banning a very common and popular monument to Holocaust victims.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"AfD, CDU ban new Holocaust 'stumbling stones' in Heidenau [ . . . ] The initiators of the Heidenau ban argue that, while remembering Holocaust victims is an essential task, the placement of stones leads to 'passersby walking over or even stepping onto the names of the victims.'" My thoughts below.

dw.com

AfD, CDU ban new Holocaust 'stumbling stones' in Heidenau

Activists, politicians and representatives of Holocaust victims reacted with anger after the center-right CDU party joined forces with the AfD to ban new Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) in the easter...

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I think we are going to see more and more stories like this as the AfD, with its philosophy of minimizing the Nazi years and the Holocaust, becomes more present and more powerful, especially in the eastern states.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ja, alle Leben zählen. Ja, die Regierung sollte sich gegen die Diskriminierung von Juden, Palästinensern, queeren Menschen und anderen einsetzen. Auf jeden Fall. Aber darum ging es in der Frage dieser Journalistin nicht.

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Aber wenn sie dann fortfährt: „...genauso wie für den Schutz von palästinensischem, von muslimischem, von queerem Leben - für den Schutz aller Berlinerinnen und Berliner“, ist das so, als würde jemand in einer Diskussion über die Diskriminierung schwarzer Menschen sagen: „All Lives Matter.“

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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ich weiß es zu schätzen, wenn die Vorsitzende der Berliner Linkspartei und mögliche zukünftige Bürgermeisterin sagt: „Das [Rechtfertigungen für das Massaker vom 7. Oktober 2023.] weise ich auf's schärfste zurück. Für uns ist ganz klar, dass wir für den Schutz jüdischen Lebens stehen...“.

tagesschau.de

Elif Eralp, Spitzenkandidatin Die Linke, über ihre künftige Politik als stärkste Kraft in Berlin

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