As early as autumn 23, the preparation and planning for the commemorative ceremonies for 2024 in and around Kahla began. In cooperation with the district office Saale-Holzland-Kreis, the city of Kahla and the municipalities of Eichenberg and Hummelshain, the program took shape and the date was set for May 4th.
On Thursday, May 3rd, the first guests from Belgium, France and Canada came to Kahla, whom we warmly welcomed with a joint meal. This year, the focus was on a special life story, that of Emilia Orzechowska. She was the daughter of the Dutch doctor Christine Wiselius, who was deported with her two children from Warsaw via Erfurt to Kahla in the autumn of 1944 and worked in the hospital of the “REIMAHG”.
On the initiative of Emilia’s grandson, he traveled all the way from Canada to drive with her from Holland to Kahla. Unfortunately, health problems did not allow her to travel at short notice, but she gave her grandson Stephan and his 2 children a personal video message for the commemorations.
The commemorative weekend began for us on Friday morning, we met with all the guests for an expert guided tour of Hummelshain Castle. Rainer Hohberg inspired everyone with his empathetic manner and expertise. Thank you, Rainer!
The first commemoration took place on the same evening on the Walpersberg. For some of the guests, it was their first visit to the Walpersberg. Afterwards, with a cozy get-together in the rose garden, where Janos presented the guests with a delicious dinner, this day ended with a lot of conversation and good humor.
Saturday morning, the official day of remembrance, they met at the memorial in Leubengrund. The commemoration, under the responsibility of the Saale-Holzland district, was varied. The speeches and wreath-laying ceremonies were accompanied by various musical contributions. As in previous years, we had contacted all the embassies who subsequently asked us to lay a wreath at the memorial in their name.
For our friends from Canada and France, the day of remembrance and the celebrations around it was very emotional, designed in such a way that they did not know. Mrs. Nicole Godard, President of the National Federation of French Forced Laborers, as well as Henri and Hubert, whose father was a forced laborer in the “REIMAHG”, were also in Kahla for the first time. A special highlight was the musical presence of Karl Simoens, who created a moving conclusion to the commemoration ceremony in Leubengrund with his bagpipes.
Afterwards we all met at the cemetery in Kahla. A group of Italian young people from Castelnovo, who were here as part of the twinning ceremony, also took part in the commemorations. After the speeches of Mayor Bini from Italy and Mr. Schönfeld/Kahla, as well as the blessing by the Catholic priest and the Protestant pastor, everyone laid their flowers and wreaths at the memorial.
Like last year, we had a varied and delicious lunch in Kleineutersdorf, which was served to us by Jens Fröhlich and his nice team. Thank you all!
From Kleineutersdorf we continued over the Saale to Eichenberg. Mayor Schneider was already waiting for us there. After the speeches and the blessing by the musical pastor, together with the mayor, we unveiled the information board on the history of the former Camp E, which had been redesigned by our association.
The last commemoration of the day was very special for our association. On the Ehrenhain, at the municipal cemetery of Hummelshain, the restored, wooden entrance portal of a former hospital barrack was solemnly inaugurated. In the portal, 2 panels document the history of the former REIMAHG company hospital. It is the representative result of many years of work, which could be completed on time thanks to the expert help of the carpentry Adolf and Hellmann.
This eventful day came to an end in the Kahlaer Schützenhaus. Here, the International Association had organized a French theme evening. A varied buffet, music, speech, video message from Emilia and the presentation of her French project by high school students, which was created in close cooperation with our association, and the subsequent award of the project by Mrs. Günther, official representative of the French Embassy in Berlin and the Institut français Germany, ended this eventful but wonderful weekend.
We would like to thank everyone who helped us, as well as our club members and the guests who came here! We look forward to seeing you all again in 2025, on the 80th anniversary of the Liberation, to spend a unique weekend together!
