Never forget / N’oublie jamais

Centropa, the TSG Hoffenheim fan representatives and the Hoffenheim fan project have initiated the project “Never Forget/N’oublie jamais – Football Fans in Search of Traces” together with local groups, schools and clubs concerned with the history of Judaism in the Kraichgau region. The project intends to trace the moving history of North Baden Jews, and Kraichgau Jews in particular, before, during and after the Nazi era. Many TSG fans live in places from which Jewish families were forcibly torn from their lives on October 22, 1940 and deported to Gurs, a camp at the foot of the French Pyrenees. During the project, the traces and (survival) stories of the deported Jews will be followed. Based on biographical research and a visit to their hometowns, the route will lead the participants to the memorial for the deported Jews of Baden and to the central memorial site in Gurs. Guided by the memoirs of Hoffenheim-born Jewish survivor Dr. Menachem Mayer (“Deported from Hoffenheim – Menachem and Fred. The Path of Two Brothers” and “Zahor – Remember”), various places of his own biography and that of his brother Fred are approached and visited. Active involvement with Menachem, who now lives in Israel, is planned in the form of a virtual exchange. The research and the participants’ own experiences are to be presented to a broad public in an exhibition at the end of the project and then tour educational institutions in the region on a long-term basis. Ilay Emkies, a professional TSG Hoffenheim player from Israel, will act as project sponsor for the project, which is supported by the German Football League’s (DFL) “Pool for the Promotion of Innovative Football and Fan Culture” (PFiFF).