The double exhibition “Lemkin. Witness to the Century of Genocide” and “Fritz Bauer Library. The Most Courageous Library in the World” are united by the personal experiences of two of the most important jurists of the 20th century. Raphael Lemkin and Fritz Bauer survived the Holocaust, they fled into exile, Lemkin to the USA, Bauer […]
The double exhibition “Lemkin. Witness to the Century of Genocide” and “Fritz Bauer Library. The Most Courageous Library in the World” are united by the personal experiences of two of the most important jurists of the 20th century. Raphael Lemkin and Fritz Bauer survived the Holocaust, they fled into exile, Lemkin to the USA, Bauer to Scandinavia. Throughout their lives, they fought on the basis of their experiences against racism, anti-Semitism and against impunity for crimes against humanity. They were champions of international law.
The Pilecki Institute’s exhibition on Raphael Lemkin, previously on display in Warsaw, will be shown in Bochum for the first time in German.
Winston Churchill declared during World War II in late 1941 that the Nazis were committing a “nameless crime.” Raphael Lemkin dedicated himself to finding an appropriate term for these acts of barbarism. Thanks to his studies in philosophy, philology, and law, he succeeded in coining the term “genocide” in 1943.
Through his personal commitment, Lemkin contributed to the establishment of the United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948. The exhibition tells the story of a man of moral imagination and civic conviction who made the realization of his idea his life’s purpose.
Stadtarchiv – Bochumer Zentrum für Stadtgeschichte
Wittener Straße 74
44803 Bochum
