State parliament agrees on Yad Vashem branch office in Saxony

In the Saxon state parliament, all parliamentary groups have spoken out in favor of a branch of the Israeli Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in the Free State of Saxony. In Saxony, Leipzig is under discussion. Yad Vashem would like to set up an educational center outside Israel for the first time. It is already certain that it will come to Germany.

In addition to Saxony, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia are also under discussion. This was announced by the director of the memorial, Dani Dayan, and Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) last September. A decision on the location is to be made in the first half of 2026. The center could start work two to three years later.

"Never again is now" is a recurring theme in the debate

In a debate on the education center requested by the SPD, several speakers used the phrase "Never again is now" to point out the topicality of the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and right-wing extremism. "This sentence is one of the strongest promises of our history," said Minister of Culture Conrad Clemens (CDU). It is still a mission for the present day.

"We are living in a time in which anti-Semitism is once again coming to light, in which Jews in our country are being treated with hostility, threatened and attacked, in which democratic values are being questioned, relativized or deliberately disparaged," said Clemens. "Never again" is also a clear educational mission.

Clemens: Saxony wants and needs the Yad Vashem center

"We see that we are doing a lot in Saxony, but we need to do even more (...)
We all want a Yad Vashem education center in Saxony and we have to say it so honestly: We need a Yad Vashem education center in Saxony."

According to Clemens, the center is a huge opportunity to strengthen and sharpen the fight against anti-Semitism - and at the same time a visible commitment against anti-Semitism, against forgetting history and against any form of relativization of the Shoah. "And it would send a strong signal to future generations. Freistatt Sachsen is ready to live up to its responsibility."