Network Meeting 2026
by Dean Ruddock
In May, the Documentation Center celebrated its first anniversary. To mark the occasion, we invited the relatives of those murdered and survivors of the attacks to learn more about our work and our team.
Even during the preparations for the documentation center, there was a lengthy participatory process (led at the time by Arlo Jung) in which trust was built and ideas for the design of the site were discussed in close collaboration with family members and those affected.
The demands featured in the exhibition—as well as on the exterior facade of the Documentation Center—were developed in collaboration with artist Felix Forsbach, who prepared the discussion on this topic. A core mission of “Open Process” is to bring to light these demands from the relatives of those murdered and the survivors of the NSU.
Now, one year after the opening, the goal was, on the one hand, to look back on the past year and take stock, but also to gather suggestions for the coming year and discuss them together.
Within this framework, the various departments of our organization introduced themselves and reported on their first year of work: The VerLernen department discussed how workshops and educational programs were received by various target groups; the “Collecting & Sharing” division discussed the progress in building the “Resistance Archive” and the current oral history project on the “Baseball Bat Years”; and the “Assembly” division focused on local networking with various groups of people affected by right-wing violence and racism.
Things got down to business during a group Critical Walk through the former Fritz-Heckert neighborhood. There were many positive reactions to the mural that marks the end of the Critical Walk. Praise was also given to the commitment of the residents, who took matters into their own hands after a paint attack and removed the graffiti from the panel that serves as the mural.
Lydia Lierke, the team leader responsible for the Participation Division and for maintaining contact with survivors and the families of those murdered, reflects on the meeting:
“I am very grateful for the visit by the relatives and those affected in Chemnitz; without their political struggles and demands, the Documentation Center would not exist.”
