Thüringische Landeszeitung from 22/04/2024 : Incident in Weimar

26.04.2024

A portrait of the Italian Buchenwald survivor Gilberto Salmoni has been vandalised on Jorge Semprun Square in Weimar. A political background cannot be ruled out. Witnesses are requested to come forward.

A photograph of the open-air exhibition "The Witnesses", which shows large-format portraits of survivors of the Buchenwald concentration camp between Stéphane Hessel and the station forecourt, has been vandalised again. According to the initiator and Achava director Martin Kranz, the Weimar Parks Department informed him of the incident on Jorge Semprun Square. The damage and desecration was "very massive", emphasised Martin Kranz. The large-format photo plaque of the Italian Buchenwald survivor Gilberto Salmoni had been severely damaged and torn off the supporting frame with great force. The panel had only been replaced and redesigned a few months earlier. The previous, equally wilfully damaged portrait "was fortunately left on the metal support and the new plaque was attached to it with six massive rivets", reported Martin Kranz. According to him, the new plaque was torn up and thrown onto the meadow. He initially leant it against a wall to preserve evidence. Martin Kranz pressed charges against persons unknown. He added that a political background could not be ruled out. He is looking for clues to the offence, which cannot yet be narrowed down in terms of time.