This year, for the first time, queer victims were also commemorated in the Bundestag's annual hour of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism. This had been achieved by a petition of the successful youth author Lutz van Dijk.
Our school was fortunate that Lutz van Dijk, who lives in Amsterdam and Cape Town, came to Berlin for this commemoration and could be won by the German department for a reading from his novel "Kampala - Hamburg" in front of the 10th grade students.
From a young age, Lutz van Dijk's eventful life was marked by political commitment against poverty in the South African townships, against discrimination against queer people and for the memory of the victims of National Socialism. At the reading held in the auditorium, he therefore impressed not only with his novel, but also with many personal stories and emphasised again and again how important it is to set goals in life and to believe in their realisation.
Since his youth novel "Kampala-Hamburg", published in 2020, is about the queer love of a young German and a young person from Uganda, the German department organised three rounds of talks with people from different countries after the reading, who told the students in small groups about the life and discrimination of queer people in their countries of origin and answered the many, sometimes very personal questions of the very interested students.
In a final round, which was very competently moderated by our high school graduates Jakob and Cy, all participants reiterated how important it is not only for all people to treat each other with respect as a matter of course, but also how particularly important it is to maintain democracy in order to preserve human rights.
A small exhibition on the history of homosexuality rounded off the three-hour event in the assembly hall, which met with a very positive response from the students. Fortunately, Lutz van Dijk will probably come to the school in June for a second reading for the 8th graders, which will focus on his book for young people "Themba" and thus on the problems of AIDS and poverty in the South African townships.
