arts in exile

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• 26 May 1993

  By 521 votes to 132, the Bundestag approves amendments to the asylum law as proposed in the "asylum compromise".
  This places considerable restrictions on the interpretation of Article 16 of the federal constitution which, up to that point, had guaranteed asylum for political refugees in Germany. The so-called "ruling on third countries", provides particular limitations.
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  Citizens of Solingen lay down flowers in front of a burnt-out hose that is adorned with flags. Five members of the Turkish Genc family died in the night of 29/30 May 1993 when right-wing extremists carried out an arson attack against them.

  Bundesregierung / Photographer: Julia Fassbender

  29 May 1993

  Five Turkish women die in Solingen in a racially motivated arson attack.
• 1 November 1993

  The "Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act" comes into effect. It regulates the extent and form of benefits to asylum seekers in Germany.
• 1 November 1993

  The Maastricht Treaty comes into effect. It declares issues of asylum policy, external border checks and immigration policy to be "matters of mutual interest".
• 1 November 1993

  The "Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act" comes into effect. It regulates the extent and form of benefits to asylum seekers in Germany.
• 2 September 1994

  The "Central Foreigners' Register Law" (AZR) provides a legal basis for the Central Foreigners' Register, which has been in existence since 1953.
  The database collects data on those foreigners in Germany who have a residency permit, those who are seeking asylum and those who are recognised asylum applicants. The AZR is criticised for its supposed discrimination against non-Germans.
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  Poland’s Foreign Minsiter Władysław Bartoszewski gives a speech in the German Bundestag on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. He emphasises that remembering the crimes of the Nazis must be passed on by those who lived through them to younger generations in such a way that they see it as their responsibility to prevent it from ever happening again. Bartoszewski himself survived Auschwitz concentration camp. Photo taken on 28 April 1995

  Bundesregierung / Photographer: Arne Schambeck

  26 January 1995

  The Bundestag stages a remembrance on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (27 January 1945).
  German Chancellor Helmut Kohl describes the systematic mass murder perpetrated at Auschwitz as "the darkest and most terrible chapter in German history". President of the Bundestag, Rita Süssmuth, emphasises that: "The crime that is Ausschwitz is beyond comparison.
• 20 March 1995

  Dedication of a memorial to the book burning of 10 May 1933 on Bebelplatz in central Berlin.
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  German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (2nd from right) and German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel (right) laying down wreaths at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier in the Kremlin’s Alexander Garden. The occasion is to celebrate the end of the war 50 years ago. In his speech, Kohl admits to Germany’s historical responsibility.

  Bundesregierung / Photographer: Bernd Kühler

  6 - 8 May 1995

  Worldwide commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
  During the commemorative events, Chancellor Kohl explains in a statement that May 8 serves as an impetus to "work towards a framework for peace in Europe based on an unequivocal observance of each individual's human rights and on international humanitarian law".
• 27 January 1996

  Introduction of the Day of Commemoration of the Victims of National Socialism, which for the first time is observed as a nationwide, legally enshrined commemoration. 
  The date is chosen for its significance as the day of liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp on January 27, 1945.