Auschwitz trial tapes and papyrus edict awarded heritage status
(dpa)
Darmstadt, Germany - Files and recorded tapes from the first of a number of Auschwitz trials in Frankfurt in the 1960s were awarded special heritage by UNESCO on Monday as part of its "Memory of the World" programme.
"The recognition underpins the unique historical and societal importance of the documents for postwar history and Germany's culture of remembrance," Boris Rhein, the minister for science and the arts in the German state of Hesse, said on confirming the announcement.
The series of trials, held between 1963 and 1964, confronted Germans with unwelcome truths of the Nazi regime at a time when the country was experiencing an economic boom.
A papyrus document titled "Constitutio Antoniniana," which is kept in the university library in Giessen, a town situated in Hesse, was also recognized with documentary heritage status.
"It is the only preserved copy of the document with which emperor Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus handed civil rights to all free citizens of the Roman Empire between 212 and 213 AD, according to estimates," Rhein said.
The document extended universal citizenship to millions of people of varying cultures on three continents.
The series of trials, held between 1963 and 1964, confronted Germans with unwelcome truths of the Nazi regime at a time when the country was experiencing an economic boom.
A papyrus document titled "Constitutio Antoniniana," which is kept in the university library in Giessen, a town situated in Hesse, was also recognized with documentary heritage status.
"It is the only preserved copy of the document with which emperor Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus handed civil rights to all free citizens of the Roman Empire between 212 and 213 AD, according to estimates," Rhein said.
The document extended universal citizenship to millions of people of varying cultures on three continents.
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