Mannheim (dpa/lsw) - A new permanent exhibition on Nazi history in Mannheim shows how fragile democracy can be. Under the question "What is that to do with me?" the show in the city archive illuminates the change in democracy in the Weimar Republic from an authoritarian to a totalitarian, murderous regime. An extreme split in society, traumatized after the First World War, into right-wing and left-wing forces promoted this development, said the director of the Mannheim City Archive (Marchivum), Ulrich Niess, on Wednesday. The exhibition opens this Friday.

Whether the police, the judiciary or the media: the historian emphasized that it was amazing how quickly democratic institutions in the Nazi state were brought into line. He sees current parallels in the USA, for example on the subject of an independent judiciary. "The development there must give us cause for concern," said Nieß. The aim of the show is to convey that our free-democratic basic order is not self-evident, but must always be defended against anti-democratic tendencies.

A wide variety of material, most of which has never been seen before, will be presented, which will also be artistically staged. It is also about personal fates, such as how people go from followers to perpetrators. The victims of the Shoah are commemorated in a separate room. Three films visualize the events in Mannheim during the dictatorship on a 15 meter long surface. Partition walls with a lot of text were avoided. Instead, 40 media stations are waiting for the 30,000 or so visitors that Nieß expects each year.