Memorial run under the motto "Sport connects"

25 athletes run between the sites of the former Dachau and Oświęcim/Auschwitz concentration camps.

Auf dem Bild ist ein Gruppe von Menschen auf einer Treppe zu sehen, die meisten in Sportkleidung. — Foto (Stadt Hof): (von links) Armin Hohmann (Stadt Hof), Wolfgang Moll (Organisator des Laufes), Angela Bier (Bürgermeisterin Stadt Hof), teilnehmende Läuferinnen und Läufer und Jürgen Stader (Stadt Hof)

Auf dem Bild sind ca. 20 Personen zu sehen, die meisten in Sportkleidung, die in unter einem Zielbogen stehen. — Foto (Stadt Hof): Zieleinlauf in Hof

For the first time this year, 35 athletes from Germany and Poland took part in a memorial run between the sites of the former concentration camps Dachau and Oświęcim/Auschwitz (Poland) to commemorate the liberation from National Socialist rule 80 years ago. At the beginning of May, they made a stopover in the town of Hof and were welcomed by Mayor Angela Bier in Hof Town Hall.

In her speech, she spoke about the crimes committed by the National Socialists and highlighted the memorial run in particular as an important building block for a living culture of remembrance. The extraordinary project under the motto "Sport connects" is intended to send a strong signal for peace, remembrance and international understanding. The organizer of the relay race, Wolfgang Moll from Dachau, emphasized the importance of good neighbourly relations between Poland and Germany - "so that there will never again be such incidents" as in the concentration camps and during the Second World War.

The next morning, the runners were then sent off on the next stage to Stollberg in Saxony. The participants will cover a total of 1050 kilometers from 1 to 10 May 2025, with two to five people always running together and changing every ten to 15 kilometers.