Press Release
Rotterdam, 14 April 2025 – On 11 May 2025, the international commemorative event “Four Days In May” will be inaugurated at the Anti-War Museum in Berlin. The event honors the victims of bombings worldwide – from Rotterdam and Warsaw to the current conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
Preventing War During the opening, Berlin native Tommy Spree, Director of the Anti-War Museum, will speak about the museum’s history and its commitment to peace and disarmament. In the subsequent panel discussion, Spree and Rotterdam resident Erik van Loon, the initiator of the international commemorative series, will discuss concrete methods to prevent war.
Anti-Bomb Treaty The highlight of the event is the presentation of the world’s first draft of an “Anti-Bomb Treaty.” This treaty calls for a global ban on the production, storage, use, and transfer of aerial bombs. Interested participants will have an opportunity to sign the treaty after the event.
“Four Days In May” – International Commemoration
After the opening in Berlin on 11 May, four other events will take place that day. The commemorative series will then continue on 12 May in Warsaw and on 14 May in Rotterdam.
- In Warsaw on May 12, lectures will address the bombing of Warsaw and how the heroic uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto (19 April – 16 May 1943) inspired the Polish Home Army to launch its own 63-day urban uprising against the German occupation in 1944.
- In Hengelo on May 13,
- In Rotterdam on May 14, among other things, a lecture is scheduled about the first “Four Days In May” during the invasion and the subsequent bombing of the city, which ultimately led to the capitulation of the Netherlands. Precisely at 13:27 – the moment when the first bombs fell – three minutes of silence will be observed at an increasing number of street corners along the historic Fire Line. Following this, poems will be recited in memory of victims of bombings worldwide. In 2015, the recitations took place at 75 street corners; this year there are 85 – and by 2040 the number is expected to reach 100 along the 12.5-kilometre long Fire Line. This will create a human chain of remembrance along the Fire Line. This year, the poem “Und Was Bekam Des Soldaten Weib?” by Bertolt Brecht will be central.
Programme in Berlin
09:00 – 10:00 Opening “Four Days In May”
(Location: Brusseler Strasse 21)
(see above)
10:00 – 11:00 Presentation of the “Anti-Bomb Treaty”
(Location: Brusseler Strasse 21)
(see above)
12:00 – 14:00 Poetry Cycling Tour
(Location: Friedrichstraße 43-45)
Starting at Checkpoint Charlie, a unique poetry cycling tour will lead participants through Berlin’s historical and cultural landscape of remembrance. First, visitors will see the Anhalter Bahnhof, from which about 55,000 Berlin Jews – one third of the Jewish population – were deported. Next, the tour will include stops at the Topography of Terror, the Holocaust Monument, and the Brandenburg Gate. The route continues via the Reichstag and the Tränenpalast to the Berliner Ensemble, and it culminates at the Brecht-Weigel-Haus.
15:00 – 18:00 “A Little Volcano” – In Celebration of Weigel’s 125th Birthday
(Location: Chausseestr. 125)
In honor of this grand jubilee, the “Brecht-Haus” presents itself as the “Weigel-Haus” and invites everyone to a festive programme consisting of greetings, reading sessions, performances, lectures, and presentations in the Literature Forum and on the courtyard stage – along with special guided tours of Helene Weigel’s residence and exclusive previews into the Helene Weigel Archive.
18:30 – 21:00 125 Years of Helene Weigel
(Location: Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1)
The day will be celebrated with a ceremonial conclusion (organized by the Berliner Ensemble), featuring a tribute to Weigel in honor of her 125th birthday at the Berliner Ensemble.
21:00 – 22:00 Open Stage
(Location: Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1)
And that’s not all! For those who are not yet ready to call it a night after the official programme, there will be an open stage for seasoned poets to present spontaneous poetry, peace lyrics, anti-war haikus, and nighttime words against war. This final manifestation in Berlin will take place under the stars – by the statue of Bertolt Brecht next to the Berliner Ensemble. Bring your poems!
Background
Since 2015, the Dutch Stichting 14 Mei has organized a unique commemoration in Rotterdam: every year, citizens recite poems at an additional street corner along the historic Fire Line, until the entire border is symbolically “connected hand in hand.” In 2024, this concept was extended internationally for the first time when Gregory Corso’s poem “Vision of Rotterdam” took center stage and commemorations were organized in Rome, Zurich, Paris, and Rotterdam. This year marks the second international expansion, and the Dutch recitation at the Fire Line will take place for the 11th consecutive year.
More Information and Registration
• www.14mei.nl (Rotterdam)
• www.antikriegsmuseum.de (Berlin)
Press Contact:
Erik van Loon | Stichting 14 Mei | stichting14mei@gmail.com | +31 6 3826 5666
Tommy Spree | Anti-War Museum | info@anti-kriegs-museum.de | +49 30 4028691