A group of 10th-grade German students has launched a campaign to officially strip Adolf Hitler of his honorary citizenship in their hometown.

Bad Honnef, a town of 25,000 residents near Bonn, granted Hitler honorary citizenship on April 5, 1933, shortly after the Nazi party’s rise to power. It was the first of 4,000 such rural towns to do so at the time. While Hitler’s death in 1945 technically nullified such honors, the town had never formally revoked his title.

After a thought-provoking history lesson on the Holocaust, five students from Seven Mountains High School decided to do something about it.

“We live in this town, so, of course, its history also concerns us. And then we asked ourselves whether we could use our influence today to change anything about history and Hitler’s honorary citizenship. We were also introduced to the topic by our teacher, and each of us then simply wrote an email to the mayor,” they told DW.

What began as a school project quickly evolved into a full-fledged petition which involved going door-to-door and educating fellow citizens who were unaware of Hitler’s lingering honorary status. In just a few days, they received over 1,363 signatures and within a week surpassed the 5% threshold required to force a city council vote.

Mayor Otto Neuhoff praised the five go-getters Kathi, Lilly, Ronja, Mia and Selin, who set this historical initiative into motion.

“We are proud of the pupils; it’s a great initiative,” he said. “They have also learned that change through participation is possible in politics. And because they have learned that you are not a victim of anything in a democracy, but that you can get involved and also have a say in how things are run at a municipal level.