Rundbrief 2011.englisch - Stiftung Gedenkstätten Sachsen

Langenstein im Januar 2012
Ihr Zeichen / Ihre Nachricht
vom:
Mein Zeichen / Meine Nachricht
vom:
Bearbeitet von: Ellen Fauser
and Rolf Schöneborn
Mail: ellen.fauser
@stgs.sachsen-anhalt.de
Tel.: 03941 567324
Fax: 03941 302 48
Dear Friends of the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial,
A very important project was brought to a successful conclusion in 2011.
The areas of the six mass graves at the foot of the monument of the Memorial are now marked by
sandstone grave mounds. The entire site corresponds now to the size of the mass graves and name
plates make the commemoration of individual victims possible at last. The first 75 name plates of
altogether 772 were unveiled at the dedication ceremony of the newly designed monument of the
Memorial. Another 109 name plates will be ready and in place by April 2012. ( i.e. the “Days of
Encounter”.)
The Friends of the Foundation (Foerderverein) and the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial ask you
once again for your donation, which should go to the account of the Foerderverein:
Name of institution: Harzsparkasse
Bank Code Number (BLZ): 810 520 00
Number of account (Kontonummer) 301 751 668
( for donations from abroad)
IBAN: DE 05810 520 000 301 75 1668 Bic-Code: NOLADE21HRZ
Our deepest respect and highest regards go to Hélie De Saint Marc and Claude Baud, two
deportees who received the highest decorations of their home country. C. Baud was decorated as
“Chevalier de la Légion d´Honneur “(Knight of the Legion of Honor) and H. De Saint Marc was
decorated with the “Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur”(Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor) by M.
Sarcozy, President of France.
We have learned and are saddened by the passing of the following former Langenstein-Zwieberge
inmates in 2011:
Alex Deutsch (Germany)
Gerrit Doze (Netherlands)
David Ecstein (France)
Léon Kaminski (code name in the Resistance: Pierre Forey) France
Iwan Slipatschenko (code name Cholod) Ukraine
We also mourn the passing of the dedicated teacher of history and board member of the
’Foerderverein’ Thoralf Johl, who died at the age of 43. We will also remember our friend and
steadfast Memorial supporter Hans –Jürgen Soldin, who died last year. The documentary film
“Hans-Jürgen Soldin. Aus meinem Leben (1920-1945)” (My Life)
was conceived as a student project, in the making during the last two years of his life. The
documentary was produced in cooperation with the “Dachverein (governing body) Kulturzentrum
Reichenstrasse, Quedlinburg e.V.” and the “Kreisjugendring Parchim e.V. “(Youth Council
Parchim/NPO), with Ray Behringer in charge. The documentary portrays Soldin’s resistance
activities to National-Socialism in the explosives factory Doemitz (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
Landkreis [county] Ludwigslust-Parchim.) The documentary premiered at the culture center
Quedlinburg, September 28, 2011.
Our thanks go to all concerned, to all members of the Foerderverein, volunteers, eye witnesses of
the death march, who once again helped us with the many projects of the Memorial. – we also
thank those who patiently shared their memories with us, put them on paper, shared their research
with us, gave presentations, did translations, transported youth groups and provided educational
assistance, donated money for the name plates and collected money for them, organized benefit
concerts and did so much more for the Memorial.
nd
Martina Lucht (2 from left), teacher at the vocational
school Boehnshausen and a new member of the
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Foerderverein, Hanka Rosenkranz (5 from left) and
rd
Gesine Daifi (3 from left) provided educational assistance
to the school project [email protected] 2010 “, sponsored by the
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (foundation), the goal of which
was to critically analyze an event of the Nazi era, to
consider its relevance to today and produce a website to
go with it. Students of the vocational school Boehnshausen
and the Gernrode high school chose as their contribution to
the competition the remembrance activity in connection with the Days of Encounter 2011, which
consisted of marking different locations on the way from the train station Langenstein to the former
camp grounds as places of historical significance, intimately linked to the history of the camp.
Awards were given in Berlin on January 28, 2011 with the patron of the competition
Bundestagspraesident Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert (President of the German federal Parliament) in
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attendance. Our student project came in 4 place out of altogether 12 projects handed in.
The events calendar 2011 began with the Sachsen-Anhalt memorial service on Remembrance Day
for the victims of National-Socialism held in the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial, the Nordharzer
Staedtebundtheater (Nordharz theater cooperative) and the “Gedenkveranstaltung von Schuelern
fuer Schueler” (memorial service for students by students), Kaethe –Kollwitz-Gymnasium
Halberstadt.
st
The 21 “Days of Encounter” took place from April 7 through April 11, 2011.
A warm thank you goes
to the survivors of the
Langenstein-Zwieberge
KZ:
Georges Petit, Iwan
Gura, Jan Wysocki and
Ryszard Kosinski (from
left to right)
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They witnessed the dedication of the newly designed Langenstein-Zwieberge monument together
with the relatives of those who lost their lives in the camp.
Students of the vocational school Boehnshausen, the secondary school Gernrode and the
Stadtfeldgymnasium (high school) Wernigerode under the leadership of Susann Werkmeister-Natho,
Martina Lucht, Hanka Rosenkranz and Gesine Daifi implemented the “Gedenkaktion zu den Tagen
der Begegnung” (remembrance project – Days of Encounter 2011), initiated by the “Gruppe der 2.
nd
Generation” (2 generation group).
The project focused on the southern mass
grave and was to symbolically link the
commemoration of those who died in the
camp with those who lost their lives just
before, during and after liberation of the
camp.
Students recited texts from the book of a
survivor (Roger Leroyer “CLAMAVI AD
TE”) related to the liberation of the camp,
accompanied by sounds and percussion.
This unusual and creative approach by
young students to the camp terror was
met with positive response by survivors,
relatives and guests alike.
The discussion series “Zeitzeugen der NS-Zeit in Sachsen-Anhalt” (NS-era witnesses in SachsenAnhalt) with Dr. Albert Osterloh and Hanns Osterloh began at the end of April 2011.
On May 8, Jörg Diester (Dokumentationsstaette Regierungsbunker Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler –
documentation center/government bunker) gave a talk on the post-war use of underground facilities
and tunnels constructed by camp inmates for the production of strategic military goods and arms in
th
the two German states. This special event on the occasion of the 66 anniversary of the end of WW
II in Germany and Europe was presented by the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial and the
documentation center Regierungsbunker and focused on the historical post-war similarities and
differences. Both underground facilities were used during the cold war in divided Germany as
bunkers, despite or rather because of their different social systems.
The work camp 2011, sponsored by the Leipzig school center, researched Dutch documents and
produced as a result short biographies of six dead inmates. The
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students were assisted by Andries Gort (4 from left) and Jan
Eriks, who themselves are relatives of Dutch inmates, who died
in the camp. To retrace the death march, an excursion was made
to the hamlets of Welbsleben and Wiederstedt and eye witnesses
were interviewed there.
The students also designed two plaques in remembrance of
Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were also camp inmates. These
plaques complemented a special exhibit (June 8 – August 27,
2011/Langenstein-Zwieberge) which examined the persecution of
Jehovah’s Witnesses by the Nazi regime.
Gesine Daifi and Hanka Rosenkranz initiated the project “Stigmatisierung, Ausgrenzung, Verfolgung,
Vernichtung - was geht mich das heute noch an?“ (Stigmatization, Ostracism, Extermination – what
does this have to do with me today) within the framework of the project “EUROPEANS FOR
PEACE”, sponsored by the foundation “Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft” (Remembrance,
Responsibility and Future), Berlin, the first part of which was implemented in Aschtarak/Armenia
(October 8 – October 15, 2011). Responsible for this project were students from the Martineum High
School Halberstadt and from the Armenian partner school #5 in Aschtarak. The goal of the project is
not only to research the fate of Armenians in the Langenstein-Zwieberge camp, but rather
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investigate ostracism and extermination mechanisms during the NSera in relation to the Armenian genocide committed by the Turks in
1915/16. It was and is not just a question of comparing events but
rather looking at various aspects of stigmatization, ostracism and
extermination and whether these mechanisms have anything to do
with the world we live in today. A bilingual documentary film will be
produced for educational purposes during the course of the project
and will be shown at the Memorial as well as in schools. Interviews
with relatives and friends of the late Armenian inmates Ajkaz
Geworgjan, Nikolai Aslanjan and Nikolai Grigorjan, which were
recorded at some point in the past will be an integral part of this
project. The second part of this project will be done in Halberstadt in
May of this year.
Mezzosopranist Anna Holroyd and the pianist Nicolas Dessenne gave a commemorative concert,
performing works by composers such as Franz Schreker and Erwin Schulhoff, who were persecuted
by the Nazis and whose compositions were defamed as
degenerate art. This special concert was made possible by
professor Amaury Du Closel, who is committed to have their
music be widely known again; he also initiated concerts in
seven different European countries.
The
European
Commission/Directorate-General
Education and Culture sponsored the concert.
for
nd
The 2 Generation Group met Oct. 27 – Oct. 30 for the
th
19 time.
Hanka Rosenkrantz organized a competition “Human Rights past and present” in cooperation
with the aforementioned “Dachverein Reichenstrasse e.V.”, Quedlinburg under the auspices of
Quedlinburg lord mayor Dr. Eberhardt Brecht, which nine Harz district schools took part in. The
project results, based on the premise that Human Rights violations were committed at the historical
site Langenstein-Zwieberge, demand a steadfast commitment to Human Rights. The jury met in July
of last year, evaluated the competition and determined the winner. The award ceremony took place
on December 10 2011. The various project results will be part of an overall exhibit, which will be
shown first in the culture center Quedlinburg and thereafter in all participating schools.
Five temporary participants in a Halberstadt activation and integration project
(Arbeitsfoerderungsgesellschaft aus Halberstadt) finished working on a direct connection
between the death march path (starting area) and the monument (Memorial site).
The “Days of Encounter 2012” will take place April 12 – April 16. We would like to encourage all
former inmates and relatives to let us know by January 30, 2012, whether you or they will be coming.
Please send your registration to our deputy director Gesine Daifi (e-mail: [email protected])
Or via snail mail: Gedenkstaette Langenstein-Zwieberge, Vor den Zwiebergen 1, 38895 Langenstein
At this point I would like to speak for all here at the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial and wish you
the very best and peace and happiness for the year 2012.
Ellen Fauser, head of the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial
TRANSLATION: ROLF SCHÖNEBORN
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