Mainz (memorial)
Historical background
On May 16, 1940, 107 Sinti from Mainz were deported to labour camps in occupied Poland. Some of them eventually ended up in Zigeunerlager in the KL Birkenau sub-camp. Most of them died or were murdered.
In Mainz, there are people involved in commemorating the victims of the extermination during World War II (Jews, Roma and Sinti, and others). There are known lists of names of those deported and murdered (e.g. Sinti). Therefore, at the end of 2016, it was finally decided to build a new memorial in their honor. In March 2017, all graphic designs for the memorial which were sent in to the competition were displayed in the town hall. From 17 offers, the commission decided to choose the Dresden project, i.e. Atelier Schmelzer Weber and SW Architekten and prof. Andreas Theurer (see also https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rp/mainz/neuer-gedenkort-in-mainz-geplant-keiner-kehrte-zurueck/-/id=1662/did=19182288/nid=1662/64h9sh/index.html ): a long wall with the names of the deported people, ended with a passage / gate / doorframe, which was blinded with mirror in which the viewers will see themselves. The memorial will also include historical rails and stones from the ramp of the freight station from where the victims were deported.
Description of commemoration
The memorial in the shape of a high slab/stele is made of three black panels. The upper one features the name and location of the memorial: ‘Historical part of Mainz // The memorial made in commemoration’. The central panel at eye level provides a long description of the event and information about the founders.
The memorial is located at the bend of Altenauergasse, by the wall of the Old People’s Home. One of this Home’s residents, Hildegard Coester was the initiator of the commemoration.
Inscriptions
In German:
Der Rassenwahn der Nationalsozialisten machte auch vor den in Mainz lebenden Sinti nicht halt. In der Nacht zum 16. Mai 1940 wurden 107 von ihnen deportiert, darunter 61 Säuglinge, Kinder und Jugendliche sowie 46 Frauen und Männer. Die meisten verschleppte man zusammen mit Sinti aus dem übrigen Rheinhessen und aus der Pfalz in das damals von deutschen Truppen besetzte Polen. Dort mussten die als ‘rassisch minderwertig’ diffamierten Sinti unmenschliche Zwangsarbeit leisten. Viele der Deportierten starben vor Erschöpfung und Hunger, sie wurden erschossen oder in den Gaskammern des sogenannten Zigeunerlagers Auschwitz-Birkenau ermordet. An den Kindern und Jugendlichen führte man grausame und menschenverachtende medizinische Versuche durch. Nur wenige der Mainzer Sinti überlebten den Terror der NS-Diktatborn
Translation:
The racial madness of National Socialism did not omit the Sinti who lived in Mainz. On the night of May 16, 1940, 107 people, including 61 infants, children and adolescents, as well as 46 adults, women and men, were joined to other Sinti from Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, and deported, mainly to concentration camps in occupied Poland.
There, the Sinti who were considered “racially inferior” had to do inhuman forced labour. Many of the deportees died of exhaustion and hunger, were shot or killed in gas chambers in the so-called Zigeunerlager (‘Gypsy camp’) in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Cruel and inhuman medical experiments were carried out on children and adolescents.
Only a few of the Sinti from the Mainz community managed to survive.
Date of the unveiling
May 16, 2013
Initiator
Hildegard Coester and officials of the Old Town in Mainz
Address
Altenauergasse 7-9, 55116 Mainz, Germany
Close to the Hintere Christofsgasse passage
Location
50°00’06.3″N 8°16’23.3″E
50.001750, 8.273139
<iframe src=”https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d605.2317591272738!2d8.2725818292363!3d50.00173686072793!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0x0!2zNTDCsDAwJzA2LjMiTiA4wrAxNicyMy4zIkU!5e1!3m2!1spl!2spl!4v1508006607681″ width=”600″ height=”450″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Materials
http://gedenkorte.sintiundroma.de/index.php?ortID=166
Gallery
