Hamburg – Neuengamme (plaque)
See also: Hamburg – Neuengamme (exhibition)
Historical background
See: Hamburg – Neuengamme (camp)
Despite the fact that KL Neuengamme, as an independent concentration camp, was the largest camp in northern Germany, after the war its former function was largely forgotten by the Germans as the facility started to be used as a prison. And although the first commemorations began to be organised in the 1950s, including the unveiling of the French obelisk, a monument to Poles brought here after the Warsaw Uprising and others, the main memorial was not created until 1965
Description of commemoration
The 27 metre-high grey stone obelisk features an inscription in German and three inverted triangles, symbolising prisoner badges. Right next to it, on the ground, there is a plaque saying that we are in the Crematorium Square of KL Neuengamme (in German). Near the obelisk there is also a long wall made of light-coloured stone. In the place where the wall breaks down – between the wall and the obelisk, there is a sculpture entitled „the Falling prisoner” by the French artist Françoise Salmon. On the flowerbed covered with a carpet of growing cotoneaster, 18 plaques with the listed nationalities of victims are placed in front of the long piece of the wall. On the last plaque, among the Portuguese, Swedes, Swiss and Spanish prisoners, the Roma are mentioned too.
Right next to it, directly on the wall, close to the street, there is a large plaque with the inscription Gedenkstätte Neuengamme (and information about the camp).
Opposite to the plaque, there is also Haus des Gedenkens (‘House of Remembrance’), where you can find the names of prisoners written on the pieces of cloth. Some of them were commemorated with additional pinned photographs and flowers.
Erected in 1981 as the original exhibition about the camp (Dokumentenhaus), this building was renamed the House of Remembrance in 1995, when the permanent exhibition opened in the former Walther’s factory.
Inscriptions
- The main obelisk
In German:
Euer Leiden, Euer Kampf und Euer Tod sollen nicht vergebens sein!
Translation:
Your suffering, your fight, and your death should not be in vain!
- The big plaque by the road
In German:
Gedenkstätte Neuengamme // In den Jahren 1938 bis 1945 litten hier und in den Außenkommandos des Konzentrationslagers Neuengamme 106 000 Menschen. Von ihnen wurden 55 000 Männer, Frauen und Kinder aus vielen Nationen durch die Nationalsozialisten getötet. // [Es folgen Namen von 67 Außenkommandos]
Translation:
In 1938-1945 here, in the Neuengamme camp and its sub-camps, 106,000 people from many nations experienced suffering. Among them were over 55,000 men, women and children who were murdered by National Socialists. [Below there are the names of 67 sub-camps].
Date of the unveiling
The first, the so-called French, obelisk – 1953
The main memorial: November 8, 1965
Memorial Site: 2003
Author
Authoris include Françoise Salmon
Address
KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Jean-Dolidier-Weg 75, 21039 Hamburg, Germany
Tel. +49 40 428131500
http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/
Location
- The plaque where the Sinti are mentioned, near the main memorial: 53°26’05.1″N 10°13’53.9″E
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- House of Remembrance (Haus Des Gedenkes, Neuengammer Hausdeich Brücke) with lists of the victims: 53°26’06.6″N 10°13’55.7″E
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Materials
The main memorial: http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/geschichte/gedenkstaette/
Walther’s Factory: http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/ausstellungen/neuengamme/walther-werke/
The Roma Memorial Site: http://gedenkorte.sintiundroma.de/index.php?ortID=128
Gallery
