As part of the commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps, a (digital) postering event will take place at the Space to Remember on Sunday, May 2nd 2021 in the time from 4-4:45 p.m.. Due to the Corona pandemic, the event takes place online. Unfortunately, only a few helpers can be present at the Space to Remember. Registration is possible until April 30, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. here (please fill in your first name and your last name, your E-Mail and your phone number before selecting the button ‚Absenden’).
Following the postering event, the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial and the Space to Remember invite relatives of former Neuengamme Concentration Camp inmates to a digital exchange session from 4:45-5:45p.m.. Swenja Granzow-Rauwald and Thorsten Fehlberg will be the moderators. You can register for this event until May 2nd, 1p.m. to Ole Holst, indicating the name of the persecuted family member. Both the digital posting and the exchange round will take place in German and English.
After the official welcome of the participants by Uta Kühl, daughter of Hermann Kühl, at 4:00 p.m., Martine Letterie, chairwoman of the Amicale Internationale KZ Neuengamme and granddaughter of Martinus Letterie, will give her greetings and then hand over the floor to Professor Jesko Fezer, who, together with students of the class “Experimental Design” of the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, actively helped to develop the Space to Remember and will briefly present the memorial.
The introductory words are then followed by actions and the digital postering begins. While Hélène Berron from France introduces her father Roger Cornu, Montse Blanco Obradors from Spain introduces her grandfather Miquel Obradors Mas and Greetje Van den Driessche from Belgium introduces her grandfather Urbain Van den Driessche, the posters of the former concentration camp inmates are displayed online as well as put on the walls at the Space to Remember by Bernhard Esser and helpers.
Finally, Bernhard Esser, son of Rudolf Esser, will say farewell greetings and point to the following digital exchange. Relatives of victims and resistance fighters with no connection to the Neuengamme Memorial who would like to actively participate and/or are interested in an exchange are also welcome to join the meeting. This event will again be held in German and English.
Both the postering event and the exchange between relatives of former prisoners are intended to be established as recurring events.
In November last year, the Space to Remember was officially opened. It was established out of the desire to create a place where relatives from all over the world could honor their family member imprisoned in Neuengamme concentration camp by name and express their personal attachment to him at the historical site of his suffering.
Under the motto “To remember is to act,” a growing archive was initiated with the “Space to Remember”. An archive shelf on the grounds of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial contains printed plates with motifs created by relatives that commemorate the former prisoners in a very personal way. In addition to the archive shelf, the Space to Remember also includes a printing workshop where visitors to the concentration camp memorial can become active themselves and reproduce the posters. The resulting art prints can be posted on site as well as distributed beyond the memorial. In this way, the stories and memories of the people imprisoned in Neuengamme Concentration Camp are made visible again and again through the participation of relatives and visitors. The posters can also be viewed on the website.
