Due to the precautionary measures against the spread of the coronavirus, the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial had to cancel the commemorative events on the 75th anniversary of the liberation. The inauguration of the Space to Remember, Connect and Support, which was originally scheduled to take place on May 2nd, also had to be postponed to November. But the work on the project continues.
At the beginning of June the time had come – the shelf for the printing plates and the construction for the poster walls were placed on the way to the Plattenhaus (prefabricated building).
© Antonia Wegener
Now the first elements of the Space to Remember can be seen on the grounds of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial. This is another important step towards the inauguration in November.
© Antonia Wegener
Since April, other family members of former prisoners from all over the world have contacted the working group “Space to Remember” and submitted their poster motifs. The students of the Studio Experimental Design of the HfbK have started with the print preparation of the motifs and also the project’s own website with a digital archive of all posters and background information is currently being programmed.
We also received first donations – we would like to thank all donors for supporting the project and thus making it possible to produce additional printing plates for submitted poster motifs!
We still welcome your donations for the Space to Remember:
Account for donations
Freundeskreis KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme e. V.
Hamburger Volksbank eG
BIC: GENODEF1HH2
IBAN: DE82 2019 0003 0014 4554 04
Reference: Ort der Verbundenheit
The Space to Remember was also a subject of the virtual commemoration of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial. Survivors, descendants, staff of the memorial and politicians sent in video messages in which they talk about what the 75th anniversary of the liberation means to them.
Bernhard Esser and students of the HfbK presented the Space to Remember on this occasion:
English transcription:
Bernhard Esser, relative of a former Neuengamme prisoner and one of the initiators of the “Space to Remember, Connect and Support” at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial in Hamburg:
Bernhard Esser: “We planned to inaugurate the “Space to Remember” on the 75th anniversary of liberation: a special place of commemoration by and for relatives of the former Neuengamme prisoners. People all over the world have responded to our call to make posters about their family members persecuted under the Nazi regime.”
Tina Henkel: “As a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, I participated in the development of the “Space to Remember”. Our idea was to connect personal memories with a printing studio. The posters will be turned into printing plates and exhibited at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial. Printing plates will be used to print new posters in the future, which is something visitors of the memorial will also be able to do.”
Bernhard Esser: “This way we can keep our memories of the persecuted family members alive. The posters will be shown on a large board in Neuengamme but also distributed outside of the memorial. My poster tells the story of my father who survived the Neuengamme concentration camp. His brother was murdered by the Nazis. I find the idea of my grandchildren printing the poster about my father one day very moving.”
Hannes von Coler: “One of the fundamental ideas of the “Space to Remember” is that it can keep growing due to more relatives taking part in the future. The inauguration has been postponed to November, but we are already receiving more posters. I believe that there will always be new inauguration ceremonies which will give the relatives a chance to come together.”
Bernhard Esser: “I am very happy about the attention and feedback our project received. Everyone who would like to participate can find more information on the blog reflections.news. This is where you can also find our bank account – if you’d like to help make it possible for relatives to take part in this project free of charge. Today, three quarters of a century after the liberation, remembering the Nazi era is enormously important for the present. To remember means to act!”
© Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial
