Reminder and memorial Düsseldorf

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Remembrance and memorial for the state capital Düsseldorf, Mühlenstrasse 29, Düsseldorf-Altstadt, in March 2016

The Düsseldorf Memorial for the Victims of National Socialist Tyranny is a cultural institute of the state capital Düsseldorf . It is a museum, research facility and archive. The house was opened in 1987 and has since been dedicated to the memory of the Düsseldorf victims and those persecuted by the Nazi regime. It is located in the western part of the historic town hall in the old town and has been showing the permanent exhibition "Düsseldorf Children and Young People under National Socialism" since a thorough renovation and its reopening in May 2015.

Memorial in the historic town house

Room of the air raid shelter in the basement of the memorial

The memorial is located in the western part of the old town house. During the Nazi era, the rooms served as offices, interrogation rooms and police detention cells. From 1926 to the beginning of 1934 the police headquarters had its seat here, to which between April 1933 and March 1934 the newly established Düsseldorf State Police Control Center ( Gestapo ) was also subordinate. Later, the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Wehrbezirkskommando moved into the house, and municipal authorities that were involved in the persecution and exclusion of Jews , Sinti and homosexuals or were responsible for the "work" of around 40,000 forced laborers in the Düsseldorf city area (employment office) were also housed drew. During the war, the basement rooms were used as public air raid shelters, which can still be viewed today.

Emergence

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, it was proposed to build a memorial for the victims of National Socialism in Düsseldorf. Initially, it was decided to erect a central memorial, but it was not until 1958 that the artist Jupp Rübsam realized this at the north cemetery .

As a result of the Majdanek trials against former members of the commandant's office and the guards of the Majdanek concentration camp , which took place in front of the Düsseldorf Regional Court from 1975 to 1981 , the considerations of setting up a central memorial were made by youth associations, the parishes, the Jewish community and the regional association founded in 1982 German Sinti and Roma NRW and the Association of Victims of the Nazi Regime (VVN) picked up again. In 1986, all parties represented in the council finally voted for the establishment of a central memorial. The Düsseldorfer Jugendring had particularly advocated this; All groups committed themselves to the facility, which finally opened on September 17, 1987 as the cultural institute of the state capital Düsseldorf. The memorial was headed from 1988 to December 31, 2010 by historian and educator Angela Genger , who had previously been director of the Old Synagogue in Essen ; Her successor in 2011 was the historian Bastian Fleermann .

Concept and tasks

Offices and archive, Mühlenstrasse 6

The memorial and memorial is dedicated to interviewing contemporary witnesses and documents and analyzes the time of National Socialism in Düsseldorf. It has extensive archives and collections as well as a reference library with over 8000 volumes on contemporary history. The permanent exhibition Persecution and Resistance in Düsseldorf 1933–1945 , created in 1986/87, could be viewed until 2011 . The exhibition, which was largely created by the historian Bernd-A. Rusinek and Kerstin Griese , informed about the situation of the Catholic and Protestant Church and its members, about Jehovah's Witnesses , about the political parties like SPD and KPD as well as about the anarchists . Artists from Düsseldorf under National Socialism were presented, euthanasia , the persecution of the Sinti and Roma and their murder were also presented . A separate room also commemorated the excluded, expelled and murdered Jews in Düsseldorf . This permanent exhibition was dismantled in 2011. Archive and administration rooms have been permanently located in the nearby Mühlenstrasse 6 building since 2009.

Reconstruction and redesign from 2011 to 2015

Between 2011 and 2015, the architects Marie-Celine Schäfer and Karsten Weber redesigned the space. A new exhibition hall in the inner courtyard brings all areas of the memorial together into one area that can be used uniformly. After a four-year renovation phase, modernization and expansion, the house was reopened on May 14, 2015 with a tripled total area by Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel . Since then, the new, biographical and historical-based permanent exhibition “Düsseldorf Children and Young People under National Socialism” has also been on view. Using examples, the question of how young people behaved during the time of National Socialism, what everyday experiences and influences they had and what became of them will be investigated. In a new extension in the former inner courtyard (“Forum”), a smaller permanent exhibition deals with the post-history of National Socialism in Düsseldorf from 1945 to the present day. In the rear building there is the “ Julo Levin room” for events, special exhibitions and didactic work, as well as an “open archive” and the library. The air raid shelter can still be visited. The newly designed memorial is barrier-free, networked with multimedia and accessible to English-speaking visitors with the help of an audio guide.

Place of remembrance and learning

The institute organizes commemorative events on behalf of the city, for example on November 9th or at the statue Ehra or child with ball at the old port in Carlstadt (memorial for the murdered Sinti and Roma). The memorial initiated the Liberation Path project , which was completed in 2011. It also oversaw the erection of a central memorial on the site of the former Derendorf freight station , which has been commemorating the deportation of Rhenish Jews between 1941 and 1945 since April 2012. The institute campaigned for the establishment of numerous Düsseldorf memorial sites for victims of National Socialism . There are events and special exhibitions, school projects, guided tours and city tours. An extensive educational and mediation work is offered, various publications are available. Between 1991 and 2007 the periodical was currently. Reports, information and documents of the memorial and memorial site with different topics published (34 issues). According to the management, up to 30,000 visitors come to the memorial every year, as of 2017.

The city memorial is organized in the state-wide working group of NS memorials and places of remembrance in North Rhine-Westphalia .

Special exhibitions since the reopening

  • Palimpsest. Memory layers. Photographs by Gideon Sella (June – October 2015)
  • Help and heal. Jewish women from Düsseldorf 1933–1945 (November 2015-January 2016)
  • Lost art back. The virtual Leopold Fleischhacker Museum (November 2015-January 2016)
  • In memory of the children. The paediatricians and the crimes against children during the Nazi era (February-May 2016)
  • New land. Photographs by Hans Berben 1946–1951 (May – December 2016)
  • Fred Stein. On the way. Dresden-Paris-New York (January-May 2017)
  • Landscape that invented me ... - Paul Celan, Rose Ausländer and Bukowina as a European region of remembrance (May – July 2017)
  • Without shelter. Without protection. Social outsiders in National Socialist Düsseldorf (September 2017-January 2018)
  • People in Auschwitz. Prisoner portraits by Josef R. Hein (January to July 2018)
  • The Bodies of the SS. Ideology, Propaganda and Crime (September 2018 to January 2019)
  • feminine - brave - unforgettable. Düsseldorf Women in History (February to March 2019)
  • Goldstein's dream. From Düsseldorf to the Promised Land. A photographic approach (April to October 2019)
  • In no man's land. The deportation of Polish Jews from Düsseldorf in 1938 (October 2019 to March 2020)

Support association

The memorial's sponsorship group, founded on January 27, 1998, has more than 300 members. (As of 2017) Since March 2013, Düsseldorf celebrities have been supporting the memorial on the sponsoring group's website in the form of an image campaign, including cabaret artists Volker Pispers and Dieter Nuhr , Campino , Fortuna Düsseldorf players , artists Thomas Struth and Andreas Gursky , Doro Pesch , Christian Ehring and Günther Uecker .

Thematic aspects and larger research projects

A selection of topics that the Dusseldorf Memorial is dealing with:

Deportation to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in 1941 (2004–2012)

The aim of this project was to document the first deportation from the Düsseldorf administrative district on October 27, 1941 to the Litzmannstadt ghetto (Lodz) and to research the lives of the deportees. Numerous archives and research institutions at home and abroad were consulted. Results: A comprehensive book publication (2010), a CD-ROM with 1003 biographies (2011) and an exhibition catalog (2012) were published; a traveling exhibition in cooperation with the NS Documentation Center Cologne was developed in 2011.

Place of remembrance on the site of the former Derendorf freight yard (2004–2012)

The aim of the project was to bundle various memorial concepts in memory of the deportations from Düsseldorf from 1941 to 1945 and to make them a place of remembrance in public space. Result: The place of remembrance was inaugurated on April 22, 2012.

Commemorative concept "Path of Liberation" (2008-2011)

The project aimed at the liberation of Düsseldorf from National Socialism in April 1945 and the resistance of the “Aktion Rheinland” group around Dr. August Wiedenhofen, Aloys Odenthal , Franz Jürgens and others. Results: A long-term collaboration with the Department of Architecture at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences , Professor Tanja Kullack, took place between 2008 and 2009 and resulted in an exhibition. The historical path " Path of Liberation ", which consists of 6 steles and leads to Mettmann, was inaugurated on April 17, 2011.

Museum case "Jewish childhood in Düsseldorf yesterday and today" (2012)

The aim was to use four exemplary biographies to convey to children and young people the various aspects of the life of Jewish children in Düsseldorf from the 1930s to the 1950s. With materials and objects in a historical travel case, the children are instructed to deal with them and beyond. Duration: until 2012. Results: On the basis of four interviews, which are available in the archive of the memorial and memorial, work materials were created which, through photos, documents, objects and literature, make the topic of “Jewish childhood” tangible. Introductory texts for teachers and supervisors introduce the topic and provide didactic and methodical advice. A mobile outreach offer from the memorial for children and young people involved in school and extracurricular youth work between 9 and 14 years of age. The case was presented in 2012.

The Gestapo (head) office in Düsseldorf (2010–2012)

The aim of the project was to collect basic information on one of the largest Gestapo control centers in the Reich and to prepare it for a wider reading public. This was done in collaboration with the Düsseldorf district government and the North Rhine-Westphalia state archive . A publication was published in 2012 in cooperation with the Düsseldorf district government.

The history of the criminal police in Düsseldorf in the Weimar Republic and the Nazi state (2014-2018)

Research is being carried out into the importance of the criminal police control center in Düsseldorf, whose catchment area encompassed almost all of Westphalia and the northern Rhineland, for the persecution of " anti-social ", " professional criminals " , Sinti and Roma under the aspects of " preventive crime prevention " and preventive police detention in concentration camps . The study period spanned the years 1926 to 1945.

Museum case “Anti-Semitism? No, thank you! "(2015–2016)

The suitcase is to be loaned out to schools and educational institutions, where it will serve to prevent anti-Semitism / racism as part of school or extra-curricular project work.

Memorial sign of the subcamp concentration camp in Düsseldorf (2017)

Pupils from Düsseldorf schools developed commemorative signs for the five Düsseldorf subcamps. Between October 1942 and March 1945 there were several satellite camps and external commands in Düsseldorf: The Stoffeln satellite camp in the Südpark, which belonged to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (October 2, 1942 to February 1943), the Kalkum bomb clearance command on a site near the Kalkum train station, south of the Kalkumer Schlossallee (May 28, 1943 to March 1945), the subcamps Berta I and Berta II of the Buchenwald concentration camp , also known as Rheinmetall-Borsig , on what is now the Grafental district on Schlueterstrasse and Rather Strasse (November 1, 1943 to September 9, 1943). March 1945) and the DESt external command (April 12, 1944 to March 9, 1945).

Publications

Series of publications

Since 2012, the support group of the memorial has published a small series of publications by the Dusseldorf memorial and memorial in the local Droste publishing house :

  • Bastian Fleermann , Hildegard Jakobs, Frank Sparing : The Secret State Police in Düsseldorf 1933–1945. History of a National Socialist Special Authority in West Germany . 2012, ISBN 978-3-7700-1486-6 .
  • Bastian Fleermann, Hildegard Jakobs: rule of violence. The Nazis came to power in 1933 in Düsseldorf . 2013, ISBN 978-3-7700-1493-4 .
  • Barbara Suchy, Ulrich Knufinke: Synagogues in Düsseldorf from 1712 to the present . 2013, ISBN 978-3-7700-1512-2 .
  • Bastian Fleermann, Peter Henkel, Frank Sparing: The Düsseldorf town house. Jesuit monastery, police headquarters, memorial and Hotel De Medici on Mühlenstrasse . 2014, ISBN 978-3-7700-1532-0 .
  • Bastian Fleermann, Hildegard Jakobs: Düsseldorf deportations 1933–1945. 2015, ISBN 978-3-7700-6001-6 .
  • Peter Henkel: The Düsseldorf subcamps: The deployment of concentration camp prisoners in Düsseldorf between 1942 and 1945. 2016, ISBN 978-3-7700-6010-8 .
  • Bastian Fleermann: The Düsseldorf rabbis . From 1706 until the dissolution of the synagogue community in 1941, 2016
  • Hildegard Jakobs: power and splendor. The Düsseldorfer Königsallee under National Socialism, 2017
  • Bastian Fleermann, Hildegard Jakobs, Peter Henkel: "In the name of the people". The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and the judiciary under National Socialism, 2018
  • Bastian Fleermann, Hildegard Jakobs: In no man's land. The deportation of Polish Jews from Düsseldorf in 1938, 2019

From the research work of the memorial

  • Bastian Fleermann (Ed.): The commissioners. Criminal Police in Düsseldorf and in the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial area 1920–1950 . Droste, Düsseldorf 2018
  • Karola Fings , Frank Sparing: “z. Currently gypsy camp ”. The persecution of the Düsseldorf Sinti and Roma under National Socialism . 1992.
  • Bastian Fleermann, Angela Genger (ed.): November pogrom 1938 in Düsseldorf . Klartext, Essen 2008.
  • Angela Genger, Kerstin Griese (ed.): Aspects of Jewish life in Düsseldorf and on the Lower Rhine. Verlag Mahn- und Gedenkstätte, Düsseldorf 1997, ISBN 3-9805963-1-1 .
  • Angela Genger: Persecution and Resistance in Düsseldorf 1933–1945. 1990. Exhibition catalog
  • Hildegard Jakobs: Traces of Time in Düsseldorf 1930–1950. A city guide. 2002.
  • Christoph Moß (Ed.): Persecution and resistance of the "Serious Bible Students" ( Jehovah's Witnesses ) during the Nazi era in Düsseldorf . 2000.
  • Frank Sparing: "Because of offenses according to § 175 ...". The persecution of the Düsseldorf homosexuals during National Socialism . 1997.
  • Frank Sparing, Marie-Luise Heuser (Ed.): Hereditary biological selection and "euthanasia" psychiatry in Düsseldorf during National Socialism . Klartext, Essen 2001.

Web links

Commons : Dusseldorf memorial  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The memorial opens its doors. on welt.de
  2. ↑ Fates of Düsseldorf: The memorial opens after a long renovation. to: juedische-allgemeine.de
  3. ↑ Mr. Katz visits the museum. on: rp-online.de
  4. ↑ Angela Everts: Interview with Bastian Fleermann: “People are more open about the past” . In: Westdeutsche Zeitung . May 27, 2013, accessed March 7, 2015.
  5. ↑ Michael Brockerhoff: The memorial site is expanded to include a courtyard building . In: Rheinische Post. September 12, 2013, accessed March 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ Everything should be ready in a year . DerWesten.de , September 5, 2013, accessed on March 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ Sema Kouschkerian: At eye level with the children . In: Westdeutsche Zeitung . August 10, 2011, accessed June 8, 2015.
  8. ↑ Without the author's name: Memorial and memorial site celebrates three decades . In: Rheinische Post , September 18, 2017, p. D 2 Düsseldorf.
  9. ↑ Sema Kouschkerian: Celebrities advertise memorials . In: Westdeutsche Zeitung. August 1, 2013, accessed March 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ DNB 1025229746

Coordinates: 51 ° 13 ′ 38.1 ″  N , 6 ° 46 ′ 21 ″  E