Forced labor memorial "Transit"
The forced labor memorial "Transit" is a Nuremberg memorial. It is located on Plärrer , a main traffic junction in the city of Nuremberg, just outside the city wall . The aim is to keep the memory of the fate of the Nuremberg slave laborers alive during the time of National Socialism .
history
Realization process
The realization of the memorial took 20 years from the resolution to the inauguration. In 1987 the Nuremberg city council decided to erect a memorial for Nuremberg slave laborers. The scientific processing of the history of the forced labor in Nuremberg was initiated by the federal foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility, Future", which was entrusted with the payment of compensation to victims of National Socialist injustice. As a prelude to this, there was an eyewitness talk that took place in the Nuremberg city archive in 2002. Contemporary witness Rob Zweermann complained that there was no memorial for the forced laborers in Nuremberg in the city of Nuremberg. His suggestion to set a symbol of remembrance found among others the support of Professor Wolfgang Benz , a recognized historian. The resolution of 1987 experienced a new impetus as a result.
The city archives and in particular Zweermann witnessed the further process. Extensive research into the history revealed that between 1939 and 1945 around 100,000 forced laborers from more than 40 countries were employed at around 150 Nuremberg companies. The main focus of employment was the armaments industry , but there were also assignments in the retail trade and city administration, for example in clearing rubble after bomb attacks. In order to obtain suitable drafts for the design of the forced labor memorial, the culture committee of the city of Nuremberg decided to hold a limited artistic competition on October 8, 2004 and to invite eight artists. In the following year, 2005, the city of Nuremberg initiated the competition, which the Munich sculptor Hermann Pitz won with his design “Transit” from among five submitted works. The jury consisted of twelve members, including culture and building advisor for the city of Nuremberg, city councilors from all parties, well-known regional and national artists and historians as well as Rob Zweerman, contemporary witness from the Netherlands. It was chaired by Peter Kampehl, Nuremberg artist and chairman of the visual arts advisory board. The concept of the Transit property was convincing on the one hand functionally through the successful connection of the street and underground level of the Plärrer, on the other hand in terms of design, as the character of the memorial was also implemented in an architecturally enriching way. The inauguration of the monument took place on October 15, 2007 in the subway distribution floor at Plärrer.
inauguration
At the invitation of the City of Nuremberg, former forced laborers from numerous countries, such as the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine, took part in the inauguration ceremony. The commemorative speech was given by Professor Wladyslaw Bartoszewski (born 1922 in Warsaw), who - himself a prisoner in Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1941 - was awarded the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade . In his speech he described the erection of the memorial in cooperation with the former forced laborers as an important step towards reconciliation. Robert Zweermann from Rotterdam spoke on behalf of all forced laborers , himself a former forced laborer in Nuremberg and significantly involved in the process of realizing the memorial. For him, the “Transit” memorial is a visible sign that “gives shape to the essence of our common existence at that time”. The Lord Mayor of Nuremberg, Ulrich Maly, highlighted three functions of the memorial in his address. It serves to commemorate the people affected who were robbed of their dignity here in Nuremberg, together with the documentation center , the Nuremberg Trials memorium and the area information system “Former Nazi Party Rally Grounds”, it is part of the city's culture of remembrance and contributes to this through its informative, documentary and confrontational character to take political responsibility for the German guilt.
The memorial in detail
The memorial is a six meter high funnel-shaped sculpture. It is made up of 3000 aluminum men who symbolically hold their hands and are connected by their feet. This funnel is placed on a light dome of the subway station at Plärrer and can be viewed both at street level in the form of a dome and underground in its continuation as a cone in the foyer of the mezzanine and the pedestrian underpass.
The word forced labor appears in twelve languages on three explanatory text panels , and the City of Nuremberg has issued a statement on this.
“1939 - 1945 people were robbed of their dignity. Nuremberg, the city of peace and human rights, commemorates the suffering of the foreign workers who were deployed here in all areas of the economy during the Second World War, and acknowledges the injustice that was done to them. "
The city of Nuremberg invested a total of € 50,000 in the realization of the memorial.
Location
The memorial is located at Nuremberg's Plärrer, a main traffic junction in Nuremberg. On the one hand, the location is reminiscent of the former Plärrer machine - a spacious waiting hall with a bar and public telephones - which was a popular meeting place for the forced laborers and was of great importance as an inconspicuous information and goods exchange platform. On the other hand, thanks to the central location, the history of the forced laborers employed in Nuremberg should remain in the memory of the city, its citizens and guests.
criticism
Rob Zweermann, spokesman for the former forced laborers in Nuremberg, criticized in an interview with Herrmann Pitz the length of the process that led to the realization of the memorial. A lack of understanding and repeated delays on the part of the city administration demanded a lot of patience and perseverance from the supporters. This problem has also been taken up by the Nuremberg press. Zweermann described the budget of € 50,000 provided by the city of Nuremberg as poor. He put it in relation to the number of forced laborers housed in Nuremberg and calculated an amount of 0.50 euros per person.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Press release from the City of Nuremberg on the decision of the jury
- ^ VAG report, page 6 ( Memento of February 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 486 kB)
- ↑ The "Transit" memorial commemorates Nazi forced laborers. Der Standard, October 24, 2007
- ^ Report in the Austrian daily newspaper "Der Standard" on October 24, 2007
- ↑ Press release Nuremberg
- ↑ Speech by Dr. Ulrich Maly (PDF; 23 kB)
- ↑ The third language on either side of the board consists of two lines.
- ^ Forced labor in Nuremberg
- ↑ “The Debacle Continues” - The last forced laborers are still waiting for a memorial. Northern Bavaria Online, August 2, 2006
- ↑ The Transit Forced Labor Memorial - A Documentation
Web links
- Nuremberg online: Forced labor in Nuremberg
- Monuments and memorials
- City council resolution to produce the explanatory panels (PDF; 1.4 MB)
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '53.9 " N , 11 ° 3' 56" E