Remembrance and commemoration
Objects carry memories
Commemomoration in NeuengammeRemembering together
2021 is different in many ways Commemoration under special circumstancesSurvivors and their relatives share their stories with us
How we rememberWhat does a suitcase have to do with memories?
How we remember Objects tell stories about people
- Imprisonment and liberation
- Stories passed down through generations
- Encounters with the past
- Remembering together
- Hopes for the future
The pocket watch with the string I crocheted as a girl and the wedding ring with my mother's name.
My father was chemist by profession.
Kibbuz Braunschweig
The letter I wrote to my mother from the concentration camp.
My mother was looking for her children.
Metal tag with the prisoner number I got in Hamburg.
Memory of Veinge
We promised to meet every year on April 15.
The last picture of my grandfather.
Why did no more letters come?
Imprisonment and liberation
Imprisonment and liberation
Imprisonment and liberationThe life before persecution
Imprisonment and liberationStarting a new life
Imprisonment and liberationLike windows into the past
Ewa Zelechowska-Stolzman and Barbara Piotrowska were deported from Poland after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 together with their families. Both their fathers did not survive their imprisonment.
Passing down memories
Stories passed down through generationsPassing down memoriesBarbara Piotrowska writes:
Barbara Piotrowska, who was deported with her parents after the Warsaw Uprising, and missed her father terribly after the war, passed his wedding ring, his pocket watch and the family seal ring, which were very close to her heart, on to the next generations.
Stories passed down through generations
Stories passed down through generationsA book that belonged to my grandfatherGreetje Van den Driessche explains why this dictionary is more than just an old book
Stories passed down through generationsA missing piece of the puzzle
Encounters with the past
Different stories within one familyEncounters with the past
Encounters with the past Uncovering stories
Remembering together
Remembering together
Remembering together"I do not want to leave any mementos behind"Melitta Stein, a survivor, tells us:
Remembering togetherVisit to NeuengammeMarianne Rysz from the Danish association "Frihedskampen 1939-1945 - de skal ikke blive glemt" writes:
Hopes for the future
Hopes for the future
Hopes for the future"We who survived the hell that is war"Sisters and survivors, Kseniya Olhova and Lidiya Turovskaya tell us about their hopes for the future:
Hopes for the future "Our victory over the Nazis"The survivors Hédi Fried and Livia Fränkel
How we remember yesterday tomorrow
How we remember yesterday tomorrowTo pass on the stories
Martine Letterie and her son Hedde Smedinga talk about the importance of preserving memories and passing on stories.
In conclusionA sincere thank you
We hope to see you all at the commemorative ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of the liberation in 2022.
Impressum
Curators:
Alexandre Froidevaux
Iris Groschek
Ulrike Jensen
Lennart Onken
Thank you to the BE|YOND strategic consulting GbR for the consultation and the execution of the pageflow.
Hidde Smedinga
What do I take away from the story?
Why objects and memories are important
Mark Van den Driessche
Encounters with the past I never met my fatherMark Van den Driessche tells us how he learned of his father's death:
Encounters with the pastA letter brings certainty
Encounters with the past A hero who received too little attention
Ksenija Olchowa and Lidija Turowskaja
Hopes for the futureKsenija Olchowa and Lidija TurowskajaSisters and survivors from Moscow
Melitta Stein
Remembering together Annual reunionRemembering together
"This is a photograph of my 'comrades' from the camp who survived and returned to Czechoslovakia. From 1950 on, we met every year on April 15. That was the day we were liberated in Bergen-Belsen."
Remembering together Concentration camp prisoners meet
"I only remember some of their names: Lilly Schubert, Zdena Stranska, Dagmar Franklova (Lieblova), Margit Barnayova, Zdena, Vera Ledererova and Olga Seidlova. You forget things over time, I am 92! In this photo, I am standing on the left in the back row."
Helga Melmed
Imprisonment and liberationHow family photographs survivedHelga Melmed talks about how these family photographs taken before the deportation survived:
Hédi Fried und Livia Fränkel
Imprisonment and liberationSheltered childhood
Sighet, ca. 1929: Sisters Hédi (left) and Livia Szmuk
Dita Kraus
Imprisonment and liberationDita Kraus
Dita, 1942
Mogens Henrik Nielsen
Imprisonment and liberationBeautiful memories
Mogens Henrik Nielsen still has fond memories of his childhood in Denmark, sheltered and filled with love.
Mogens Henrik with his family on his Confirmation day
Nachum Rotenberg
Goto first pageFamilie Dorgelo
Encounters with the pastRecovering a long-lost walletThe Dorgelo family tells us about an unexpected restitution:
Encounters with the pastAn ode to our father
"The article represents the will to make amends which my father valued so much. When the wallet was returned, he said: 'Germans are of goodwill!' At the same time, it is an ode to our father who died in late 2019 at the age of 99."
Marc-Alain Grumelin
Encounters with the pastLooking for the loved onesMarc-Alain Grumelin, Rose Grumelin-Witońska’s son, talks about his search for his half-sibs:
Encounteres with the past Late discovery
The picture shows Rose Grumelin-Witońska and her son Marc-Alain Grumelin during a visit to the Bullenhuser Damm Memorial in Hamburg in June 1982.
Kristof van Mierop
Encounters with the past"They stripped him of his identity"Kristof van Mierop tells us why his grandfahter’s prisoner number is still so important to him:
Encounters with the past Traces of my grandfather
Encounters with the pastAn accidental discovery
Elly Gross
Goto first page Goto first pageJean Curial
Stories passed down through generationsA kerchief made out of father's prisoner uniformJean Curial, Georges Curial's son, says:
My father managed to cut off a piece of his prisoner jacket and take it with him as a memento of his experiences."
Stories passed down through generationsThe index card contains only his prisoner number, and not his name
Stories passed down through generationsThe metal tag with my father’s prisoner number
Stories passed down through generationsMy father is alive!
Stories passed down through generationsThe flag I inherited
Charly Dodet
Stories passed down through generationsA book about my uncleCharly Dodet, Marcel Nassogne’s nephew, tells us:
Stories passed down through generations…as if my uncle came back to tell us about what he had been through
Marian Hawling
Imprisonment and liberationThe only objects which are left Marian Hawling writes:
Dita Kraus
Imprisonment and liberationFrom name to numberDita Kraus tells us:
Imprisonment and liberationArrival at the satellite camp
Mogens Henrik Nielsen
A family in the resistance
His wife Emmy Reitoft wrote: "For Mogens Henrik, the letters bring back nice memories of his loving and caring parents."
Letter he wrote to his parents and sister from the concentration camp, February 1945
Der Sohn von Marcel Dionot
Stories passed down through generationsA photo in a newspaper from 1945Marcel Dionot's son tells us:
My father was arrested on May 9, 1944 in Sainte Marie du Bois. He was one of around 2,500 men who found themselves on the last death train to leave Compiègne on July 15, 1944. Not more than 1000 of them reached Neuengamme on July 20 or 21."
Stories passed down through generationsThe names of the dead were recorded in a notebook by hand
Stories passed down through generationsStory behind the photograph
Please use only Marcel Dionot's name in your public posts. The deportees are the heroes, not their families."
Malgorzata Sadowska
The purpose of the so-called premium coupons was to urge prisoners to work harder. The selection of items one could exchange them for, however, was very limited.
The red triangle was used by the SS to identify political prisoners. The letter P meant the prisoner came from Poland.
The name tag her mother wore during a commemorative ceremony.
Malgorzata Sadowska writes:
Here, I am showing mementos, important objects to remember my mother Henryka Sadowska by (imprisoned in Neuengamme and Ravensbrück). She died in 2012.
Helga Melmed
Imprisonment and liberationEnd of childhoodHelga Melmed reports:
Dorothea Hämer
Encounters with the pastA letter from my father Dorothea Hämer talks about a letter her father Lothar wrote after he was released from the Neuengamme concentration camp:
When a concentration camp prisoner was being released, he had to assure the SS that he would not talk about his experiences.
Jan van Ommen
Encounters with the pastFrom my father's diaryJan van Ommen tells us who the person behind the name of Henk Dienske in his father's diary is:
Encounters with the pastDutch resistance
That a German (one of the occupiers) did this personally is, for me, a proof there were instances of respect between the enemies. Without the information about the death of her husband, Mrs. Dienske could have lived in uncertainty for years."
Jesus Mari Txurruka
Encounters with the past My granduncle's pocket watchJesus Mari Txurruka explains what the return of a pocket watch has to do with him discovering his family story:
Encounters with the past An unforgettable moment
Encounters with the past Nobody knew about Pascual Askasibar
Encounters with the past A big surprise
"My grandmother probably knew nothing about what had happened to her older brother. So it was a big surprise when we were told that we can recover an object which belonged to a relative we didn't know existed, who had died in a concentration camp in Germany."
Encounters with the pastDouble joy
Slawa Harasymowicz
Encounters with the pastLetters as symbols of memoriesSlawa Harasymowicz, Marian Górkiewicz's grandniece, tells us:
Encounters with the pastThe altered handwriting
Joanna Kiąca-Fryczkowska
Remembering together Traveling from Poland to Germany for commemorative eventsJoanna Kiąca-Fryczkowska (left), a survivor, writes:
Remembering together "I don’t have anything left."
"They took all my documents and personal belongings. I don’t have anything left."
Remembering togetherMeeting in Neuengamme
"Every year, I attended the commemorative events you organized. You can see the photos I have picked."
Norbert Zorn
Remembering together Garden of MemoriesNorbert Zorn from the "Association Valeurs de la République Les '42', Alsace-Moselle Pro-Patria" tells us:
Remembering together A cedar tree
Alla Sergienko/Karl Pajuk
Remembering together Meetings in Hamburg and HanoverTeacher Alla Sergienko (left) says:
Remembering together Meetings with the survivor Karl Pajuk
Remembering together "I would like to thank you all for the work you do."
Juana Sosa Martínez
Hopes for the futureMiguel Sosa TostadoThe granddaughter Juana Sosa Martínez tells us:
In 1944, he was deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp and later transferred to one of its satellite camps in Meppen. This is where he disappeared without a trace. Honoring our loved ones in any way is very important for me. That is why I am sending you the only photograph I have of my grandfather."
Luc De Bruyn
Hopes for the future Guillaume and Marcellus De Bruyn (ca. 1924)Luc De Bruyn hopes:
Balbina Rebollar Batalla
Hopes for the future Evaristo Rebollar FernándezBalbina Rebollar Batalla tells us:
Hopes for the future Metal tag with the prisoner number
I would like to show this object publicly to keep the memory of the people who fought for democracy and against fascism, such as my father, alive in our society and especially among the young people."
Mirjam Bouchier
Hopes for the future Died in Neuengamme on December 25, 1944 at the age of 20Mirjam Bouchier writes:
I want to show it to the public because it is very moving and as a message that he should never be forgotten."
Magda Wajsen
Stories passed down through generationsThis reminds me of my grandfather more than anythingMagda Wajsen, Kazimierz Wajsen's granddaughter:
Martine Letterie und der Koffer ihres Großvaters
Goto first pageHédi Fried und Livia Fränkel
Goto first pageMarianne Rysz
Goto first pageSophie Tajch Klisman
Goto first pageNachum Rotenberg
Imprisonment and liberationPreparation for immigration to Israel in the Kibbuz BraunschweigNachum Rotenberg emigrates
Among them was Nachum Rotenberg who was liberated in Hannover-Ahlem, a Neuengamme satellite camp, and arrived in Palestine in 1946. He shared these photos from the Kibbuz Braunschweig with us. Nachum Rotenberg still lives in Israel.
Identification document for the Kibbuz Braunschweig where former prisoners prepared to immigrate to Palestine.
Certificate stating that Nachum Rotenberg had been imprisoned in a concentration camp.
Certificate stating that Nachum Rotenberg had been imprisoned in a concentration camp.
Future emigrants in the Kibbuz Braunschweig including Nachum Rotenberg (left) and Benny Vidavsky (top center)
Nachum Rotenberg's father Yehi'el Meir (left) and his mother Sure-Malca Rotenberg (seated) with their relatives.
Former prisoners with their American liberators.
Nachum Rotenberg (center) with former fellow-prisoners in the Kibbuz Braunschweig
Nachum Rotenberg (left) with Benny Vidavsky (center) and an unindentified former prisoner after the liberation.
Preparation for emigration to Israel at Kibbuz Braunschweig.
Preparation for emigration to Israel at Kibbuz Braunschweig
Elly Gross
Imprisonment and liberationThe only survivor of her family
Imprisonment and liberationElly Gross tells her story
Imprisonment and liberationElly's storyElly Gross stresses:
Helga Melmed
Imprisonment and liberationLife after the liberationHelga Melmed writes:
"Photo of myself and a friend in Sweden after liberation, 1946. My hair is very short (because my head was shaved in Auschwitz) and how tiny my legs are (because my weight was 43 lbs.)"
Imprisonment and liberation"Not only can it happen, it has happened"
(Helga Melmed, born in Berlin in 1927, survived the Litzmannstadt/Lodz ghetto and the Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Poppenbüttel concentration camps)
Erald De Wachter
Stories passed down through generationsA jewelry box on my sideboard Erald De Wachter, Maurice De Wachter's son, explains:
Stories passed down through generationsHospitality in Sweden
About the picture: 1945: Swedish Red Cross buses at the Korsør harbor taking liberated concentration camp prisoners to Sweden.
Stories passed down through generationsA village takes care of survivors
63 Belgian survivors and their Swedish benefactors in Veinge
Stories passed down through generationsFriendships were formed
“The Belgians were met with great hospitality. The inhabitants of Veinge would invite them for tee and cake in the afternoon. This is how Maurice met Adolv and Ida Karlsson. They owned a taxi and bus company and Maurice could ride in Adolv’s cab free of charge.”
Stories passed down through generationsMaurice takes the box home as a memento
Jan A.C. van Boeijen
Stories passed down through generationsI have the same initials like my uncle.Jan A.C. van Boeijen, a nephew of Jan A.C. van Boeijen, explains:
Stories passed down through generationsHostages from Putten
Jan van Boeijen was one of 659 men from the Dutch town of Putten who were deported to the Amersfoort camp in early October 1944 in reprisal for an attack on a Wehrmacht vehicle. 601 of them were deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp. From there, the SS took most of them to the Ladelund and Husum satellite camps. Only 48 men returned to Putten after the war.
Stories passed down through generationsCommitment to keep the memory aliveJan A.C. van Boeijen writes:
Memorial stone for the inhabitants of Putten who were deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp.
Henri Schouten
Stories passed down through generationsThe last picture of my grandfatherH.P.H. Schouten writes the following about the photograph of his grandparents:
Wouter was taken to the Amersfoort camp. After a week he was deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp together with the men from Putten. He died on December 25, 1944."
Paula Kuitenbrouwer
Stories passed down through generationsA baby dress makes us smilePaula Kuitenbrouwer writes on behalf of her family:
Stories passed down through generationsIsn’t that a dress for a girl?
Stories passed down through generationsIt feels like touching the past
Paula Kuitenbrouwer
Thom Kluck
Maryse Kluck
Paulina Miecznikowska-Chyła
Stories passed down through generationsA part of my grandmother lives onPaulina Miecznikowska-Chyła, Krystyna Razińska's granddaughter, tells us:
It is important to believe, rather than having doubts and giving up, to forgive and to have faith that someone up there takes care of us. My grandmother had no doubts about that and she survived."
Stories passed down through generationsMemories of my grandmother
I could… recount the bleak stories about the camp and the post-war years – unimaginable for me, difficult and painful.
I could… mention the cross which was taken away from my grandmother in the camp and returned to the family in a miraculous way. For me, it is a symbol of faith, of hope – an indissoluble reminder.
I could… describe her search for Sabina, her sister-in-law. Hundreds of letters, faded over the years, kept in a box in my drawer."
Stories passed down through generationsTrain at Sülstorf
As a brave 13-year-old boy, Günter helped his mother distribute boiled potatoes among the prisoners aboard a train at the Sülstorf train station. My grandmother too was on this train whose destination was unknown. Every cattle car carried more than hundred people. The cars were overcrowded, there was no air, people were exhausted, hungry, miserable and desperate. More than 300 people died during the three-day stopover in April 1945. My grandmother got two potatoes, it wasn’t enough for everyone."
Stories passed down through generationsConnections
The memories connected to Sülstorf changed. Sharing memories, suffering and joy, eating meals together, having conversations, meeting new people. My grandmother sometimes spent her vacations with the Kliefoth family in Sülstorf – and I did too. I remember quiet mornings, warm bread rolls and their dog playing with a friendly goat."
Stories passed down through generationsMy grandmother is a heroine
Ewa Zelechowska-Stolzman
Imprisonment and liberation"We should never be apart." That was our family slogan.Ewa Zelechowska-Stolzman tells us:
Imprisonment and liberationPrivate memories
Three landscapes he painted (painting and photography were his hobbies.)"
Imprisonment and liberationFragments of a life
Imprisonment and liberationThe story of my father
Imprisonment and liberationThe last words
Barbara Piotrowska
Imprisonment and liberation"It is indescribable how much I missed my father."Barbara Piotrowska tells us:
After the war, my mother and I returned to Poland and started building our life anew. I was eleven at the time. My mother and I both missed my father every day for many years."
Imprisonment and liberationSurprising restitution
These objects are a golden wedding ring with the name of my mother (Marta), a golden family seal ring with the family coat of Arms 'Pomian' engraved in it and a pocket watch with a ribbon I crocheted as a girl. For me and my family, it was an unforgettable experience to get these objects back."
Imprisonment and liberationA place to mourn
In 2015, Barbara Piotrowska found her father's name in the House of Remebrance. His photo has been hanging next to it since then.