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Keeping the Memory Alive at Bergen-Belsen Memorial Site
Around seventy thousand people held at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp fell victim to the National Socialist holocaust strategy between 1941 and 1945. A new documentation centre at the memorial site reminds us of the fate of the inmates and prisoners of war who were murdered. The ceremony to officially open the documentation centre was attended by guests from near and far, including survivors and victims� relatives. German Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann thanked them all for making the journey. "You keep the memory alive to remind us that we should never forget.� Remembrance is a national responsibility Culture Minister Neumann said it was a national responsibility to remember the holocaust and the crimes committed under the Nazi reign of terror. In his speech, he underlined the need for memorial sites such as the one at Bergen-Belsen, saying that "The massacre of the European Jews was a crime against humanity of unprecedented proportions. It must be given supreme place in German remembrance, now and for all time�. Institutional backing The Bergen-Belsen memorial museum performs research work and museum education of the highest quality, emphasised Neumann. The memorial is backed by the federal government which, together with the Lower Saxony state government and other funding organisations, has financed the memorial museum�s projects since 2000. The costs for the new documentation centre are also being borne jointly by the federal German and Lower Saxony governments. The plan for the new permanent exhibition includes ongoing promotion of the Bergen-Belsen memorial site. Minister Neumann said this was necessary to ensure that work there continues and has the desired effect. Focus on the victims
The permanent exhibition in the newly built documentation centre is the first ever exhibition that gives a detailed history of Bergen-Belsen in its capacities as a concentration camp, a POW camp housing Russian prisoners and a Displaced Persons Camp. Historical records illustrate the fates of individual victims. Manuscripts and pictures communicate the political and historical context. Topographical descriptions of the camp provide key information about this historical site of Nazi persecution. Bergen-Belsen was first built in 1941 for use as a POW camp. By February 1942, no less than 18,000 Russian prisoners of war had died on account of the appalling conditions. In July 1943, the first transport of Jewish prisoners arrived at the camp from Poland. From 1944, tens of thousands of prisoners were moved to Bergen-Belsen from concentration camps nearer the front line. The camp was liberated by British troops on 15 April 1945. From 1945 to 1950, the then Displaced Persons Camp was used to house some 12,000 people, many of them Jewish, before their release. Overall, around 50,000 prisoners and 20,000 Russian POWs died in Bergen-Belsen. October 31, 2007 Source: REGIERUNGonline Links
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