Exhibition Overview
Edited by Dr. Linde Apel on behalf of the Department of Culture, Sports and Media, in cooperation with the Hamburg Contemporary History Research Center and the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial.
Sent to Their Deaths – The Deportations of Jews, Roma and Sinti from Hamburg 1940-1945
The exhibition presented video and audio interviews with survivors, photos, documents such as letters and diaries, and original memento items. These exhibition items help give back to the victims their faces and their life stories, which have been obscured by the anonymous lists, standardized forms, and the administrative operations of the perpetrators, with their seemingly “correct” division of labor. »
Architecture of the Exhibition
On entering the exhibition hall, the visitor first encountered the central title wall, which includes two family photos: a Jewish family, and a Sinti family. At the entrance to the exhibition space, one is met with a survivor’s quotation: “…But it all began in the bright light of a fair summer’s day, of which our city knows but few…” »
The Opening
Speeches were held by Ole von Beust (Mayor of Hamburg), Karin Feingold (Jewish Community in Hamburg), Rudko Kawczynski (Roma and Sinti Union) and Dr. Linde Apel (Hamburg Contemporary History Research Center) »
Visitors’ Opinions
“It is a nightmarish feeling to discover one’s own family in the documents after 65 years.” (18.2.09 Pit Goldschmidt) »
