Planning has been going on since 2015, and the new think-tank at Würzburg Central Station will open in two weeks. Exactly 77 years after the last deportation move – and a little different.
Photo: Thomas Obermeier
It was the beginning of a path of no return, the beginning of a journey to death. On June 17, 1943 at 2:19 p.m., the last major deportation train started at Würzburg Central Station. With 57 Jews who were brought to Auschwitz that day to be murdered in the concentration camp. Seven other people came to the concentration camp in Theresienstadt, Czech Republic. Exactly 77 years later to the day, they and the other 2004 Lower Franconian Jews, who were deported between 1941 and 1943, are now to be given their final dignity.
At the main train station in Würzburg, where one of the eight deportations from Würzburg has its starting point, the planned monument “DenkOrt Deportation” is to commemorate the dark times and the many lives wiped out by the Nazis. It will open on June 17th.
Symbolic pieces of luggage should remind of deportations
A day of relief for Benita Pride. “We had a lot of setbacks, for example looking for a suitable place,” says the chairwoman of the eight-member association DenkOrt Deportationen e.V., which inspired the commemoration and has been responsible for planning since 2015. Originally the place of thought, at that time still under the name “DenkOrt Aumühle”, was to be built at the former Aumühle freight yard. But when the planning was already in full swing, it turned out that the implementation there would not be possible for structural reasons. So it is all the more wonderful that Stolz is pleased that the memorial can now open: “I think that this form of remembrance could certainly cause a sensation throughout Germany.”
Photo: Thomas Obermeier
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In the green area on the eastern edge of Bahnhofsplatz you can now see steles and seating that are reminiscent of a platform. 47 symbolic pieces of luggage and a suitcase with a poem by the German-Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai were put up there from the city of Würzburg and all Lower Franconian communities in which Jews lived during the Third Reich. At the same time, an identical piece of luggage should find a representative place in the respective municipalities.
Architect Matthias Braun was inspired by the design as a kind of luggage belt by a historical photo of the luggage of the deportees at the Aumühle freight station: “My idea was to recreate this situation in an abstract form,” said Braun at an on-site visit in October 2019 In the future, the goal is to assemble a total of 109 pieces of luggage at the memorial, says Benita Stolz.
How to watch the opening live
The inauguration of the place of thought should be celebrated appropriately with the occasion with a larger event – actually. Because this will not be possible in the foreseeable future due to the corona pandemic, the opening should take place in a kind of “topping-out ceremony” in a small group. “This makes us particularly sad because all the mayors of the communities involved cannot be there,” says Stolz. But for them and all other interested parties, the club came up with something: A livestream at 2 p.m. on the homepage www.denkort-deportationen.de lets everyone, who cannot be there personally, at least experience the opening digitally.
Photo: Daniel Peter
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The Mayor of Würzburg, Christian Schuchardt, the representative of the Bavarian State Government for Jewish life and against anti-Semitism, for memory work and historical heritage, Ludwig Spaenle, and the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, will speak. A big celebration should be rescheduled if possible: “We are hopeful that when we add luggage from other municipalities to the place of thought, we can then invite all interested parties and municipalities to an appropriate public event,” says Stolz.
Photo: Matthias Braun, architect BDA
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The DenkOrt Deportation association
The project executing agency for the realization of the think place is the association of the same name. He took care of the necessary applications and approvals as well as the monitoring of the cost and financing plan. The project is funded by donations.
Since 2009 the project group “We want to remember” around the Würzburg Benita Stolz and Helmut Försch has been active. She is working on creating a “path of memory” along the deportation route between the Platz’schen garden and the small goods station on the Aumühle. It implemented this goal in stages and organized commemorative events. For the Lower Franconia-wide DenkOrt project, the project group reorganized and broadened. The project group founded the “DenkOrt Aumühle” association on January 31, 2018. He gained nonprofit status on March 5, 2018. Since 2019 it has been called “DenkOrt Deportationen e.V.”
After the monument opened, it became the property of the city of Würzburg, which had agreed to bear the ongoing cleaning and maintenance costs.
Source: Verein DenkOrt Deportation
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Wurzburg
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Sophia Scheder
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anti-Semitism
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Benita pride
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Christian Schuchardt
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The Third Empire
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Monuments
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Green areas
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Yehuda Amichai
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Josef Schuster
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Jews
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Jews in Germany
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Judaism
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concentration camp
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Ludwig Spaenle
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National Socialists
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City of Wuerzburg
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Cities
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Central Council of Jews in Germany
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