Holocaust Memorials - Monuments, Museums and Institutions in Commemoration of Nazi Victims

in detail

The Breitenau memorial is located in the town of Guxhagen, approximately 15 kilometers south of Kassel. The memorial was founded by the University of Kassel with financial support from the Landeswohlfahrtsverband Hessen in October 1984 on the property of the former Benedictine monastery and later workhouse of Breitenau. The memorial rooms are located in an old monastery building; the remaining buildings house a facility for mental ill people. Since 1986, the memorial has been run by an friends' association and is aided by the country Hessen and more promoters.

 

During the Nazi period, an early concentration camp (1933-1934) and later a so-called "educational work camp" (Arbeitserziehungslager, 1940-1945) existed in the former monastery and workhouse. For the most part, German political opponents were interned in the concentration camp in order to be disciplined and intimidated. In the "education work camp", approximately 7000 foreign forced laborers who had either refused to work or who had violated Nazi regulations (by associating with Germans, for example) were detained. Through punishment they were to become more submissive in their next work assignment. In addition, there were approximately 1300 Germans imprisoned, among them approximately 150 Jews. Of the more than 8,000 prisoners, approximately 1,800 were deported to various concentration camps.

 

There are still prison-cells, shower rooms and some buldings, in which there were prisoners of the Gestapo locked-in.

In the Memorial Museum there is an artistic permanent exhibition, in which the visitors should be remained of the history of Breitenau and also think about general questions of outracism and tolerance.

Through the available files and further materials, one can trace the individual fates of people from all of the north and east Hessian regions. Through the files on hand, the bureaucratic persecution machine in which, in addition to the Gestapo, many authorities, governmental departments, firms and individuals participated, becomes evident.

A visit is worth it especially for school classes. The pupils can get a detailed look at the persecution in the time of Nationalsocialism by working directly on the files and other documents.

Supplementary to these direct research resources of the Nazi period, the memorial offers special events (readings, lectures, films, special exhibitions, etc.), in which issues of violence, exclusion, and discrimination are addressed, thereby providing a link between the past and the present.

1874
Opening of a workhouse on the ground af the former monastery Breitenau

June 1933 - March 1934
Establishment of an early concentration camp in addition to the workhouse

1940
Establishment of an "educational work camp" (Arbeitserziehungslager) of the Kassel Gestapo.

1945
Closing of the "educational work camp" shortly before the arrival of American troops.

1949
Close-down of the Workhouse Breitenau

1952-1973
approved school for girls

since 1974
facility for the mental ill

1982
The first exhibition of the "Breitenau Project Group" from the Kassel Gesamthochschule/Kassel University with the title "Remembering Breitenau 1933-1945" opens.

1984
Establishment of the Breitenau Memorial by the "Project Group" of the Gesamthochschule/Kassel University with support from the Hessen State Welfare Organization (Landeswohlfahrtsverband) and the state of Hessen.

1992
The permanent exhibition created by the artist Stephan von Borstel opens in the Breitenau Memorial Museum