in detail
Between 1940 and 1945, the former railway station Hannoversche Bahnhof was used to deport over 8,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma from Hamburg and Northern Germany to the ghettos and concentration camps in Eastern and Central Europe. The German federal train service, along with numerous Hamburg authorities, institutions and private companies, controlled the smooth running of the deportations. The altogether 20 rail transports went among other destinations to Belzec, Riga, Minsk and Auschwitz. The overwhelming majority of these deportees did not survive the inhumane living conditions at these destinations.
Because the Hannoverscher Bahnhof was heavily bombarded during World War Two and then largely destroyed in 1955, it was forgotten for decades. Only during the planning of the new HafenCity, where the former train station once stood, was the site and its history of deportations brought to light. In a multi-year, participatory development process, with the involvement of the Hamburg cultural authority, the HafenCity Hamburg GmbH and, in particular, various survivor groups, the “denk.mal Hannoversche Bahnhof” (Memorial Hannoverscher Bahnhof) was built as a memorial at the historical site. Inaugurated in 2017, the site is equally dedicated to the deported Jews, Sinti and Roma, who are remembered with 20 commemorative nameplates that state the names and birthdates of the deported. The memorial site also remembers the war crimes committed during National Socialist rule, and especially those committed by the Hamburg authorities.
The Memorial Hannoverscher Bahnhof consists of three elements. The main memorial site with the remains of Platform 2 has been integrated into a park, featuring the second element, the so-called “Fugue”, which leads from the former station forecourt (Lohseplatz) through the park along the historical track of the platform. The third element is the Documentation Center that is being developed on the west side of the park and will be completed in 2020/2021. It will house a permanent exhibition that will be managed by the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial.
Until the opening of the exhibition, which will be based on the 2009 temporary exhibition of Dr. Linde Apel titled “Sent to Their Deaths: The Deportations of Jews, Sinti and Roma from Hamburg, 1940 to 1945,” the Info-Pavilion on the former station forecourt (Lohseplatz) can be used to learn about the history of the station and the continuing planning process of the Memorial Hannoverscher Bahnhof. In the summer months, individual stories and presentations are held at the Info-Pavilion.
