The memorial was dedicated on 10.09.2023. Around 300 people took part in the inauguration ceremony. Many thanks to all the speakers and everyone who was there!
Special thanks to Barbara Maass and Jean St. Amont. Barbara Maass, the granddaughter of Adolf Maass, spoke about the far-reaching consequences of family history and
Here they are: the text panels of the memorial
The »Aryanization« memorial was inaugurated in September 2023 and the accompanying information panels were only produced over a year later. You may find this absurd - but is it surprising?
The slow process surrounding the text panels corresponds to the history of the memorial itself. After the rapid, cross-party decision to build the memorial in November 2016, it took seven years before the memorial at the Tiefer could be inaugurated in September 2023. Many difficulties had to be overcome, but the disputes over the location of the memorial were particularly time-consuming: what proximity, what visual relationship of the memorial to Kühne + Nagel is (historically and morally) appropriate?
This negotiation process was repeated in the formulation of the memorial’s plaque texts. In any case, it is no easy task to present the processes, participations and responsibilities in the widespread »Aryanization« processes, especially in Bremen, as briefly and correctly as possible. Especially as there are no examples of this in the public domain: Despite its central importance for the stabilization of the Nazi system, the entire complex of issues surrounding »Aryanization« is still barely present in the public sphere. Bremen has taken on a pioneering role here. However, during the creation of the text, as with the question of location, the following question proved to be a particularly tough one: In what concrete form does Kühne + Nagel appear on these plaques? And what kind of procedure will be used to decide all this?
Addressing the perpetrators instead of just commemorating the victims: this is still not a matter of course and must be discussed patiently and intensively. What is significant in all these disputes is that Kühne + Nagel has always acted in the background, letting others work, argue and debate - instead of coming to terms with things itself and facing up to the discussion about how to deal with its Nazi history. Something other companies have also managed to do.
And the plaques? They are finally finished in terms of text and design. The first plaque was installed in November 2023 at the memorial near the riverside path, and the second has now also been installed.
And here they are, for all to see: the artwork. Whereby »print« does not only refer to the printing process.
In September 2023, the memorial commemorating the expropriation of Jewish property during the Nazi era was inaugurated on the Tiefer, right next to Bremen’s Wilhelm-Kaisenbrücke and where the »Grüne Bude« is now located. Bremen’s Reich authorities, companies and private citizens all took part in the unlawful expropriations and profited from them.
There are a number of places in Bremen that are connected to the »Aryanization«. For example, the tax office as an administrative site, the Europahafen as a transshipment point for »emigration goods«, the Aladin (formerly »Tivoli«), and also the restaurant of today’s wohninvest WESERSTADION for sales or auctions.
At the event »Mahnmal-Projekt an der Tiefer - Vortrag zur Enteignung jüdischen Eigentum und die Rolle des Weser-Stadions« on January 29, 2024, SV Werder is offering the memorial project geraubt.org the opportunity to report on their research and the memorial process.
When: January 29, 2024, 7 p.m.
Where: At the Grüne Bude, Tiefer 1, 28195 Bremen
The Werder Bremen club is specifically linked to these crimes through the use of its most important sports facility and is taking on the resulting responsibility. The speakers will be Evin Oettinghausen and Henning Bleyl.
We regularly organize commemorative cycle tours to places in Bremen relevant to Nazi looting, the dates of which are announced in the media and on this website.
Many well-known places in Bremen are closely linked to the robbery of the Jewish population without this being publicly known. These include the Weser Stadium as well as the »Aladin« in Hemelingen. Starting from the new memorial at the Tiefer, which commemorates the Europe-wide robbery of the Jewish population with the involvement of Bremen companies, authorities and private individuals, our commemorative cycle tour leads to some of these places and addresses their respective connections to the Nazi robbery.
Not all of the relevant places can be logistically connected with a single cycle tour, others no longer exist. Nevertheless, it will become clear how many places and social groups profited from the plundering of the Jewish population that preceded the mass murder. The cycle tour takes place as part of the current exhibition »The Missing Segment« in the Bremen Parliament. The bike tour is not only intended to provide information, but also to raise questions on site, in the sense of a collective brainstorming session, about how we want to deal with the legacy of Nazi injustice, both privately and publicly.
Content Notification: As part of the bike tour, insights into National Socialist structures, documents and newspaper articles will be provided and biographies of Jewish persecution will be discussed. CN: #Antisemitism, #NS ideology, #human contempt, #persecution
