Cottbus: A Station of Remembrance at the Human Rights Center
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A Station Becomes a Space of Remembrance
The special exhibition Cottbus: A Station of Remembrance. Deportations and Forced Labor in National Socialism makes visible how closely the Cottbus station was connected to exclusion, deportation, political imprisonment, and forced labor during the Nazi era. At the Cottbus Human Rights Center, local city history, European persecution history, and political education come together.
Historical Traces Between Tracks and Memorial Site
The Cottbus station was far more than a transportation hub during National Socialism. In 1938, Jewish individuals with Polish citizenship were expelled from Cottbus and the surrounding region to Poland. During World War II, deportation trains passed through the city to ghettos in occupied Poland and to Theresienstadt. Transport from western and southern German cities as well as from occupied countries in Western Europe also traversed the Cottbus tracks.
Four Narratives of the Exhibition
The curation connects four thematic areas: the exclusion and disenfranchisement of the Jewish population, the deportation trains through Cottbus, the women's prison as a site of political detention, and the everyday life of forced labor in businesses and institutions of the city. The presentation links historical research, memorial work, and cultural education with specific life paths.
Names, Routes, and Fates
A media installation recalls the fates of those affected, referencing historical departure boards and naming individuals and deportation sites. This creates an intense exhibition atmosphere: the station does not appear as a neutral place but as part of an infrastructure that enabled persecution, prisoner transports, and forced labor.
Remembrance with Contemporary Relevance
The project was developed as part of the MemoRails program – Stop! Here is remembered NS history by the Foundation Memory, Responsibility and Future and is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media. Project carrier is the Cottbus Human Rights Center e. V. in cooperation with exhibeo e. V., the AG Stolpersteine Cottbus, and the Municipal Collections Cottbus. The exhibition also focuses on the significance of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in the present.
Conclusion: History Becomes Tangible on Site
Visitors can expect a factually precise and emotionally concentrated exhibition about deportations, prisoner transports, and forced labor in Cottbus. The aesthetic experience arises from the examination of historical documents, the impact of the memorial site, and the encounter with individual fates. Those who want to directly experience memory culture, NS history, and cultural education should visit this exhibition at the Cottbus Human Rights Center.
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