Cottbus: A Station of Remembrance at the Human Rights Center
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Cottbus: A Station Becomes a Place of Remembrance
The special exhibition Cottbus: A Station of Remembrance. Deportations and Forced Labor in National Socialism examines the role of the Cottbus station during the Nazi era. The former transportation hub appears as a historical place where exclusion, deportation, political detention, and forced labor were interconnected.
Historical Traces Between Tracks and Memorial Site
From Cottbus, in 1938, Jewish people with Polish citizenship were expelled from the city and the region to Poland. During World War II, deportation trains traveled over the Cottbus tracks to ghettos in occupied Poland and to Theresienstadt. Also, transports from western and southern German cities as well as from the occupied countries of Western Europe passed through the station.
The exhibition also focuses on prisoner transports to and from the women’s prison Cottbus. In four interconnected thematic areas, a precisely curated perspective on the disenfranchisement of the Jewish population, the deportation trains, political detention, and the everyday life of forced labor emerges.
Forced Labor as Part of the History of Cottbus
Thousands of people were forcibly taken to Cottbus during World War II and had to perform forced labor in industrial enterprises, at the Reichsbahn, in municipal facilities, and on farms. The presentation makes visible how closely transportation infrastructure, economic exploitation, and state persecution were intertwined.
Media Installation and Historical Education
A media installation references historical departure boards to remember the fates of those affected and names individuals and deportation locations. Text, light, movement, and proximity to the memorial site create a concentrated exhibition atmosphere. The installation combines documentary clarity with an impactful aesthetic experience.
The project originated within the framework of the program MemoRails – Stop! Here We Remember NS History by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future and is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The 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.
Conclusion: Experience History Onsite
The special exhibition offers a historically grounded art experience between documentation, media installation, and memorial space. It conveys regional NS history, strengthens cultural education, and opens up a perspective on the current significance of human rights, the rule of law, and democratic cohesion. A visit to the Cottbus Human Rights Center allows for an intensive examination of works and an important aesthetic experience against forgetting.
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- Website: https://www.menschenrechtszentrum-cottbus.de
