Cottbus: A Station of Remembrance Makes Nazi History Visible
Date and Time
Location
About this Event
Mood
Venue Type
A Station Becomes a Place of Remembrance
The special exhibition Cottbus: A Station of Remembrance. Deportations and Forced Labor in National Socialism makes a long-suppressed part of Cottbus’s city history visible. At this historic site, visitors encounter traces of exclusion, deportation, prisoner transports, and forced labor during the era of National Socialism.
Historical Paths Between Tracks and Memorial Sites
The Cottbus station was much more than a transport hub during the Nazi era. From here, in 1938, Jewish people with Polish citizenship were expelled from Cottbus and the region to Poland. During World War II, deportation trains passed over the Cottbus tracks to ghettos in occupied Poland and to Theresienstadt. Deportation trains from cities in western and southern Germany, as well as from the occupied countries of Western Europe, also passed through the station.
The exhibition also focuses on the prisoner transports to and from the women’s penitentiary in Cottbus. From there, transports went to the women’s concentration camp Ravensbrück, among others. Another focal point is the thousands of people who were forced to work in Cottbus industrial enterprises, with the Reichsbahn, in municipal facilities, and on farms.
Media Installation and Individual Fates
A central media installation addresses the design of historic departure boards. Names, former addresses, deportation locations, and routes restore the individual stories of the victims. The aesthetic experience of the exhibition arises from the contrast between the sober language of railway operations and the human fates hidden behind each transport.
The presentation combines historical research, documentary materials, and digital mediation. It leads from local city history to a European culture of remembrance and opens up space for a broader consideration of works: Not painting or sculpture are central, but the curated connection of image, text, space, and historical testimony.
Cultural Education and Democratic Responsibility
The project was developed as part of the MemoRails program – Stop! This is where NS history is remembered. Participants include the Cottbus Human Rights Center, exhibeo e. V., the Stolpersteine Cottbus Working Group, the Municipal Collections Cottbus, and other local partners. Students develop peer-to-peer tours, making the exhibition a place for intergenerational cultural education.
The exhibition not only questions the role of the German Reichsbahn and the reactions of the Cottbus population. It connects historical analysis with the present and shows why human rights, the rule of law, and democratic cohesion remain enduring societal tasks.
Conclusion: Remembrance as a Current Task
The exhibition welcomes its visitors with an intense exhibition atmosphere, historically grounded mediation, and a media installation that makes names and paths visible. This unique artistic experience combines aesthetic experience with historical responsibility. Anyone who wants to understand Cottbus and experience a culture of remembrance directly should visit the special exhibition on site.
Official Channels of Cottbus Human Rights Center e. V.:
- Website: https://www.menschenrechtszentrum-cottbus.de/
- Instagram: no official profile found
- Facebook: no official profile found
- YouTube: no official profile found
