Cottbus: A Train Station of Remembrance at the Human Rights Center
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A train station becomes a space of remembrance
The special exhibition "Cottbus: A Train Station of Remembrance. Deportations and Forced Labor in National Socialism" makes visible a place that was far more than a transportation hub during the Nazi era. At the Cottbus Human Rights Center, local urban history connects with European persecution history, historical research, and cultural education.
Historical traces between tracks and violence history
The focus is on the deportations of Jewish people who were expelled from Cottbus and the region to Poland in 1938. During World War II, transports ran over the Cottbus tracks to ghettos, to Theresienstadt, and further to extermination camps. Also, prisoner transports to and from the women's prison in Cottbus were part of the station's history.
Forced labor as part of urban history
The exhibition also highlights the role of the Reichsbahn and the daily life of people who had to perform forced labor in Cottbus industrial companies, municipal facilities, on farms, and with the railway. Four interconnected thematic areas open a precisely curated perspective on exclusion, deportation, political imprisonment, and forced labor.
Media installation and aesthetic experience
A media installation recalls the fates of those affected, drawing on historical departure boards. Names, deportation locations, and historical paths become tangible in a concentrated spatial effect. Light, text, documentary material, and proximity to the historical site create a compelling exhibition atmosphere.
The artistic experience does not follow a decorative presentation but rather a responsible form of remembrance work. Art contemplation, historical contextualization, and media-supported communication combine to create an aesthetic experience that encourages engagement with human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in the present.
Cultural education and social responsibility
The project emerged as part of "MemoRails – Stop! Here, we remember NS history" from the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future and is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media. Participants include the Cottbus Human Rights Center, exhibeo e. V., the Stolpersteine Working Group Cottbus, and the City Collections Cottbus.
Conclusion: Experience remembrance firsthand
Visitors can expect a historically grounded, media-supported exhibition on deportations, prisoner transports, and forced labor in Cottbus. The exhibition opens new perspectives on urban history and culture of remembrance. Those who want to connect cultural education, historical responsibility, and a compelling aesthetic experience should definitely visit this exhibition live.
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- Website: https://www.menschenrechtszentrum-cottbus.de
