Right here, etched in stone, is the Gedenktafel Kriegsgefangenenlager. It marks a place of immense suffering during World War II. This memorial stands as a stark reminder. It commemorates the forced labor and inhumane conditions endured by prisoners of war.
Imagine this very location transformed. From June 1940 to April 1945, it was the site of a forced labor camp. The Gedenktafel Kriegsgefangenenlager is on Zollverein. Zollverein was once the world’s largest coal mine. It employed Russian prisoners of war during the war.
The exploitation of these prisoners is a dark chapter. It’s a dark chapter in the history of the Ruhr region’s mining industry. These people were forced to work under inhuman conditions. Many did not survive their ordeal. Others carried the scars for the rest of their lives.
The Gedenktafel Kriegsgefangenenlager stands near where one of three barrack camps stood. These camps housed mostly prisoners of war. This place, Zollverein, should remind visitors of those who labored here. It should remind them of the conditions they faced.
This Gedenktafel Kriegsgefangenenlager ensures the victims of forced labor are never forgotten. The Stiftung Zollverein made this possible. The Stiftung Zollverein has ensured that this dark part of history and its victims will not fade from memory.
Also in Essen, at Holbeckshof, another camp existed. It was a transit camp for Jewish citizens. The Gestapo established it in the spring of 1942. It was on the grounds of the former Zeche Deimelsberg mine. This camp served as a collection point. From here, Essen’s Jewish population was deported. They were sent via the Essen main and north train stations.
The Holbeckshof camp was surrounded by barbed wire. Uniformed SA officers and Gestapo officials guarded it. Surprisingly, inmates could leave during the day. They could even go shopping. Each room in the barracks housed six people. There were communal kitchens. There was also a common room with a prayer space and a classroom.
Records show around 350 names in the camp’s registry. Most residents were deported to concentration camps. Izbica near Lublin, Poland, and Theresienstadt. A memorial plaque exists today at the corner of Aronweg and Holbecks Hof. It was initiated by the Steeler Archiv e.V. This Gedenktafel Kriegsgefangenenlager commemorates the Holbeckshof camp.
The inscription reads that a few meters away stood barracks. The Gestapo confined most of Essen’s remaining Jews there. This was in 1942 for about three months. From this transit camp, they were transported to extermination camps.
Leopold Stern wrote a moving farewell letter. It was written from Holbeckshof before his deportation to Theresienstadt. He bid farewell to his children. They had already fled Germany. He expressed that he had lived his life. His only solace was his children’s happiness in their new homes.
Here at the Gedenktafel Kriegsgefangenenlager on Zollverein, remember the suffering. Remember the resilience. Remember the human cost of war and oppression. This place serves as a solemn reminder of the past. It urges us to never repeat such atrocities.