KZ Wittmoor Stone

Carved into the KZ Wittmoor stone is a stark reminder. This memorial, here in Hamburg, stands as a testament to a dark chapter. The KZ Wittmoor concentration camp was one of the first established by the Nazis. In the spring of 1933, this quiet moorland became a place of confinement. Up to 140 political prisoners were held here. They were forced to perform grueling labor, cultivating the peat bogs and draining the marshes. The first prisoners arrived on March 31, 1933. Their prison was a building within a peat processing factory, enclosed by barbed wire. Life in Wittmoor was harsh. While it didn’t witness the same level of systematic terror as later camps, it marked the beginning of unimaginable suffering for many. Their journey continued to other camps, often ending in death. The KZ Wittmoor camp closed in October 1933. The site was deemed too small and inefficient to expand. The prisoners were transferred to the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp. The KZ Wittmoor Stone bears a quote from a speech by German President Richard von Weizsäcker. His words, spoken on the 40th anniversary of the war’s end, serve as a solemn reminder. They commemorate all victims of National Socialism. This stone stands not just as a memorial to the past. It serves as a warning for the future, urging us to never forget the horrors that began here in Wittmoor.