Amidst the solemn grounds of Hamburg’s Ohlsdorf Cemetery rises the Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung. This memorial stands as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed during the Nazi regime. The Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung was conceived just a year after the war’s end. The Hamburg Senate, then appointed by the British Military Government, decreed its creation. Franz Heitgres, a member of the Communist Party, played a key role in its development. He was responsible for “Reparations and Refugee Aid” and led the “United Working Group of Nazi Victims”. This group later became the “Association of Victims of the Nazi Regime”.
The Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung was completed in 1949. The inauguration ceremonies, unfortunately, were overshadowed by the division of Germany and the looming Cold War. Two separate events marked the occasion in May 1949. The Hamburg Senate held a ceremony on May 3rd with Mayor Max Brauer delivering the main address. The Association of Victims of the Nazi Regime organized an “International Liberation Meeting” on May 8th. Martin Plat of the Free Democratic Party and Philipp Auerbach of the Bavarian State Government spoke at this meeting.
The Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung stands opposite the crematorium, built between 1930 and 1932. This crematorium, designed by Fritz Schumacher, was the site where thousands of victims of the Nazi regime were cremated. The memorial itself is a striking stele. It holds 105 urns filled with earth and ashes from concentration camps and execution sites. These urns are arranged in 15 rows within a tall frame. A marble slab in front of the Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung lists the names of 25 concentration camps and persecution sites.
The design of the monument was inspired by the “Urn of the Unknown Concentration Camp Prisoner”. After the liberation of Buchenwald, surviving prisoners vowed to keep the memory of the injustices alive. Returning citizens from 36 nations each took an urn containing the ashes of deceased prisoners back to their home countries. Former Hamburg resistance fighters brought the ashes of an unknown victim from Buchenwald to Hamburg in 1945. These ashes found their final resting place in the Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung. Inscribed at the base of the Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung are two powerful inscriptions. One side reads, “Injustice brought us death. The living recognize your duty.” The other side states, “Remember our suffering, consider our death. Let man be a brother to man.” The Mahnmal für die Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung serves as a powerful testament to the victims and a reminder of the importance of remembrance.