The former SS guard station
on the castle forecourt
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In 1977, it was resolved that an archival exhibition be established "as a warning to the living and to honour the memory of the victims of Niederhagen concentration camp". The exhibition was opened on 20 March 1982 in a former SS watch command post acquired for that purpose and adapted for it by the Paderborn District after five years of research by Professor Dr. Karl Hueser, then incumbent of the Chair for State history at the University/Institute of Paderborn.
Concentration camp survivors in conversation with exhibition visitors
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The primary purpose of the Documentation and Memorial Centre is to commemorate the victims of the concentration camp. The centrepiece of its work is contact with survivors of the concentration camp and their families. However, visitors to the exhibition will also wish to be stimulated into developing a feeling of responsibility towards history by means of the detailed information about the historical events of 1933 to 1945 which constitutes a significant part of the offerings to the visiting public. The exhibition has since provided a venue where there is a constant opportunity to confront Wewelsburg's past - after many years of suppression and silence.
Survivors talk about their experiences in Niederhagen concentration camp, 1998
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Until recently, it has not been possible to erect a permanent memorial on the former roll call area which is surrounded by a residential and trading estate. Requests by survivors of the Niederhagen concentration camp, who visited Wewelsburg in 1992, fell on deaf ears. An application for the erection of a permanent memorial on the former roll call area, initiated by a study group of young people from Wewelsburg, was granted by the Bueren town council. The project was implemented in Spring 2000. |
