On Wednesday 13 May at 2 pm, the special exhibition “70 Years of the Luxembourg Agreement. Unattainable – Unconclusive: Reparations for Nazi Injustice” will open at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial.
Two descendants of former prisoners will be present for the occasion: the daughter of Josef Herbert Hadda and the daughter of Eva Krausova. Both are visiting the memorial for the first time and will speak there for the first time with the director, Dr Elke Gryglewski, about how their parents’ imprisonment and suffering have also shaped their own lives.
The opening programme:
- Welcome by Dr Elke Gryglewski (Managing Director of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation and Director of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial)
- Panel discussion with two descendants of former prisoners and Dr Elke Gryglewski, followed by a discussion about the exhibition with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Claims Conference
- Guided tour of the exhibition with the curators Dr Jens Hoppe (Claims Conference) and Dr Kai Wambach (Federal Ministry of Finance)
The Shoah is the greatest crime against humanity and the darkest chapter in German history. The campaign of extermination waged by the National Socialists and their allies resulted in the murder of almost six million Jews, as well as plunder, terror and endless suffering. Seven years after the end of the Holocaust, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Israel and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany came together to negotiate the impossible. After tough negotiations, these three parties concluded an agreement in Luxembourg in September 1952: a historic milestone.
The permanent exhibition at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial concludes with the issue of prosecuting the perpetrators. The special exhibition ‘70 Years of the Luxembourg Agreement’ provides visitors with a thematically relevant follow-up and allows them to learn about another important chapter in the history of coming to terms with Nazi crimes.
The exhibition explores the history of Jewish material claims following the Shoah, as well as Germany’s efforts to take responsibility for the crimes of National Socialism. The survivors are at the heart of the exhibition. Their very different life stories and circumstances do not end with the crimes committed against them by the Nazis or the end of the war, but are recounted right up to the present day.
The special exhibition can be viewed in a marquee on Anne Frank Square and is open during the Documentation Centre’s opening hours. Admission is free.
This travelling exhibition was conceived by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Claims Conference in collaboration with the Knesset Museum of the Israeli Parliament.