Intersections of Memory

Memory of the Holocaust poses an interesting challenge in the field of the historiography. How a collective group remembers the events can be affected by geography, politics, and religion. For example, Israel constructed Yad Vashem in 1953, but Berlin did not construct its Holocaust monument until 2005 (Bloch). Sachsenhausen has an extra level of complexity because it was used by the Soviets in the GDR (East Germany) as “Special Camp No. 7”-- a concentration camp holding former Nazis and other enemies of the USSR (Heitzer 492). Special Camp 7 held 60,000 prisoners from 1945-1950, 12,000 of which would die of tuberculosis and starvation (Heitzer 493). The struggles of memory arise from the intersections of Sachsenhausen as a part of the Holocaust and the GDR, in addition to complexities arising from reunification following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. 

The scope of this controversy in memory can be seen in two different scandals that occurred at the Sachsenhausen memorial. The first took place in 1990, the year in which East Germany and West Germany reunited. Following the dissolution of the GDR, the files of Special Camp No. 7 were discovered, and the mass graves of the fascists were uncovered. Consequently, neo-Nazis marched into Sachsenhausen, saluted Hitler, and set up a memorial to the “victims of socialism” (Heitzer 496). Similarly, protesters crashed the commemoration ceremony in 2005 marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Sachsenhausen. Various people associated with the far-right party Deutsche Volksunion interrupted the ceremony to lay a wreath for the Nazi victims of the special camp. (Heitzer 489). Interestingly enough, this was the same year that Berlin dedicated their monument to the victims of the Holocaust. Just 20 kilometers northwest of Berlin, neo-Nazis were protesting a liberation ceremony. 

Following the reunification of Germany, the nation was forced to analyze its past and come to conclusions about the severity of Nazi and Soviet atrocities. The Bundestag (German parliament) created a vast number of commissions in the 1990s to analyze these cites and establish a memorial culture for the future of Germany (Heitzer 495). However, as seen in the earlier protests, Germany was faced with two different means of memory: totalitarian theory or strict denazification. Proponents of totalitarian theory argued that the Soviet occupation of the GDR was just as bad as the Nazi occupation of Germany (Heitzer 496). In simple terms, communism and National Socialism were the same, just with different economic philosophies. This was prominent among many western German critics of the GDR. However, strict denazification advocates argued that the damage done by the NSDP greatly outweighed that of the Soviets, so German memorial culture should place a heavy emphasis on denouncing the Nazi atrocities. The latter won more support in the Bundestag, but the debate is far from over. In 2015, the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party laid a wreath for the fascist victims of the Buchenwald special camp, and they continue to advocate today for an end to strict denazification (Heitzer 490).

Sachsenhausen was open from 1936 to 1950, making it one of the longest running camps in the Nazi system. An estimated number of 260,000 prisoners entered the gates of the camp, many of whom would never leave. Therefore, it is pivotal to understand and remember the legacy of the camp, especially amidst a time in which AfD and other fascist groups are gaining traction in Germany. The lives of the Jews, homosexuals, political prisoners, Roma, and POWs are only forgotten if we choose them to be. Regardless of debates in memory, we can all recognize that the atrocities against fellow humans is a period we never wish to revisit. Sachsenhausen, which is now a memorial and museum, provides evidence of the capabilities of man when power is placed in the wrong hands. We must do everything we can to ensure the future follows a different trajectory.