Memorials – Hamburg – Commemoration of the 77th anniversary of the end of the war in Neuengamme – Culture

Hamburg (dpa/lno) – Several hundred guests are expected to celebrate the 77th anniversary of the end of the war on Tuesday (5 p.m.) at the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial in Hamburg. Several survivors of the camp will also take part, the Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centers Foundation announced. For the first time since 2019, the event is to be held publicly again after it had to be canceled twice due to the corona pandemic.

Because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Memorials Foundation did not invite government representatives from Russia and Belarus. Remembering the abysses of Nazi rule is no less important, however, because other terrible war crimes are committed elsewhere, explained the foundation’s board member, Prof. Detlef Garbe. Voices from Ukrainian and Russian civil society against the war will be read at the event.

According to the memorial, more than 100,000 people were imprisoned in the Neuengamme concentration camp and its 85 satellite camps. At least 42,900 died. For the survivors, May 3, 1945 meant liberation from the power of the SS. On the same day, however, almost 7,000 prisoners died in a British air raid on ships in the Bay of Lübeck. The SS had brought the prisoners on board the “Cap Arcona” and the “Thielbek”. It is not clear what should happen to them. Also on May 3, 1945, after negotiations, British troops occupied Hamburg without a fight.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:220502-99-129934/2

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