On 25 August 2022, a group from Kempten im Allgäu visited us at the Bautzner Straße Memorial to learn about the GDR history of the building. With Sebastian Gonano and Marcus Oertel, the young people went through the exhibition and the detention cellar and were able to experience very vividly how deviants from social cohesion could be sanctioned in the socialist state.
The participants themselves came from Syria and Afghanistan and had their own experiences of flight. The stories of GDR refugees had a very special poignancy for them – an approach to bring this topic closer to young refugees. Again and again, they also asked about the methods of imprisonment, about the fates of the victims and perpetrators, as well as the historical connections, e.g. to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. We had great fun bringing this difficult GDR history closer to young people without a direct connection!
Interest awoken?
The zusammen.HALT project is open for further cooperation with schools and other educational partners. We would be happy to work with you to develop free historical education workshops on the history of the GDR that are tailored to the needs of your children and young people in the period from autumn 2022 to summer 2023!
Contact: Marcus Oertel – marcus.oertel@kulturaktiv.org
Das Projekt zusammen.HALT in Trägerschaft der Gedenkstätte Bautzner Straße und in Kooperation mit Kultur Aktiv wird gefördert durch das Bundesprogramm „Jugend erinnert“ zur Aufarbeitung des DDR-Unrechts und hat eine Laufzeit bis Ende 2023.