Looted property in the Hanover City Library Not only works of art, but also individual books or entire private libraries came into the possession of archives, museums and libraries as “Nazi-confiscated cultural property” – including Hannover City Library. The latter makes intensive efforts, in accordance with the criteria of the “Washington Principles” adopted in 1998…
Sent to a penal battalion for being a communist Otto Kreikbaum and his wife become involved in the Communist Party of Germany [Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, abbreviated to KPD] and its sub-organisations early on. As a result, he ends up as an inmate in one of the first Nazi concentration camps, and then in one of…
Honoured as Righteous Among the Nations Walter Krämer (1892-1941), a communist politician, falls into the clutches of the National Socialists shortly after the transfer of power – and they never relinquish their grip on him. As a prisoner functionary in Buchenwald concentration camp, he does so much for his fellow inmates that the Israeli remembrance…
The Bunte Tavern In the waning years of the Weimar Republic, the local group of the Socialist Workers’ Party of Germany [Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, abbreviated to SAP] meets in the “Bunte Tavern” in the heart of Hanover’s old town. The aim is to form a united front against the increasingly powerful political right. After the…
An der Börse: Stolperstein for Willy Scheinhardt A victim of political murder: a ‘Stolperstein’ [literally a ‘stumbling stone’ in the form of a brass plaque] commemorates Willy Scheinhardt at the former headquarters of the German Factory Workers’ Union [‘Fabrikarbeiterverband’ abbreviated to FAV]. Born in Saxony in 1892, this unskilled labourer was already active in the…
Kurt Schumacher: Re-founder of the SPD The former SPD [abbreviation for Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, the Social Democratic Party of Germany] member of the Reichstag Kurt Schumacher is sent to Hanover in 1943 after being imprisoned in a concentration camp. Immediately following the liberation of the city, he begins to rebuild the party. For a few…
State Tax Office [Oberfinanzpräsidium]: Legislated robbery After the liberation from National Socialism, very few perpetrators from the top echelons of the Party, Gestapo, SS, industry and judiciary were punished. However, the repression and robbing of the Jewish population had many accomplices in public office and administrative departments: pen-pushing perpetrators. Terror and bureaucracy went hand in…
Former court jail in Hanover The former court jail was demolished after the war. only a memorial next to the Kulturzentrum Pavillon [Pavilion Cultural Centre] commemorates the former court jail in Hanover and its role in National Socialism. Between 1933 and 1945, large numbers of political opponents of the regime were detained here, as well…
The police headquarters in Hardenbergstrasse Place of persecution: at the outset of the Nazi regime, the police headquarters building, inaugurated in 1903, housed not only the Kripo [abbreviation of ‘Kriminalpolizei’, the Criminal Investigation Department] but also the Hanover Gestapo [abbreviation of ‘Geheime Staatspolizei’, the Secret State Police]. Opponents of the Nazi regime as well…
The Maschsee: Prodigious plans For joggers, water sports enthusiasts or rollerbladers, the Maschsee most likely rates as Hanover’s most popular local recreational lake reserve. Yet, few are aware that it was built by the Nazis as an architectural showpiece. However, plans for the lake go back further. Torchbearer column on the north bank of the…