© Bildarchiv Markus Lenz, Frankfurt am Main
With the project "nineteen forty-two’" we at the Deutsches Theater Göttingen are commissioning a play that sheds light on Nazi deportations in Göttingen and explores our responsibility today.
A play combining remembrance, responsibility and culture is coming into being at the former freight station in Göttingen. Today, hardly anything at the site reminds us of the crimes that took place here. In the MemoRails project, the Deutsches Theater Göttingen is devoting itself to the history of railway stations as everyday sites of National Socialist persecution, shedding light on the stories of those affected. The focus is on stories of individuals and families from Göttingen: historical eyewitness testimonies and accounts of deportations bring these stories to life – those of the people deported from here to concentration camps from here, as well as the women forced laborers who arrived here and were exploited in the armaments industry. Now serving as a rehearsal stage, the site is to become a living commemorative space. Together with museums and historians, the theater is collecting facts and personal testimonies and developing new artistic ways of engaging with National Socialist crimes. The production makes the railway station into a place of critical re-appraisal of the past
Luftbild des Güterbahnhofs mit Wasserturm, 1945 © Bildarchiv Markus Lenz, Frankfurt am Main
© Bildarchiv Markus Lenz, Frankfurt am Main
On July 21, 1942, a group of 50 people set out from Albaniplatz for the train station. With a few exceptions, these were the last Jewish men and women from Göttingen who had remained in the city and who were now being deported to Theresienstadt via Hildesheim and Hanover. One of them was 84-year-old Anna Rosenberg. In his research project, author and director Gernot Grünewald takes us on an audio walk that retraces this woman’s final journey. He explores the origins of exclusion and violence, draws parallels to the present day, and tells the story of a family—and, through it, a story of disenfranchisement, emigration, and extermination. In the process, the present is constantly overlaid with the past, allowing us to reflect on it in a different and fresh way. The route ends at the old freight yard, where the Deutsches Theater Göttingen now produces cultural programs. The rehearsal stage lies right next to the tracks on which the deportees left the city heading east—the same tracks on which, at the same time, thousands of people from Eastern Europe were deported back to Göttingen and forced to work in households, armaments factories, and a large laundry facility. Four actresses tell the stories of people who, after the Jews were deported, were marginalized and forced to work in this city for years.
The history of the Rosenberg Jewish family is closely tied to the city of Göttingen and, at the same time, reflects the general mechanisms of exclusion, disenfranchisement, and persecution. For many years, members of the family lived in Göttingen as recognized citizens, were economically and socially integrated into city life, and worked in trade and the skilled trades. Their life stories show that Jewish life in Göttingen was a natural part of urban society until 1933. With the Nazis’ rise to power, the Rosenberg family’s situation changed fundamentally. Gradually, its members were forced out of public life by anti-Semitic legislation and local measures: occupational bans, economic boycotts, and social isolation led to severe hardships. Homes and businesses were lost, and contact with non-Jewish neighbors either ceased or was replaced by fear and conformity. The research confirms that members of the Rosenberg family ultimately became victims of deportation. They were deported from Göttingen. For several family members, the traces that can be reconstructed from archival records end with the deportation lists; their journey continued to ghettos and camps, from which many never returned. In some cases, the circumstances and locations of their deaths remain unclear, reflecting the fragmentary nature of the historical record and the systematic erasure of their life stories. Since the theater’s rehearsal stage is located directly at the Old Freight Station and in the immediate vicinity of the main train station, it illustrates today how abstract historical processes took concrete effect right here on the ground. The deportations were not distant events; rather, they were prepared and carried out right in the heart of the city. The individual story of the Rosenberg family makes it clear that behind the numbers of the deported were real people, relationships, and life plans. The findings of the historical research underscore the need to permanently integrate both places—such as train stations—and individual family histories into the local culture of remembrance. They enable a personalized engagement with Nazi persecution policies and help strengthen awareness of responsibility, remembrance, and historical learning in the present.
Following in the tradition of the municipal theater from 1890, Deutsches Theater Göttingen gGmbH (DTG) is a key cultural institution of the city and the surrounding district. Dismantling barriers and strengthening participation in society are key elements of the repertoire. The theater engages critically with historical and current events by commissioning plays on topics such as nationalism, discrimination and social injustice: Die Nutznießer [The Beneficiaries] documented the persecution of Jewish Göttingen citizens, while Das Deutsche Haus [The German House] broaches the issue of right-wing networks. We also make our stage available to members of the local community. Göttinger Tageblatt Forum (a platform for discussion of local issues), Göttingen X (where civic initiatives can raise awareness of their causes). We also create campaigns to strengthen democracy (Democracy Day with local initiatives, photography campaigns, readings). In addition, the DTG is the first public theater to set standards in sustainability with Economy for the Common Good certification.
