No Place for Hate

In conversation: Konrad Kutt, educator, initiator and volunteer for the Bücherbox

What is the idea behind the book box and who are the people behind it?

The basic idea of the Sustainable Book BoXX is to share and exchange books in the neighbourhood. Bring a book, take a book, read a book is the motto. A second cycle with easy access to any book should be made possible. The book boXXes we have developed also have a vocational-pedagogical claim with a sustainable, vocational, cultural and political objective. Apprentices and students of vocational schools are to be involved in the renovation of an old telephone booth in the sense of a project-oriented education. The design of BcherboXX Gleis 17 and its possible uses refer to the memorial opposite. Books are to be made available and taken away that fit the content of this place of events, from where more than 10,000 Jewish men, women and children were deported and murdered. An audio box allowed visitors to listen to selected short texts and music at the touch of a button. The diary of Anne Frank could be "taken along" as an example in different languages. Songs composed especially for Gleis 17 by Tal Koch could be listened to. Books included: Grunewald Ramp, The Short Life of Sophie Scholl, The Children of Auschwitz, Survival as Commitment. We recently invited Feridun Zaimoglu to read from his book "Bewältigung".

 

Many of the books dealt with the deportations of Jews from track 17. What feedback have you received from readers about this?

In the twelve years since it was set up, about 20,000 books have been exchanged. It is difficult to say exactly how many of them relate to the deportations. The biographical, thematic and historical references are extremely varied. Readings and musical events took place regularly in the BücherboXX, as well as in a nearby cultural salon, often with contemporary witnesses and the question "How could this happen? Conversations about childhood in the Nazi era led to some consternation. The neighbourhood also took part in Holocaust Memorial Day with a reading at Grunewald station. For groups of visitors, especially from Israel, the Hebrew songs in the audio box were an emotional highlight.

 

How do you plan the reconstruction?

There is a lot of solidarity and willingness to donate for reconstruction.  Many say: carry on, carry on. The loss shows what has been lost. Rebuilding is being planned and will take place. We are still looking for a suitable telephone box. The process of reconstruction is to be repeated: schools will be involved, the former artist Rainer Ehrt will be involved again, as will contemporary witnesses and historians. It remains to be seen how to learn from the antisemitic arson attack, how to somehow preserve the burnt-out ruin. At the same time, there is the question of how the new BücherboXX can be operated in the future and in the long term, both technically and in terms of the culture of remembrance.

 

Here you can find more information and support for the Bücherboxx at Gleis 17.