Memorial plaque in Neustadt: Memory of the victims of the Nazi past

Memorial plaque in Neustadt: Memory of the victims of the Nazi past

In Neustadt in Holstein, a plaque was unveiled on March 7, 2025 to remember the victims of the National Socialist persecution as part of the "Storm Thunderstorms". This memorial is particularly reminiscent of August Heinrich Roßburg, a former city council who died in the Neuengamme concentration camp. The application for the establishment of this table comes from the SPD parliamentary group in the city council, which wanted to make the fate of Roßburg and other affected people of the "action thunderstorm".

On August 22, 1944, 14 citizens from Neustadt, including Roßburg, were arrested by the Gestapo. Most of the detainees were released after a short time, but Roßburg did not survive. He died on January 19, 1945, shortly before his planned discharge from the Neuengamme concentration camp. Mayor Mirko Spieckermann emphasized the importance of the plaque by emphasizing that she set a visible sign against forgetting. The table is based on thorough research by historian Julia Werner.

historical context of the "action thunderstorms"

The "action thunderstorms" represents a wave of the National Socialists' wave of arrests, which was carried out from August 22nd to 24th 1944. It was a direct episode of the failed attack on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. A Gestapo command of August 17, 1944 served as a pretext for already planned arrests, the goal of which was the arrest of all former officials of the SPD and KPD, in particular former MPs. People over 70 years, sick people or those who had passed to the Nazis were excluded from the arrests. A total of between 5,000 and 6,000 people were detained, including Social Democrats, Communists and Spirituals.

In Schleswig-Holstein, around 15 women and 150 men were arrested. These were accommodated in the Kiel police prison, whereby the overcrowding even led to the occupancy of the police barrack on the Drachensee. The female arrested were released gradually within a few months, while the men were transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp. The brutal conditions hit many of the detainees hard. Of the approximately 7,000 prisoners who still existed after the war, only around 600 survived a large part died due to drowning, freezing or shot.

memory and commemoration

The newly unveiled memorial plaque complements a stumbling block for Roßburg in 2012 in front of its former house in Waschgrabenallee. Citizens are invited to visit the plaque in the town hall and to deal with the history of the persecuted. This is part of a greater commitment that corresponds to the database "Remembrance" of the Federal Center for Political Education. This contains information about around 450 memorial sites, museums and educational institutions in Germany that are reminiscent of the persecuted National Socialism and illustrate the diversity and the change in the souvenir landscape.

It is crucial to preserve the stories of those who have suffered from the brutally repressive regime of the National Socialists. Communauté and civil society are required to actively deal with these topics and to keep awake the memory of the victims.