Stadtallendorf: Remembering and learning at the former bomb filling site

Stadtallendorf: Remembering and learning at the former bomb filling site

The future and the past come together in a special place in Stadtallendorf, the former D.A.G. bomb filling station area. Here, where forced laborers from 29 nations once worked under extreme conditions, memories are awakened that should be passed on across generations. As the op-marburg According to reports, during the Second World War thousands of people suffered under the Nazi regime's system in this explosives plant, which was considered the largest of its kind. The conditions were inhumane - Eva Pusztai-Fahidi, an honorary citizen, reported twelve-hour shifts in which she filled explosives into casings.

The original complex comprised ten buildings, of which only two are completely preserved and three are partially preserved today, as the majority were blown up at the end of the war. Jörg Probst, head of the Documentation and Information Center (DIZ), plans to actively shape historical preservation together with the DIZ support association. “We would like to set up a history trail that includes the bomb filling site,” says Probst. The new owner has also opened access to one of the remaining buildings to school classes so that the suffering and history of this time are not forgotten.

A digital tour into the past

A special initiative comes from the DIZ: A digital tour was created that offers a detailed reconstruction of the bomb filling site. Thanks to state-of-the-art 3D scanning technology, those interested can explore the facility online and gain access to historical documents, such as the construction site diary of supervisor Josef Helfenritter from 1942 to 1944. This not only allows a look into the past, but also creates a space for political education. This valuable project is supported by the Hessian State Center for Political Education and FrozenDiceMedia, such as diz-stadtallendorf highlights.

The bomb filling plant was completed in 1944 and only operated for six months, but it mutated into a symbolic place of forced labor. Among others, thousands of Hungarian Jewish women who were deported from Auschwitz in August 1944 worked in these workshops. The creatures left behind and their stories bear witness to a dark past that will be discussed more intensively in the coming weeks.

Political education and culture of remembrance

City council leader Ilona Schaub sees it as imperative that the history of this bomb dump site is not forgotten. At a meeting of the Technical Committee for Urban Development, Construction, Environment and Agriculture on December 4th, the historical paths, largely designed by the University of Kassel, will be discussed. The significance of this work can also be found in the reflection on forced labor in National Socialist Germany. As the bpb reported, foreign workers were an essential part of the war economy. The miserable living conditions of the forced laborers, who often had to live in overcrowded accommodation and were inadequately fed, must never be forgotten.

Stadtallendorf has set itself the task of not only preserving this part of history, but also actively communicating it. It is an important journey that makes both the overall German history and the individual suffering of those affected visible. A memorial full of memories that warns not only of loss, but also of forgetting.