Reporter of Silenced Torment or Individual Recording Suppressed Agony
In the heart of Berlin, a dark chapter of history was hidden for decades - the Marzahn forced labor camp, a place where hundreds of Sinti and Roma were imprisoned during the Nazi regime. The story of this camp, which was never published during the time, was first brought to light by journalist Reimar Gilsenbach.
Born in 1925 in an anarchist settlement on the Lower Rhine, Gilsenbach's life was marked by a deep sense of social justice. He attended a grammar school in Dresden, but his anti-war sentiments led to his reporting and eventual desertion to the Red Army during World War II.
Gilsenbach's career as a journalist began at the Sächsische Zeitung and later he became the chief editor of Nature and Homeland, the monthly magazine of the Urania publishing house of the German Cultural Federation in Berlin. It was during this time that he wrote an article about the Marzahn forced labor camp, a piece that would remain unpublished.
The camp was established in preparation for the 1936 Olympics, with the Nazis imprisoning anti-fascists and removing anti-Semitic slogans and signs from Berlin's streets. Reich Minister Frick issued a decree for the 'combating of the Gypsy plague' on June 6, 1936, and ordered the police president of Hellersdorf to conduct a 'state-wide search day for Gypsies.' By 1938, over 850 Sinti and Roma were interned in Marzahn, and by 1945, around 1,200. Almost all inmates were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in early March 1943.
Gilsenbach mentioned the Marzahn forced labor camp for the first time in his unpublished article. His work was not without controversy. In May 1966, he gave a lecture 'The Way of the Zgn*r' at Humboldt University, where the 'Committee of Antifascist Fighters' raised doubts about his statement.
Despite the challenges, Gilsenbach continued to dedicate himself to the Sinti and Roma. He wrote a text expressing his anger over the unequal treatment of Sinti and Roma and the distortion of antifascism in the DDR. In 1976, he wrote the first documentation about the forced camp Marzahn, which was republished in 1986 under the title 'Hitler's first camp for foreign races.'
It was not until 2011 that the 'Memorial Site Forced Camp Berlin-Marzahn' was established, initiated by the daughter of Otto Rosenberg, an inmate at the Marzahn forced labor camp and one of the few survivors. The square on the former site was named after Rosenberg in 2007.
The story of the Marzahn forced labor camp serves as a stark reminder of the prejudices and injustices faced by the Sinti and Roma both during the Nazi regime and in the post-war period. Ancient prejudices against members of the Sinti minority persisted in both the DDR and West Germany, and there was no recognition of Sinti and Roma as ethnic minorities.
The book by Simone Trieder and photographer Markus Hawlik-Abramowitz provides a poignant portrayal of the difficult post-war life of Sinti in the DDR and the West. Trieder's work also highlights cases where even communists who had survived the KZ opposed the settlement of 'Gypsies' in their city due to an alleged 'asocial lifestyle' - a reference to Nazi vocabulary.
The story of the Marzahn forced labor camp, once hidden and unpublished, is now a testament to the power of journalism in uncovering the truth and ensuring history is not forgotten. Reimar Gilsenbach's work serves as a beacon of hope, reminding us of the importance of standing against injustice and fighting for the rights of marginalized communities.
Read also:
- "Divine Protections Failed: Father Battling for Life After Flesh-Eating Bacteria Infection"
- Unidentified Flying Objects of Triangular Shape: An Analysis of the Current Scenario
- Pushing boundaries in fabrication: the merging of premium optics and advanced motion technology
- Investigating the potential of a quantum gravimeter to uncover a primordial black hole hidden within the Earth's core.
