Since 1993, the Moringen Concentration Camp Memorial, located in the Göttingen area, has honoured the fates of the prisoners who were incarcerated at the »provincial workhouse« between 1933 and 1945. Between 1933 and 1938, there was a concentration camp at Moringen; between 1940 and 1945, it was home to the Reich's first »youth detention camp«.
At the end of April 1933, police authorities established a concentration camp at Moringen's »provincial workhouse«, a state home for the poor and for workers. About 1,000 people, mostly political opponents, were incarcerated here by the police and the SS between April and November 1933. In November 1933, the Moringen concentration camp was converted into a concentration camp for women with the capacity to hold about 90 prisoners; it was run by the workhouse warden, Hugo Krack. The women – mostly Jehovah's Witnesses – were brought to the Moringen concentration camp in order to be »educated« and for supposed »improvement«. In 1938, the SS moved these women to the Lichtenburg concentration camp. In August 1940, the Central Reich Criminal Police Office (RKPA) set up a concentration camp for juveniles on the premises, a so-called »youth detention camp«. The young men, aged between 13 and 22, were considered »asocial« and »criminal«. Roll call, forced labour and brutal punishment were all considered part of their »education« at the camp. In 1941, the camp had to be extended by a fenced in barrack camp due to overcrowding. The Criminal Biological Institute led by Robert Ritter showed great interest in the youths at Moringen: Ritter and his staff conducted many surveys with the help of which they hoped to prove the heritability of »asocial« and »criminal« traits. Young political prisoners, who were incarcerated by the Gestapo, constituted a separate section of the camp at Moringen. At the beginning of April 1945, the Criminal Police evacuated the camp. About 500 youths were chased on a death march.
Between April and November 1933, police and later the SS incarcerated about 1,000 men at Moringen. Then, between 1933 and 1938, 1,300 women were held captive at Moringen. About 1,400 young men passed through the so-called youth detention camp between 1940 and 1945. 89 of them died during imprisonment.
After World War II, the former concentration camp buildings were used as a »Displaced Persons camp« until 1948. From 1948 on, the Moringen »provincial workhouse« began operating again as a provincial clinic, a home for asylum-seekers, for the elderly and for alcoholics. From 1950 on, the workhouse was converted into the »Lower Saxon Provincial Protectory at Moringen« and was from then on solely a psychiatric clinic. Hugo Krack remained its director until 1954. In 1960, the clinic was renamed »Lower Saxon Provincial Hospital at Moringen«. In 1986, a memorial plaque was affixed at the hospital entrance to commemorate the former concentration camp. Citizens of Moringen established the »Camp Community and Moringen Concentration Camp Memorial« association in 1989, which has run the memorial since its opening in 1993. The memorial displays a permanent exhibition in the town's former Gatehouse.
- Name
- KZ-Gedenkstätte Moringen
- Address
-
Lange Straße 58
37186 Moringen - Phone
- +49 (0)5554 2520
- Fax
- +49 (0)5554 8807
- Web
- http://www.gedenkstaette-moringen.de
- info@gedenkstaette-moringen.de
- Open
- Visits by appointment
- Possibilities
- Guided tours for groups by appointment