A gift for the anniversary of the liberation

A gift for the anniversary of the liberation

This souvenir was presented as a guest gift to the Sachsenhausen Memorial on the 55th anniversary of the liberation in April 2000 by Arschaluis Zatinjan, a former Soviet prisoner of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The ensemble, made from wood and soft metal cans with great skill and precision, was created by Zatinjan himself. The soft sheet metal figures look like onion domes and the wooden bird may be a "dove of peace". In the camp, Zatinyan recalled, he had also made similar things from different materials.

Arshaluis Zatinyan, born in Armenia in 1917, was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1942 in Ukraine, which was occupied by the Wehrmacht. Via a prison camp near Stettin, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in January 1943. Zatinyan was a trained electrician. After quarantine, he had to work in the so-called Speerkommando. From May 1942, prisoners had to dismantle various materials, such as cables, batteries or obsolete found objects, in this detachment set up by the SS-owned company Deutsche Erd- und Steinwerke (DESt) near the Klinkerhafen harbour in order to recover raw materials. In many cases, this involved loot from the occupied territories. In the summer of 1944, Zatinjan was transferred to the Natzweiler concentration camp, from where he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp in March 1945, where he witnessed the liberation of the camp by the US army at the end

Zatinyan married after his return and lived near Tbilisi for many years before moving to Ukraine in the early 1990s to join his children living there.

Photographie:

Gift from Arschaluis Zatinyan to the Sachsenhausen Memorial, 2000, Depot Inv.No. 00.00157.1

Arshaluis Tsatinyan (left) with his family, Tbilisi, 1959

Arshaluis Zatinyan at the Sachsenhausen Memorial, 50th anniversary of the liberation of the prisoners, 1995, GuMS