80th anniversary of the liberation | Gedenkstätte und Museum Sachsenhausen

The Anniversary of the Liberation at the Sachsenhausen Memorial Museum

Simultaneous translation will be offered for the central memorial event and other program points (DE/EN/FR/PL/RU).

Every year, the Sachsenhausen Memorial commemorates the liberation of the concentration camp by the Red Army on April 22, 1945. The event is organized in cooperation with the International Sachsenhausen Committee. As part of the commemorations, speeches are given by survivors of the camp, as well as by representatives from regional and federal politics. The entire weekend is accompanied by a comprehensive program that includes exhibition openings, tours, readings, and other decentralized commemorative events. The events surrounding the anniversary of the liberation of Sachsenhausen concentration camp also include memorial events at the Memorial to the Death March in the Belower Forest on May 2 and at the Sachsenhausen subcamp Klinkerwerk on May 5.

Historical Background

The evacuation of Sachsenhausen concentration camp began in the early hours of April 21, 1945. More than 30,000 remaining prisoners were forced into death marches in groups, heading northwest, where thousands of them perished. On April 22, 1945, Soviet and Polish army units finally liberated around 3,000 prisoners who had been left behind in the camp due to their health conditions, including the sick, nurses, and doctors. About 300 former prisoners did not survive the liberation and died on-site from the consequences of their imprisonment. Their bodies were buried in six mass graves at the camp wall near the infirmary.

80th Anniversary of the Liberation - May 1 to May 5, 2025

From May 1 to May 5, 2025, we will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the prisoners of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Simultaneous translation will be offered for the central memorial event and other program points (DE/EN/FR/HE/PL/RU).

Planned Program Points:

Film series “No-one Welcomed Us – The Liberation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp 80 Years Ago”

Every Tuesday from 8 to 29 April at 7 p.m. in the Zeughaus Cinema, Deutsches Historisches Museum

8 April: “Ein Tag – Bericht aus einem deutschen Konzentrationslager 1939” (“One day – report from a German concentration camp 1939”) (FRG 1965), speaker: Jan Gympel

15 April: “Die Fälscher” (“The Forgers”) (AUT/D 2007), speaker: Dr Naomi Rolef

22 April: “Nicht verRecken” (“Don’t die/Don’t distort”) (D 2021), guest: Martin Gressmann (director)

29 April: “Todeslager Sachsenhausen” (“Deathcamp Sachsenhausen”) (Soviet occupation zone in Germany 1946 – 1961), speaker: Dr Günter Agde

Entrance €5; no need to register in advance. More information can be found on the websites of the Zeughaus Cinema and the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum.

Please note: All films will be shown in their original German versions.

Wednesday, 23 April 2025

5 p.m.:Online guided tour of the 360° exhibition “BRUCHSTÜCKE 45. Von NS-Gewalt, Befreiungen und Umbrüchen in Brandenburg” (“FRAGMENTS 45. Of NS violence, liberations and radical changes in Brandenburg”) with the curators Dr. Maren Jung-Diestelmeier and Mareike Otters

Please register by sending an e-mail to veranstaltungenagedenkstaette-sachsenhausenode

Thursday, 1 May 2025
Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum

Short guided tours on the liberation of Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners (1 hour, no registration necessary). Meeting point: the visitor information desk

10:45 a.m., in German
12:00 p.m., in English
1:30 p.m., in German

Friday, 2 May 2025
Death March Memorial in Below Forest

11:00 a.m.: Opening of the exhibition “Memorial march. Political long-distance hiking project of the Spandau Youth Support Programme"

1:00 p.m.: Talk between the generations of the International Committee of Sachsenhausen

3:30 p.m.: Memorial event

Welcome address

Friederike Gehrmann, Director of the Memorial
Prof. Dr Axel Drecoll, Director of the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum

Addresses

Katrin Lange, Minister of the Interior and for Local Affairs of the State of Brandenburg
Mireille Cadiou, President of the Amicale française
Andreas Meyer, Vice President of the International Committee of Sachsenhausen
Pupils of the Goethe Gymnasium secondary school in Pritzwalk

Wreath-laying ceremony

Music: David Rose Quintett

Please register by sending an e-mail to veranstaltungenagedenkstaette-sachsenhausenode

Register for the free bus transfer from Oranienburg by sending an e-mail to the following e-mail address by 24 April: veranstaltungenagedenkstaette-sachsenhausenode

Saturday, 3 May 2025

Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m.: Hands-on activities with relatives of victims of Nazi persecution – Remembering creatively together

on the former roll call ground

10:30 a.m.: Presentation of the participatory audio memorial “I remember you”

Event room (former inmates’ laundry)

11:30 a.m.: Talk with Bogdan Bartnikowski, a survivor of Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Event room (former inmates’ laundry)
Register here aegerter@gedenkstaette-sachsenhausen.de by 24 April

1:30 p.m.: New perspectives on remembrance – guided tours led by guides and relatives of victims of Nazi persecution

2:00 p.m.: Opening of the photo exhibition “Do You Remember? – Faces Against Forgetting”

Foyer, New Museum

3:30 p.m.: Science Slam

Event room (former inmates’ laundry)

Please note: On Saturday, May 3rd, there may be train cancellations on lines RB24 and RB32. All information can be found here.

Sunday, 4 May 2025

Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum

9.30 a.m.: Interfaith church service

Event room (former inmates’ laundry)

10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Hands-on activities with relatives of victims of Nazi persecution – Remembering creatively together

on the former roll call ground

11.00 a.m.: Talk with Jerzy Zawadzki, survivor of Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Event room (former inmates’ laundry)
Register by sending an e-mail by 24 April to aegerteragedenkstaette-sachsenhausenode

2:00 p.m.: Welcome address to the decentralised commemoration

Square in front of the New Museum

Prof. Dr Axel Drecoll, Director of the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum

Andreas Meyer, Vice President of the International Committee of Sachsenhausen

Sachsenhausen song: Frieder Kurbjeweit and Naima Tiné, Socialist Youth of Germany – The Falcons

This will be followed by decentralised commemorative events at various sites of the memorial (incl. the opening of a special exhibition of the Amicale française)

3:30 p.m.: Central memorial event

Place of remembrance Station Z

Welcome address

Prof. Dr Axel Drecoll, Director of the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum
Dik de Boef, President of the International Committee of Sachsenhausen

Addresses

Dr Dietmar Woidke, Minister President of Brandenburg
Dr Richard Fagot, survivor of Sachsenhausen concentration camp (Israel)

Peat Bog Soldiers (song)

Prayer

José Gaasch-Trauffler, President of the Amicale de Sachsenhausen (Luxembourg), daughter of the survivor Renée Trauffler

Kaddish

Prof. Dr Andreas Nachama, rabbi and son of the survivor Estrongo Nachama

Wreath-laying ceremony

Musical accompaniment

Project choir of the Chorverband Berlin e.V. under the direction of Thomas Hennig

5:30 p.m.: International meeting of and for relatives, organised by the Friends of the Sachsenhausen Memorial and the International Committee of Sachsenhausen

7:30 p.m.: Commemorative event organised by the Dutch Embassy to mark the National Day of Remembrance

Place of remembrance Station Z
Please note: The event will be held in Dutch and will not be interpreted.

Monday, 5 May 2025

“Klinkerwerk” satellite camp memorial site

10.00 a.m.: Memorial event

“Klinkerwerk” satellite camp memorial site

Welcome addresses

Dr Astrid Ley, Director of Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum
Dik de Boef, President of the International Committee of Sachsenhausen

Addresses

Dr Benjamin Grimm, Minister of Justice and Digitalisation of the State of Brandenburg
S. E. Pascual Navarro, Ambassador of Spain

Music: Isabel Neuenfeldt (voice and accordion)

Wreath-laying ceremony

Please register by sending an e-mail to veranstaltungenagedenkstaette-sachsenhausenode