A sign more than 40 meters long at the former Tempelhof Airport commemorates the victims of the former “Columbia concentration camp” in Berlin. The words “no longer visible” on the embankment along the south side of Columbiadamm are intended to send a signal against forgetting and to remind people of the role the building played in the system of Nazi persecution.
Among those attending the official unveiling were Senator for Culture Joe Chialo (CDU) and Senator for Construction Christian Gaebler (SPD), who laid flowers. The letters of the sign, which consist of a steel frame, are filled with red broken bricks, which is intended to be reminiscent of the building’s historic walls. The design was created by Berlin architect Martin Bennis and the Weidner Atelier.
Only concentration camp in Berlin
The former Columbia House was initially a prison of the Gestapo from 1933 onwards. From 1934 to 1936 it served as “Columbia Concentration Camp” of the SS and was therefore, according to the information, the only concentration camp in Berlin. In total, at least 8,000 men were imprisoned in the Columbia concentration camp, mostly political opponents of the Nazis, but also Jews, clergy, artists and homosexuals.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240919-930-237341/1
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