“Say No to Hitler! The Persecution of Social Democracy and Free Labor Unions, Resistance and Exile 1933- 1945”

An exhibition by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation

The exhibition by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation will document, using over 40 panels and 250 exhibits from the foundation’s archive, the persecution and brave resistance of the Social Democrats and Labor Unions during the National Socialist’s regime. Following the communists, the Unions and the Social Democrats were the first groups that were persecuted by the Nazis after they seized power in 1933.

The first part of the presentation shows how the Party and Union Organizations were destroyed in the spring of 1933 and eventually formed a resistance. The exhibition honors the work of the Sopade (Social Democratic Germans in Exile) as much as the construction of illegal networks in Germany and their collaboration. Numerous examples will show how the “Second Row” of the SPD, the younger Party and Union members resisted the system and fought back.
The main focus of the resistance was to provide the population with information about the criminal nature of the new regime and the spreading of uncensored news till the beginning of the war.

Another part of the exhibition will focus on the resistance during the war years. Although most of the resistance until then was non-violent, the death of millions of people and the extermination of the Jews convinced a number of Social Democrats and Unionists to hatch plans for a coup. Supporting Stauffenberg in his attempt to assassinate Hitler on the 20th June 1944 was an example of this.

During the documentation of the “work in exile”, focus will be on the development of various ideas, which began in 1939, that showed how the rebuilding of Germany was to commence after the war. Another focus point of the exhibition is the personal situation of the exiled members.

A continuous theme of the presentation will be the personal lives of resistance members. These portraits are typical of many Social Democrats and Unionists who did not want to accept the regime of the National Socialists. Their resistance, in comparison to the majority of the Germans who followed the regime, laid a legitimate foundation for many Social Democrats during the post war era, such as Kurt Schumacher, whose efforts are highly praised during the exhibition.




From the 18th of August till the 30th of September 2011 (daily from 10:00 to 18:00)

„Jud Süß“ - A Historic Character

An exhibition by Irene Aue (Jerusalem), Miriam Hesse (Göttingen), Inga Hoolmans (Göttingen), Mona Kleine (Berlin), Frauke Klinge (Göttingen), Ariadne Sondermann (Göttingen)

The Württembergien banker and financial planner Joseph Süß Oppenheimer (1698/99-1738) is one of the most important and ambivalent personalities in German-Jewish history. The character was given a strong anti-semitc image in Veit Harlan’s film „Jud Süß“ (1940) which was geared towards the National Socialist propaganda. The view towards the character „Jud Süß“ still influences current debates regarding public viewing of the film and is only allowed to be seen under strict conditions.
The exhibition „Jud Süß - A Historic Character“ illustrates the various changes the reception of this figure has undergone and puts it into historical context. The starting point of the presentation will focus on the historical Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, whose portrayal by his contemparies revealed a one sided emphasis on his execution. 
The presentation analyses the literary and historical „Jud Süß“ amongst other his role in the novel by Lion Feuchtwanger. However, the main emphasis will be on Veit Harlans‘ NS propaganda film from 1940.

The presentation is rounded off by showing how the film and it’s director was portrayed post 1945 and the current role, the figure „Jud Süß“ plays in our society. The Documentation Center Prora will show the Veit Harlan film „Jud Süß“ on the 17th of August at 19:30, in connection with the exhibition opening. Professor Dr. Wolfgang Benz, former director of antisemitic research center at theTechnical University Berlin and member of the science advisory council at the Documentation Center Prora, will give an introductory speech and guide the adjacent discussions.

During the following days, on the 18th and 19th of August at 19:30, the Documentation Center Prora will show more NS propaganda films under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benz.





From the 2nd of Juli to the 31st of August 2011 (daily from 09:30 am till 7:00 pm)

"Deserting the troops"

An exhibition by the Friedensbibliothek Antikriegsmuseum

The Exhibition „Deserting the Troops“ shows the fate of draft dodgers and deserters during the Second World War. Among them is Heinrich Böll, holder of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the pacifist and resistance fighter Hermann Stöhr and Franz Jägerstätter who was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2007.
Hermann Stöhr (born 1898) refused to join the army in the spring of 1939, due to his personal experiences in the First World War and out of conscientious objection. He was a pacifist and was active in various evangelical Peace and Social organizations. In March 1940 he was sentenced to death because of troop demoralization and was executed in June 1940 in Berlin-Plötzensee.
The Austrian farmer’s son Franz Jägerstätter (born 1907) was deeply religious and convinced that, being a faithful Catholic, he shouldn’t join the military. Furthermore he was opposed to National Socialism. He too refused to serve in the German military and was sentenced to death. In 1943 he was guillotined in the penitentiary Brandenburg an der Havel.
Both men had to wait years for their rehabilitation. In 1997, the District Court of Berlin nullified the verdicts of Franz Jägerstätter and Hermann Stöhr, making them the first individual cases from the Nazi era to receive this reversal.  Likewise, the Catholic Church commenced with the beatification of Jägerstätter which was carried out by Pope Benedikt XVI in 2007.
Heinrich Böll (born 1917) fought as a soldier during the Polish, French and Russia campaign. He fled from a military hospital in 1944 by forging his sick-leave and remained in hiding till the end of the war. After 1945 he would write about his personal experiences during the World War.

The exhibition “Deserting the Troops” offers in depth information regarding the biographies of these and various other brave individuals who refused to be drafted during the Third Reich.

From the 10th of June 2011 to the 31st of August 2011 (daily from 09:30 am till 7:00 pm)

„Fascismo Abbandonato. Youth Camps in Mussolini’s Italy“

An exhibition project by the Curator Workshop Frankfurt/Main

The exhibition „Fascismo Abbandonato“ will present photos by the british photographer Dan Dubowitz. The photos depict the ruins of the holiday youth camps of fascist Italy.
These „Colonie Marine“ called recreational facilities were built by the Mussolini regime during the 1930’s along the Ligurian and Adrian coast, receiving great international attention. However, in the following decades they have become deteriotated and abandoned. The empty ruins are near  holiday towns  like Rimini, Cervia or Calambrone.
They were constructed by the paramilitary Youth Organisation „Oper Nazionale Balilla“ (ONB) and „Gioventu Italiana del Littorio“ (GIL). The focus of these organizations was to raise the Italian youth within the spirit of fascism. Within these colonies the youths would be living in nature, far away from their parent’s  home. They would learn how to march, do synchronised excercises and participate in flag salutes while living in modest dormitory hostels. Many Italian parents would use the threat „Ti mando in colonia“ (I will send you to the Colonies) whenever their children were disrespectful.
 Architecturally, these building complexes were an expression of „Modernity“ and Italian fascism, a liberal contrast to the potentate of the Third Reich. These buildings were meant to be an expression of fascism. Due to their structure and symbolism they were meant to express fascist power.  Unlike Germany, Mussolini intended these camps for the „The Youth“ not „the Worker“.    

10th of April 2011 to the 31st of May 2011

„Frankfurt – Auschwitz“

A documentary and artist exhibition by the „Roma Initiative Society“ and the artist Bernd Rausch

About 70,000 Sinties and Romanies live in Germany today. The association for endangered people estimate that about 10 million Sinti and Romanies live in Europe at the moment.
Already during the German Empire they were persecuted and discriminated against. After the merging of the German States in 1871, it became easier for the agencies to work together. The police and various administrative agencies intensely dedicated themselves to eradicating the „Gypsy Plague“ as it was labelled in the beaurocratic German of the times.
The coming to power of the National Socialists intensified the situation of the Sinties and Romanies in Germany. The National Socialist race policy was eventually directed against them with the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. „Gypsy Camps“were erected in many German cities, a precursor for the deportation to concentration and extermination camps.
500,000 Sintis and Romanies were killed by the National Socialists. Their persecution and extermination, especially the liquidation of the so called Gypsies in the concentration camp Auschwitz- Birkenau on 2.8.1944, are the focal point of the exhibition „Frankfurt- Auschwitz“. The documentary part of the presentation will look at the biographies of those murdered and of the NS offenders, looking closely at their careers after 1945.
The discrimination of the Sintis and Romanies did not end in 1945. Unlike with the Jews, there was no awareness in Germany that this minority fell victim to the NS Regime’s racial extermination policy. Only a small percentage received compensation but eventually this would stop. An inquiry by the American Jewish Council in 2002 discovered that 58% of the Germans don’t consider „Gypsies” as their neighbours. Stereotypes  regarding „Gypsies“ still exist to this present day. This is also a topic that the exhibition „Frankfurt- Auschwitz“ will look at.
The artistic part of the exhibition will try to use art as a medium to convey the impact of the crimes committed against the Sinties and Romanies by the National Socialist.





10th of April 2011 to the 31st May 2011 (daily from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm)

„Without Hesitation, Varian Frey: Berlin, Marseille, New York“

An exhibition by the „Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin e.V.“

As the German Army marched into France during the spring of 1940, it was not only the French that fled. Thousands of German immigrants ranging from artists, intellectuals, politicians and journalists, fled to the unoccupied zone in the south of France. Many had the goal to fully leave Europe seeing as they were faced with being delivered to the Germans in the occupied areas. Article 19.2 of the German- French Ceasefire Agreement stated that, „all notable Germans that have been listed by the Reich’s Government and are situated in France or the occupied areas, are to be handed over immediately“. This meant the de facto end of political asylum in France.
Shortly after the occupation, the young american journalist Varian Fry arrived in Marseille. He was sent by the New York „Emergency Rescue Committee“ (ERC) which was supported by Eleonore Roosevelt and Thomas and Erika Mann and was founded in the United States. Under the smokescreen of a work assignment, Fry built an escape agent network which saved the lives of more than 1800 people, helping them flee with their familes from the south of France. In Fry’s office money was acquired, ships tickets were obtained and visas and passports were forged. Secret escape routes via the French Spanish borders were organized. Many refugees were artists and intellectuals, amoungst them Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Hannah Arend, Heinrich Mann, Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel.
The exhibition presents more than 75 fates of those that have been saved, describing their escape and the work of the escape agents. The exhibtion plaques will be supplemented via audio points and reading boxes.