Also the former GDR border between Hesse and Thuringia has led to escapes to the West and separation of families: With a view to the Day of German Unity, the Hessian State Center for Civic Education (HLZ) has announced a new website with reports from contemporary witnesses. The website zeitzeugmemorial.de is scheduled to go online this Thursday (October 3rd) under the motto “Remember – Preserve – Understand”.
“I didn’t know what that meant back then, there had to be contemporary witnesses,” says Ursel Lange, born in 1941, from Asbach in Thuringia, in an interview about the forced deportation of her grandmother and aunt from the village in 1952. According to HLZ, the authorities had At that time they wanted to send the girl away from the scene of the incident, but her aunt insisted on her staying because “there had to be contemporary witnesses”. Today, Lange is one of twelve contemporary witnesses in video interviews on the new website.
Escape and forced resettlement
According to the HLZ, the aim of the project is to preserve and convey personal memories of the division of Germany and the Cold War on the Hesse-Thuringia border. The contemporary witnesses report on experiences with escape to the West, forced deportation from the restricted area on the border into the interior of the country GDR and life at the interface between East and West.
In addition to the interested public and scientists, the “Contemporary Witness Memorial” is aimed primarily at teachers and students. According to HLZ, teaching materials are also available for them free of charge on the website. There is also a lexicon with terms on the history of the GDR and the coming to terms with the SED dictatorship. The portal is being gradually expanded – more contemporary witnesses are being sought.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:241001-930-248296/1
Also the former GDR border between Hesse and Thuringia has led to escapes to the West and separation of families: With a view to the Day of German Unity, the Hessian State Center for Civic Education (HLZ) has announced a new website with reports from contemporary witnesses. The website zeitzeugmemorial.de is scheduled to go online this Thursday (October 3rd) under the motto “Remember – Preserve – Understand”.
“I didn’t know what that meant back then, there had to be contemporary witnesses,” says Ursel Lange, born in 1941, from Asbach in Thuringia, in an interview about the forced deportation of her grandmother and aunt from the village in 1952. According to HLZ, the authorities had At that time they wanted to send the girl away from the scene of the incident, but her aunt insisted on her staying because “there had to be contemporary witnesses”. Today, Lange is one of twelve contemporary witnesses in video interviews on the new website.
