76th Anniversary of the Liberation of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp
“All of this is our history.”

11 April 2021 marked the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. To remember the horrors of National Socialist rule, the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, is showing the “Disappearing Wall” on Theaterplatz in Weimar. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier commemorated the victims.

The National Socialist regime operated the Buchenwald concentration camp from July 1937 until April 1945. One of its largest subcamps was “Dora”, which in 1944 became the Mittelbau concentration camp. Well over a quarter of a million people from all over Europe were interned there, and over 72,000 of them died.

Commemorating the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps 76 years ago, the “Disappearing Wall” on Theaterplatz in Weimar remembers the crimes of that era and their victims. The interactive installation combines quotes from camp survivors on 6,000 wooden blocks, making their messages visible. After the opening by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the director of the Memorials Foundation Jens-Christian Wagner and the president of the Goethe-Institut Carola Lentz, visitors had the opportunity to read the quotes and take a block with a quote with them.

Places of remembrance

In his speech at the commemorative act on the 76th anniversary, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, “Every time one returns to Buchenwald, one learns something new about the history of the camp. Not the history of the victims, but also not the history of the perpetrators, the accomplices, the profiteers. All of this is our history. The history of our country. We don't want to forget it. I am grateful that the remembrance of Buchenwald is repeatedly taken on as a duty, by many people and with great passion.”

On the occasion of the day of remembrance, Carola Lentz, president of the Goethe-Institut, said, “It is important that we always remind ourselves of what happened back then and how it could happen. Remembering can help us to resolutely oppose the ever louder right-wing populist movements with moral courage.”