90 Jugendliche aus Borne und Rheine beeindruckt von Esterwegen
ESTERWEGEN/Borne/Rheine. Es war mucksmäuschenstill im Hörsaal der KZ-Gedenkstätte Esterwegen, als die Schülerinnen und Schüler hörten, mit welch brutalen Mitteln die Häftlinge schikaniert und gebrochen wurden, wie die Kriegsgefangenen in Menschen und Untermenschen eingeteilt wurden und wie in Esterwegen die SS-Kaderfabrik für den Bau anderer Konzentrationslager funktionierte. 90 Jugendliche aus Borne und Rheine machten sich am Samstag gemeinsam auf den Weg zur Gedenkstätte. Es war der Abschluss der Gedenkfeierlichkeiten zum 80. Jahrestag der Befreiung vom Nationalsozialismus und des Endes des Zweiten Weltkriegs.
Reiner Wellmann, Chairman of the town twinning association Rheine, welcomed the young people from the Gymnasium Dionysianum, the Kopernikus-Gymnasium and the Euregio-Gesamtschule in the Rheiner coach. He thanked them for setting an example against forgetting and for peace in Europe and the world with their participation. He particularly welcomed Mayor Peter Lüttmann and Pastor Thomas Lemanski, who joined all the young people and visitors in a prayer for peace at the end of the event. The mayor of the twin town, Jan Pierik, traveled in the Borner bus. With their participation, the mayors of both twin towns sent a clear signal in the tradition of joint commemoration of the terrible events of the National Socialist era.
It was to be a long day. After a two-hour journey, the groups were first informed about the origins of the 15 Emsland camps in the event room. They were not used for systematic mass murder, but were rather labor camps. The inmates had to carry out brutally hard work draining the moors. Many did not survive this work, especially as the prisoners did not receive nearly enough food for the hard labor. Incidentally, the most prominent prisoner was the well-known publicist Carl von Ossietzky. He was frequently mistreated and tortured in Esterwegen. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936 and was then transferred to hospital seriously ill, where he died two years later as a result of the abuse. Sascha Drescher (photo above), an educator who led the tour, explained that three Rheinensers were also imprisoned in Esterwegen. In 1942, Rheinenser Adolf Disse, who was imprisoned for “undermining military strength and insubordination”, died there. A stumbling block in Sophienweg commemorates the concentration camp victim.
On the site, the structure and layout of the camp was explained to the visitors, which also included several members of the town twinning association Rheine. At the end of the visit, the young people from Borne and Rheine laid a wreath together. Dutch pupil Fieke Otter laid a wreath together with Fabian Streiter from the Euregio comprehensive school Rheine. The impressive short memorial service ended with a speech and the joint prayer for peace by Francis of Assisi. Pastor Lemanski pointed out that it was an obligation for the German people in particular to remember the terrible events. Christian faith could be an additional help in strengthening human dignity in our time.
At the end of an eight-hour trip, Mayor Peter Lüttmann thanked the pupils in particular for their interest and the time they had invested in this Dutch-German commemorative event. “It is still very important to maintain the commemoration and remembrance of this terrible period in German history!” concluded Lüttmann. www.friendsineurope.com