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The children of Bullenhuser Damm

The former school on Bullenhuser Damm in Hamburg, satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp, after it was cleared in May 1945. The damage caused by a bombing raid on 27/28 July 1943 and the subsequent fire can be seen.

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Media library
  • Fig. 1: Sergio De Simone - Sergio De Simone from Naples, around 1943. Yad Vashem Photo Collections, No. 14142831
  • Fig. 2: Alexander Hornemann - Alexander Hornemann from Eindhoven, around 1942. Yad Vashem Photo Collections, No. 14262100
  • Fig. 3: Eduard Hornemann - Eduard Hornemann from Eindhoven, around 1942. Yad Vashem Photo Collections, No. 14262099
  • Fig. 4: Marek and Adam James - Marek James from Radom with his father Adam, around 1943. Yad Vashem Photo Collections, No. 14265681
  • Fig. 5: Walter Jungleib - Walter Jungleib from Hlohovec, around 1942
  • Fig. 6: Georges André Kohn - Georges André Kohn from Paris, around 1944
  • Fig. 7: Jacqueline Morgenstern - Jacqueline Morgenstern from Paris at her first communion, 1944
  • Fig. 8: The defendants - The defendants in the main Neuengamme trial in the Curiohaus in Hamburg, 1946
  • Fig. 9: Entrance to the rose garden - Entrance to the rose garden, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 10: Memorial to the murdered Soviet prisoners - Anatoli Mossitschuk: Memorial to the murdered Soviet prisoners, 1985. At the entrance to the rose garden, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 11: Rose garden - Rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg, June 2022. View onto the fence with the memorial panels dedicated to the murdered children, doctors and caretakers
  • Fig. 12: Memorial plaque - Memorial plaque and fence with the granite panels for the murdered children. Rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 13: Memorial panel for Surcis Goldinger - Memorial panel for Surcis Goldinger from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 14: Memorial panel for Lea Klygerman - Memorial panel for Lea Klygerman from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 15: Memorial panel for H. Wasserman - Memorial panel for H. Wasserman from Poland, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 16: Memorial panel for Marek James - Memorial panel for Marek James from Radom, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 17: Memorial panel for Roman and Eleonora Witoński - Memorial panel for Eleonora and Roman Witoński from Radom, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 18: Memorial panel for R. Zeller - Memorial panel for R. Zeller from Poland, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 19: Memorial panel for Eduard and Alexander Hornemann - Memorial panel for Eduard and Alexander Hornemann from Eindhoven, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 20: Memorial panel for Riwka Herszberg - Memorial panel for Riwka Herszberg from Zduńska Wola, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 21: Memorial panel for Georges André Kohn - Memorial panel for Georges André Kohn from Paris, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 22: Memorial panel for Jacqueline Morgenstern - Memorial panel for Jacqueline Morgenstern from Paris, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 23: Memorial panel for Ruchla Zylberberg - Memorial panel for Ruchla Zylberberg from Zawichost, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 24: Memorial panel for Eduard Reichenbaum - Memorial panel for Eduard Reichenbaum from Kattowitz/Katowice, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 25: Memorial panel for Mania Altman - Memorial panel for Mania Altman from Radom, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 26: Memorial panel for Sergio De Simone - Memorial panel for Sergio De Simone from Naples, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 27: Memorial panel for Lelka Birnbaum - Memorial panel for Lelka Birnbaum from Poland, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 28: Memorial panel for Walter Jungleib - Memorial panel for Walter Jungleib from Hlohovec, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 29: Memorial panel for Bluma Mekler - Memorial panel for Bluma Mekler from Sandomierz, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 30: Memorial panel for Marek Steinbaum - Memorial panel for Marek Steinbaum from Radom, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 31: Memorial panel for the doctor Gabriel Florence - Memorial panel for the doctor Professor Gabriel Florence from Lyon, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 32: Memorial panel for the doctor René Quenouille - Memorial panel for the doctor René Quenouille from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 33: Memorial panel for the caretaker Dirk Deutekom - Memorial panel for the caretaker Dirk Deutekom from Amsterdam, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 34: Memorial panel for the caretaker Anton Hölzel - Memorial panel for the caretaker Anton Hölzel from Deventer, rose garden at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 35: Painting by Jürgen Waller, 1987 - Jürgen Waller: 21. April 1945, 5 Uhr morgens, 1987. Oil on canvas, montage, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 36: Memorial stele by Leon Mogilevski, 2000 - Leonid Mogilevski: Memorial stele for the children of Bullenhuser Damm. Roman-Zeller-Platz, Hamburg
  • Fig. 37: Former Janusz-Korczak school, Hamburg - Former Janusz-Korczak school on Bullenhuser Damm 92, Hamburg-Rothenburgsort
  • Fig. 38: Memorial panels for the former Janusz-Korczak school - Memorial panels for the Janusz-Korczak school on Bullenhuser Damm, Hamburg
  • Fig. 39: Memorial panel at the former Janusz-Korczak school - Memorial panel of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg for the former Janusz-Korczak school, Bullenhuser Damm 92, Hamburg-Rothenburgsort
  • Fig. 40: Exhibition room 1 - Exhibition room 1 with symbolic suitcases with biographies of the children, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 41: Exhibition room 1 - Exhibition room 1 with symbolic suitcases with biographies of the children, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 42: Suitcase for Riwka Herszberg - Symbolic suitcase with the biography of Riwka Herszberg from Zduńska Wola, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 43: Suitcase for Ruchla Zylberberg - Symbolic suitcase with the biography of Ruchla Zylberberg from Zawichost, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 44: Suitcase for Mania Altman - Symbolic suitcase with the biography of Mania Altman from Radom, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 45: Suitcase for Eleonora Witońska - Symbolic suitcase with the biography of Eleonora Witońska from Radom, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 46: Suitcase for Roman Witoński - Symbolic suitcase with the biography of Roman Witoński from Radom, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 47: Suitcase for Professor Gabriel Florence - Suitcase for the doctor Professor Gabriel Florence from Lyon, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 48: Exhibition room 2 - Exhibition room 2 with more in-depth materials on the biographies of the children and all aspects related to the crime, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 49: The room where the murder took place - The room where the murder took place, with a partition in which the bodies of the children lay, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
  • Fig. 50: Memorial room for the murdered victims - Inscription of 1979, Bullenhuser Damm memorial site, Hamburg
The former school on Bullenhuser Damm in Hamburg, satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp, after it was cleared in May 1945.
The former school on Bullenhuser Damm in Hamburg, satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp, after it was cleared in May 1945. The damage caused by a bombing raid on 27/28 July 1943 and the subsequent fire can be seen.

In 1979, Schwarberg published his first detailed book on the subject, “Der SS-Arzt und die Kinder”, at Gruner & Jahr in Hamburg. During the decades that followed, the book would be re-published numerous times, with varying titles. It was translated into French in 1981, into Romanian in 1982, into English in 1984 and into Japanese in 1991. In 1987, a Polish version was published entitled “Dzieciobójca. Eksperymenty lekarza SS w Neuengamme”. In 1996, the book was followed by Schwarberg’s diary, entitled “Meine zwanzig Kinder” (“My Twenty Children”; Steidl, Göttingen), detailing the story of the children and his search for information about them.

In 1979, as a result of the publication of the book, the aunt of Alexander and Eduard Hornemann, who lived in Eindhoven and who was the only member of the family to survive the war, found out about what had happened to her nephews. She remained in contact with the Association until her death in 2008, but refused to travel to Germany. In 1982, Rucza Witońska, who was by then married and known as Rose Grumelin, met Günther Schwarberg in Paris, and recognised her children Roman and Eleonora among the photographs he had brought with him. She travelled to Hamburg that same year. Since her death in 2012, her son Marc-Alain has regularly attended the memorial events. Also in 1982, the uncle of Mania, Chaim Altman, made contact with Schwarberg from the US, and came to Hamburg for the first time in 1986. In 1983, Gisella De Simone found out about the crime committed against her son Sergio. The following year, she attended the memorial event in Hamburg, although she refused to believe that her child had been murdered. Following her death in 1988, her younger son and his family attended the event in Hamburg every year on 20 April. In 1984, Ytzhak (Jerzy) Reichenbaum, who was living in Haifa, discovered the fate of his brother Eduard. From then on, he and his wife attended the memorial events at Bullenhuser Damm nearly every year, and also spoke to young people about what happened to their family.

In 1983, in collaboration with the Association, pupils created the rose garden, which still exists today and which was also designed by the Hamburg artist Lili Fischer. In 1985, the Soviet Ministry of Culture arranged for a bronze sculpture by the Russian artist Anatoli Mossitzschuk to be erected at the entrance to the garden in memory of the Soviet prisoners who were murdered (Fig. 9 . , 10 . ). At the gate of the rose garden, a granite panel was erected for each child and for each of the doctors and carers, showing a photograph fired in porcelain, together with information about their age and place of origin as well as a personal dedication (Fig. 11–34 . ). 

In 1986, in order to document the failure of the German judiciary to deal appropriately with Arnold Strippel, the Association organised an international tribunal at the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site (Gedenkstätte Bullenhuser Damm). The multi-day event was attended by lawyers from the countries of origin of the victims and was chaired by the former German constitutional judge, Martin Hirsch. The aim of the event was to clarify why Strippel, one of the main suspects in the murder of the children, had not appeared before a court and why the Federal German judiciary in general prevented or delayed the pursuit of Nazi criminals. Excerpts from the protocols from the Curiohaus trials were read out, and statements were heard from relatives, witnesses, and experts. According to Schwarberg: “When Niso Zylberberg, the father of Ruchla, came forward, the thousand people present stood up in silence. He was unable to speak through his tears. Jizhak Reichenbaurn gave a description of his brother Eduard, while Margarete Wilkens spoke of Sergio De Simone and Chaim Altman of his small niece Mania. On 20 April 1986, the judges came to the following conclusion: ‘The failure to prosecute the criminals involved in the murders at Bullenhuser Damm is not an isolated case, but is exemplary of the manner in which the Federal German judiciary handles Nazi crimes. A state which fails to punish the crimes of the Nazi regime is vulnerable to new fascism’”.[46]

In 1987, in the stairwell of the memorial site, a wall painting was installed by Hamburg artist Jürgen Waller entitled “21 April 1945, 5 o’clock in the morning” (21 April 1945, 5 Uhr morgens). The painting depicts what the artist imagined the morning after the crime must have looked like (Fig. 35 . ). In 1992, streets, a park, and a playhouse in the Burgwedel new residential area of Hamburg-Schnelsen were named after the children. In 1994, in collaboration with the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial site (KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme), the site at Bullenhuser Damm was given a new permanent exhibition. In 1999, it was established as a branch of the Neuengamme site, and thus came under control of the Hamburg municipality as part of the city’s cultural authority. Today, the memorial site is part of the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres Commemorating the Victims of Nazi Crimes (Stiftung Hamburger Gedenkstätten und Lernorte zur Erinnerung an die Opfer der NS-Verbrechen). In 2000, a memorial stele by the Russian artist Leonid Mogilevski, with portraits cast in bronze and the names of the 20 children, was erected on Roman-Zeller-Platz in Burgwedel, which was named after the Polish boy R. Zeller (Fig. 36 . ). In 2011, the Bullenhuser Damm memorial site was expanded and the exhibition was redesigned.
 

[46] Schwarberg: Kinder 1996 (see Bibliography), page 155