Remembering the Deportation of Polish-born Jews in 1938
Exhibition at New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum Extended by Two Months, until February 28, 2019
№ 345/2018 from Nov 30, 2018
Due to great interest, the exhibition in the Foundation New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum commemorating the deportation in October 1938 of Jews of Polish nationality has been extended. Since it was opened on July 8, about 30,000 visitors viewed the exhibition Ausgewiesen! Berlin, 28.10.1938. Die Geschichte der „Polenaktion. It will now be on display until February 28, two months longer than originally planned. Tours for school classes will continue to be offered. The exhibition was curated by Dr. Alina Bothe, a historian at Freie Universität. The exhibition was organized jointly by the nonprofit organization, Aktiven Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin e.V., and the Institute for Eastern European Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Gertrud Pickhan. Students in Berlin researched the lives of individuals in the families who are portrayed.
The exhibition recalls the fate of more than 1,500 Berliners who were arrested in the early morning hours of October 28, 1938, in their homes, shops, and on the street and taken by train to the Polish border. They were among about 17,000 people who were forcibly expelled to Poland on the last cold, wet weekend in October. It was the first mass deportation from the German Reich. All those affected were deported because they were Jewish and had Polish nationality.
The exhibition portrays six families who were deported from Berlin. It includes testimonies of the persecution and murder as well as private photos depicting their lives before the violent expulsion from Germany. It documents the breaking up of families as well as their survival after 1945. An extensive database was created that is accessible in the exhibition. The database contains biographies of more than 500 Jews with Polish nationality who were expelled from Berlin.
Further Information
Exhibition
- Ausgewiesen! Berlin, 28.10.1938. Die Geschichte der „Polenaktion“
- Opening hours: Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Location: Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum, Oranienburger Str. 28/30, 10117 Berlin
- Cost of admission: 7 euros (reduced 4.50 euros)
Contact
Dr. Alina Bothe, Freie Universität Berlin, Curator of the exhibition Ausgewiesen! Berlin, 28. Oktober 1938. Die Geschichte der „Polenaktion“, Email: alina.bothe@fu-berlin.de