Hagen project involving Fachhochschule Dortmund follows invitation from Health Minister Laumann to MAGS
A large stage in the Düsseldorf Ministry of Health for an extraordinary exhibition: "Against Forgetting", the reappraisal of official atrocities committed during the Nazi dictatorship in Hagen, can be visited by employees of the MAGS(Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs(Opens in a new tab) ) until the beginning of April. Ten steles are located in both the foyer and the library of the Ministry in Düsseldorf. "What was done to people with disabilities must not be forgotten," said Health Minister Josef Laumann(Opens in a new tab) (CDU) at the opening. "This exhibition fits in well with this time and fits in well with our ministry."
Scientific monitoring of the project of the Caritas Association Hagen
The Hagen delegation from the Caritas Association Hagen(Opens in a new tab) and the Faculty of Applied Social Studies(Opens in a new tab) at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences, including project manager Meinhard Wirth and Prof. Dr. Michael Boecker(Opens in a new tab) , who provided scientific support for the project, as well as Nadine Böttcher as Chair of the Workshop Council, were delighted to see so many interested people at this lunchtime event. "For us, it's a matter close to our hearts," emphasized CEO Torsten Gunnemann and sees the project goal more than fulfilled. The traveling exhibition has already had 15 locations and has been on tour for a good year now. And the fates that disabled people had to endure during the Nazi dictatorship are always moving. "That is our task, not only not to forget, but to be awake and vocal," says Nadine Böttcher. In Hagen, a particularly large number of people with disabilities were victims of National Socialist-motivated state injustice, mostly initiated by employees of the city's health administration.
Today, the Hagen health department(Opens in a new tab) is facing up to its history, and its director Dr. Anjali Scholten also came to Düsseldorf to present the exhibition. "It touches you in a completely different way when you know the places where these acts were carried out," she calls for this project to be implemented in other places too. Claudia Middendorf(Opens in a new tab) , representative of the NRW state government for people with disabilities and long-time employee of the Caritas Association, emphasized that the cooperation with the health department is not a matter of course. "Against forgetting is more than just remembering, it is coming to terms with the past".
A cooperation that will continue: In May, an interactive city map will be presented that gives the atrocities a place where they happened. In cooperation with the workshops for disabled people, a tangible piece of history has been created.
Funding from Aktion Mensch
The project - exhibition and map - was funded by Aktion Mensch(Opens in a new tab) . The project is supported by the Caritas Association of Hagen and the project partners are the Hagen City Health Department, the Hagen History Association(Opens in a new tab) , people with disabilities, students from Fachhochschule Dortmund and the University of Hagen(Opens in a new tab) .
Prof. Michael Boecker, Dr.
Appointments can be arranged at short notice by e-mail