📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
The Sachsenhausen Memorial was one of the largest concentration camps in Germany and was built in 1936 near Berlin. More than 200,000 people from all over Europe were imprisoned here by the Nazi SS. The prisoners were forced to perform inhumane labor, and thousands died or were murdered. After the liberation in 1945, the Soviet secret service established Special Camp No.7/No.1 on the site for the internment of former Nazi functionaries and political opponents. Today the memorial is a place of remembrance, learning and research.
More information: www.sachsenhausen-sbg.de/en/
💼 What the programme involves
Project: "Digital Rally"
You will use the app "Action Bound" to create a digital rally for your mobile phone in which you can guide visitors to the places that you yourself find interesting.
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Study part:
The history of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and the Soviet Special Camp are the focus of this part of the study. You will learn about the life stories of former prisoners who were interned here from all over Europe. Why were they persecuted? What was their daily life in the camp like and how did they try to survive? Visits to exhibitions, memorials and museums in Oranienburg and Berlin as well as discussions with experts are also part of the program.
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Work part:
Participants will perform maintenance and gardening work on the memorial grounds. No special skills are required for the simple physical work.
🏠 Accommodation on site
Accomodation:
You will be accommodated in a youth hostel. The building is on the grounds of historical
Sachsenhausen concentration camp complex and was built in 1938 as the official residence
of the Concentration Camp Inspector, 2 km away from the memorial centre.
It is not necessary to bring a sleeping bag. Bed sheets and linen will be provided. You will sleep
in shared rooms with a lot of space. It is possible to use the washing machine and the dryer for
a small fee.
More information: https://www.jugendherbergen-berlin-brandenburg.de/en/youth-hostels/sachsenhausen-686/portrait/
Food:
In the hostel there is a big kitchen for the group. Please be prepared not only to cook
there, but also to clean up afterwards ;) This will be done by the kitchen team of your group.
Volunteers have to cook the meals for themselves. Please bring easy recipes from your home country.
📍 About the location
Area:
Sachsenhausen is a part of Oranienburg, ca. 33 km to the north of Berlin. Sachsenhausen was
one of the earliest concentration camps in Germany, built in 1936. For example, German
people who were in opposition to Nazi policy, homosexuals, so-called asocials, criminals,
Jews, and during the war especially people from occupied countries were imprisoned, forced
to work and a lot of them were murdered. Between 1945 and 1950 a part of this area was used
as a so-called Special Camp of the Soviet Secret Service
Leisure:
Volunteers have to be able to ride a bike, as several shorter and longer bike rides are planned. Bicycles are provided, but helmets are not required. In the free time it's possible to go to Berlin or Potsdam. The volunteers will find many forests and lakes to walk, cycle or just relax. However, the free time activities will mainly depend on participants' ideas.
⚠️ Requirements
Studypart:
- You should bring an interest in the history of Germany and Europe in the 1930s and 1940s and commemoration.
- You should have a desire to discuss these topics in an international group.
Project related:
- You should be interested in digital formats.
In general:
- You should be able to perform simple physical tasks.
- A good knowledge of English is a prerequisite for participation.
- Since many shorter and longer bike rides are planned, volunteers should also be able to ride a bike.
- Please be fully vaccinated or recovered.
ℹ️ Additional information
We have a total of three projects at the Sachsenhausen Memorial, with a different additional project:
– VJF 2.3 Sachsenhausen #1: Sound Voice Music (27.06.22 – 17.07.22)
– VJF 2.4 Sachsenhausen #2: Comic Design (11.07.22 – 31.07.22)
– VJF 2.5 Sachsenhausen #3: Digital Rally (08.08.22 – 28.08.22)