📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Support the Augustaschacht memorial in making visible and remembering the stories of forced labour during World War II.
From January 1944 until the end of the war in 1945, over 2,000 men were imprisoned in the former Arbeitserziehungslager (AEL) Ohrbeck (Ohrbeck Labour Education Camp), including many people from the Netherlands and the former Soviet Union. Most of them were forced labourers who had either tried to escape or whose work performance was classified as insufficient. Their punishment was coordinated by the Gestapo Secret State Police and served to deter more than 30,000 forced labourers in the Osnabrück region. In addition to the systematically poor care in the AEL, the men were forced to work in the worst possible places. Many lost their lives in Gestapo custody.
💼 What the programme involves
For many years, the SCI and the memorial sites have regularly conducted study and work camps at the historical site with young international volunteers. The volunteers have the opportunity to make visible the stories of the often forgotten millions of forced labourers and the hundreds of thousands of AEL detainees. In previous study and work camps, this was achieved through archaeological-documentary activities. This year, these findings will be documented and catalogued with the help of the workcamp volunteers. There may be an option of working on excavations on the grounds of a former camp for forced labourers in Osnabrück, if such excavations are carried out during the camp period.
🏠 Accommodation on site
The accommodation is currently left open according to the pandemic developments. Exact information will follow in good time before the start of the project.
Either the group will be divided into two rooms in a building of the parish in Hasbergen, or the volunteers will be hosted in a decentralised way by local supporters.
The meals will be self-catered and as climate-friendly as possible, in accordance with SCI standards.
📍 About the location
Hasbergen is a town with 11.000 inhabitants near Osnabrück. In Osnabrück there are various museums, the botanical garden of the university, swimming pools, a zoo and other offers of a cosy university town.
Depending on the pandemic situation, a trip to other memorial sites in the Netherlands is possible.
⚠️ Requirements
Volunteers should not be older than 27 years. This workcamp requires a great interest in historical and contemporary issues. Main principle is to be open, tolerant and (self-)reflective in our dealings with each other.
ℹ️ Additional information
We would like to point out that there may be changes due to the pandemic and the associated measures. We ask you not to book any trips before we have informed you that your workcamp will take place at the planned location. We will inform you of this at least four weeks before the start of your workcamp.