News
24.3.2020
Information about the commemorative event on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners of Stalag X B on April 29, 2020
Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, we had to cancel our commemorative event on April 29, 2020. Instead, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony without any guests. Furthermore, there is going to be a temporary memorial on the camp’s cemetery we would like you to participate in.
For our project “Call for Remembrance” we would be delighted if you sent us:
- E-Mails or letters in which you express your thoughts about the cancelled commemorative event or about Stalag X B in general
- Photographs of you, your family or historical photographs (reprints only!)
- Symbolic objects, such as black ribbons, artificial flowers, stones or cuddly toys
Please send us your contribution to the memorial until April 15, 2020 via E-Mail (gedenken2.0@stiftung-lager-sandbostel.de) or via post (Gedenkstätte Lager Sandbostel, Greftstraße 3, 27446 Sandbostel, Germany). Please add the keyword “Call for Remembrance” so that we can be sure that you allow us to publish your contribution within the context of the temporary memorial and its documentation.
We ask you to refrain from sending us objects that have a high financial or personal value, such as original historical photos or unique objects, because we will not be able to send them back to you.
We are going to present the temporary "Call for Remembrance"-memorial on our homepage and on our social media channels in the context of our virtual commemorative event on the 29th of
April.
We appreciate your participation, thank you very much in advance!
17.3.2020
Important information about the
current situation of the Camp Memorial as at March 17, 2020
Due to the current Corona-(Covid-19)-pandemic, we have decided to cancel our various public events, presentations and/or guided tours and to regulate visits to the Sandbostel Camp Memorial until the end of April. This will also include the foundation’s 15th anniversary event (April 17), the specialist conference on “Death marches in the Elbe-Weser triangle” (April 18) and the commemorative event on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners of Stalag X B (April 29). On April 29, we will commemorate the prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners who suffered and died in Sandbostel in a smaller frame. However, we will still offer this event as well as other presentations (which will be recorded without an audience) on our social media channels for you to follow (facebook: www.facebook.com/gedenkstaettelagersandbostel; instagram: www.instagram.de/gedenkstaettelagersandbostel)
Furthermore, the Sandbostel Camp Memorial will not continue its usual business and is no longer offering guided tours on Sunday or special topic-based tours. However, you can still contact us with regard to inquiries you may have or specific information you may need email.
We are very sorry for these cancellations, but after careful consideration, these steps unfortunately seem inevitable in order to protect our visitors as well as our colleagues.
Nevertheless, we will keep you informed about the current status on our homepage and social media channels.
10.3.2020
Memorial service on the occasion of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the liberation of Stalag X B
Current release:
Due to the worldwide spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) we are keeping ourselves informed about the current situation and study all available informations with great care. Our plannings with
regard the memorial service on the occasion of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the liberation of Stalag X B on Wednesday the 29th of April 2020, are coordinated closely with the authorities and
in exchange with collegues of further memorial sites in the region of Lower Saxony. At this moment, we are unable to foresee whether the daily changing situation will effect this year's memorial
service. As soon as there are further informations available, we will provide you with them. We take into account to inform you as soon as possible, so that our international guests are able to
adapt to a possibly changing situation. We appreciate your understanding.
Subject to any necessary changes, the following process is currently planned:
1:00 PM, Camp Memorial Sandbostel, Greftstr. 3, guided tours in English, German, Russian, Italian and French
4:00 PM, former camp cemetery, today’s war graveyard Sandbostel (Beverner Str., 27446 Sandbostel)
5:30 PM, former camp's kitchen at the Camp Memorial.
7:00 PM, memorial service in the Camp's Church.
5.4.2019
Invitation to the memorial service, on the occasion of the upcoming 74th anniversary of the liberation of the prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners at the Memorial Camp
Sandbostel
We would like to warmly invite you to the memorial service on the 29th of April in 2019 on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the prisoners of war camp Stalag XB
Sandbostel.
Sandbostel was one of the largest POW camps in the North of Germany, in which over 313,000 prisoners of war and in the final days also about 9,500 concentration camp prisoners from more than 50
nations were imprisoned between 1939 and 1945. Thousands died here and were buried on the camp cemetery. The prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners who died and suffered here will be
commemorated in the memorial service.
This year, numerous relatives of former prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners from Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and Serbia, and the Consular
representatives of several nations, such as the consul general of the Russian Federation, Andrei Sharashkin and Italy, Giorgio Taborri, as well as Representatives of the state of Lower Saxony and
the district of Rotenburg (Wümme) have confirmed their attendance.
Starting at 1 pm, German, English and French-speaking tours will be offered at the former camp.
The actual commemoration begins at 4 pm at the Sandbostel war graves cemetery (former camp cemetery, Bevener Street (no number), 27446 Sandbostel) with a greeting from the admininstrative head of
the district of Rotenburg (Wümme), Hermann Luttmann, and a speech by Domenico Bolognese, whose father Michele Bolognese was interned in Stalag X B as an Italian military internee. The program
continues with a series of prayers from the Protestant, the Catholic, the Russian Orthodox, the Islamic and the Jewish Church. The series of prayers are followed by a wreath laying.
At 5.30 pm, the event continues at the former camp kitchen at the Sandbostel Camp Memorial with welcoming words from the Italian consul general Giorgio Taborri from Hanover and the state
superintendent Hans Christian Brandy. Requested for a Greeting is a representative of the state of Lower Saxony. After that pupils of the Oste-Hamme-Schule Gnarrenburg will contribute to the
ceremony by reading quotations of former concentration camp prisoners. We are particularly pleased that the 95-year-old Zbigniew Radlowski from Krakow has confirmed his participation and will be
giving a speech. 75 years ago Zbigniew Radlowski was brought to the Prisoner of War Camp Sandbostel as a 20-year-old member of the Polish Armia Krajowa (Home Army) after the suppression of the
Warsaw Uprising. The event will be accompanied musically by Åsa Stelling Jakobsson (violin) and Christine by Stryk (piano). There will be the possibility for individual remembrance at the
memorial stone for the Prisoners of War and Concentration camp prisoners who died in Stalag X B.
Finally, at 7 pm the St. Lamberti parish Selsingen will hold a memorial service in the Protestant camp church. The sermon will be delivered by Hans-Christian Brandy.
The events at the camp cemetery, at the memorial site and in the camp church are open to the public. We would be delighted if you joined us for the memorial service in Sandbostel on 29th April.