A day for relatives of former prisoners of the Neuengamme concentration camp and victims of Nazi persecution: meeting, exchange, writing workshop

Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Location: Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, Study Center, Jean-Dolidier-Weg 75, 21039 Hamburg

Whether you have only recently begun to explore the persecution of your family member or have been doing so for some time, on November 20, 2025, the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial will offer you the opportunity to meet with other relatives. There will be space to share your family stories and discuss your own position in society as relatives of Nazi victims.

In an autobiographical writing workshop (see below), you will learn how to present your story or stories to an audience. During the breaks and an (optional) dinner, there will be time to meet the other participants.

Registration by October 20, 2025: https://eveeno.com/248649414

Contact: Dr Alexandre Froidevaux

Program schedule

Autobiographical writing workshop

How do I present my story? Together, we will work out how a text can sound that reads well and is also easy to recite. We want to help you tell your stories in a way that allows you to focus on your message. We will develop a story framework that deliberately builds suspense. The aim is to provide you with a structure that will guide you in your writing and later guide your audience too. The texts can be published if desired. We are not concerned with literary writing. We want to present authentic stories that connect us to the present.

Speaker: Nora Hespers (www.norahespers.de) is a freelance journalist based in Cologne. The podcast “Die Anachronistin” (www.die-anachronistin.de) tells the story of her grandfather Theo Hespers and his resistance against the Nazi regime. In the podcast, as in her book “Mein Opa, sein Widerstand gegen die Nazis und ich” (My Grandfather, His Resistance Against the Nazis, and Me), Nora Hespers also addresses the consequences of this story for her father and herself.

An event in cooperation with the Bundesverband Information & Beratung für NS-Verfolgte (Federal Association for Information and Counseling for Victims of Nazi Persecution, www.nsberatung.de).