Neighbourhood Walks: Exploring Forced Labour in the National Socialist State
The memorial regularly offers tours of various neighbourhoods of Leipzig. During the tours, former sites of forced labour in the National Socialist state in the respective neighbourhoods are visited and select sites and biographies used to provide the participants with insight into the history, the fate and the daily routine of forced labourers in the National Socialist state.
The walks last approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. Attendance is free of charge. Participants should be at least 14 years old. Neighbourhood walks may be reserved individually for groups.
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| Connewitz |
This neighbourhood walk introduces six selected sites of camps and work sites of forced labourers during the National Socialist regime. In addition to the functional aspects, the tour examines the daily life of forced labourers: what kinds of work did they have to perform and how were their living conditions? And how did the German population react to the forced labourers and the camps?
The gathering place is the inner court yard of plant 2 at Connewitz Kreuz. The tour ends at the Neue Linie sports grounds in Auwald.
| Lindenau |
The walk through this neighbourhood provides a brief orientation about the topic of forced labour in the National Socialist state and introduces selected sites in Lindenau, where forced labourers had to work and live under inhumane conditions. It not only explores camps and work sites, but also the daily life, such as the sustenance and the relationship between the workers and the German population.
The Kleinmesse fair grounds serve as gathering place. The tour ends at the "Jahrtausendfeld" park (Karl-Heine-Straße).
| Böhlen - Bicycle Tour |
The bicycle tour reminds participants of the forced labour in the lignite industry in the town of Böhlen. It includes a guided tour of work sites, former camps and present-day memorial sites and places of remembrance. It starts with an introduction, explaining the significance of Böhlen as an armament site and for lignite mining. Afterward, the living conditions of the forced labourers are discussed. At the next station, an explanation is provided about the camp system consisting of camps for prisoners of war and forced labourers, work education camps and concentration satellite camps. The tour concludes with a visit to the grove of honour at the Lippendorf power plant, the final resting place of the victims of forced labour in Böhlen.
The gathering place is the Böhlen train station (the square in front of the station). The bicycle tour ends at the Böhlen train station, after about two hours and a distance of nearly 15 km.
Attention: This tour partly leads across unpaved trails and includes steep hills. The bicycle tour will be cancelled in the event of poor weather conditions.