BARRACK LISTED AS A HISTORICAL MONUMENT BECOMES MODERN EDUCATIONAL SITE.

A barrack from WW II to receive a new location in the Memorial Site of the Stalag VIII A prisoner-of-war camp. What makes it so special: the transfer is international.

The Görlitz region, Germany, was the centre for production of military barracks during the Second World War. The company Christoph & Unmack in Niesky also designed and produced these barracks for concentration camps and prisoner-of-war camps.

One of these barracks of the type RLM 501 erected during WWII in the city centre of Görlitz now must make way for a construction project. In cooperation with German and Polish partners, museums, authorities and experts, it will be preserved and restored on the grounds of the Stalag VIII A memorial in Zgorzelec, Poland, for much-needed space for exhibitions and workshop rooms for educational work.

For this to happen, we need your support!

The site of the Polish national memorial to the former German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VIII A is now home to the European Centre of Remembrance, Education, Culture, which is run by the Polish Fundacja Pamięć, Edukacja, Kultura and the German Meetingpoint Music Messiaen e.V.. The two entities have been close partners in various educational and historical projects for years.

The process of transferring and redesigning the barracks consists of three phases. The first step in preserving the monument its dismantling, the transfer of the barrack parts to Zgorzelec and their securing on site. This will be followed by the historical reconstruction of the barrack, including digital reconstruction and the creation of a haptic model of Stalag VIIIA, and registration as a monument in Poland.

This barrack must be dismantled professionally and transferred to the grounds of the Stalag VIII A memorial site to serve as a visualization as well as providing space for an extension of the permanent exhibition on Stalag VIII A and the prisoner of war system. Some space will be used as workshop rooms with appropriate media equipment for historical-political educational. There, both visitors and youth groups will have the opportunity to obtain information about the camp and its victim’s fates using the latest forms of presentation, new media, haptic sources and work stations to deepen their knowledge.

As a thank you for your support, we will include your name on a plaque of all sponsors. Please indicate this in the comments field, if you do not wish to be named.

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About us:

The Meetingpoint Music Messiaen e.V. has set itself to raise public awareness of the history and the fates of the prisoners of the former prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VIII A on a world-wide scale together with its Polish partner, the Foundation Remembrance, Education, Culture. Next to the POWs the history of National Socialism, the Shoah and the Second World War form the main pillars of the society’s work.

Another key to remembering the fate of 120,000 prisoners of war is the premiere of the “Quatour pour la fin du temps” by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1941 in Stalag VIII A, which is another point of reference for the association’s work.

The joint operation of the German-Polish memorial, research of its history as well as educational work using modern formats of cultural and historical-political education with an international orientation and focus on young people, form the core of the association’s work.