For a long time, a working visit to Bremen was scheduled to happen. Despite the Corona situation, we were able to visit the archive and view the pre-ordered documents. When reviewing the documents, we discovered important new information which are now being evaluated.
The city history of Bremen includes not only the well-known BremenStadtmusikanten, but above all a sad chapter of forced labor.
In Bremen-Farge was one of the largest armament projects of The National Socialist Germany, the submarine bunker “Valentin”.
With a floor area of over 35,000 square meters, it is the largest free-standing bunker in Germany. From 1943 to 1945, thousands of forced laborers from all over Europe were employed here: civilian workers as well as prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners. More than 1,100 of them died of malnutrition, disease and random killings during construction work.
For decades, the post-war use of the submarine shipyard, which was created by forced labor, was fought over. Even an explosion of the oversized concrete hall was considered. In the 1960s, the Bundesmarine finally used parts of the building as a material depot and the grounds of the bunker could only be entered with conditions. After the withdrawal of the Bundesmarine, the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen commissioned the State Centre for Political Education in 2010 to set up and operate the centre of thought as a place of historical knowledge transfer, as a memorial and as a place of learning.
Unfortunately, the memorial site is currently closed due to the Corona situation. However, it was possible to visit the outdoor area where several information carriers conveyed the history of the place.
