• Invisible Memorial Square
The »Invisible Memorial Square« in Saarbrücken commemorates the fate of those who were incarcerated in the Gestapo prison in the Saarbrücken castle and all those who were persecuted and murdered under the National Socialist regime.
Image: Saarbrücken, about 1936, Parts of Schlossplatz and the northern wing of the Schloss, seat of the state police Saarbrücken, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Max Wentz
Saarbrücken, about 1936, Parts of Schlossplatz and the northern wing of the Schloss, seat of the state police Saarbrücken, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Max Wentz

Image: Saarbrücken, 1993, Invisible Memorial Square, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Blanka Cordes
Saarbrücken, 1993, Invisible Memorial Square, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Blanka Cordes
On March 1, 1935, the Saar region was officially incorporated into the German Reich. Shortly afterwards, the Saarbrücken section of the state police rented several offices in the northern wing of the Saarbrücken Schloss. The Gestapo set up five cells in the basement in preparation for the arrest of political opponents. Social democrats, communists, Catholics and trade unionists were among the first to be arrested. From 1942 on, French, Soviet and Polish forced labourers were increasingly incarcerated in the Gestapo prison. At times, up to six people were locked up in once cell.
In October 1940, the ministry of interior of the state of Baden ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Baden, Palatinate and Saarland. On October 22, 1940, almost all Jews were deported from Saarland to France. The French Vichy Government had them interned at the Gurs camp, where they were accommodated in wooden barracks, men and women separately. Due to insufficient food and medical supplies and the terrible hygienic conditions, many of the internees fell ill and died within a few months.
Image: Saarbrücken, about 1936, Parts of Schlossplatz and the northern wing of the Schloss, seat of the state police Saarbrücken, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Max Wentz
Saarbrücken, about 1936, Parts of Schlossplatz and the northern wing of the Schloss, seat of the state police Saarbrücken, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Max Wentz

Image: Saarbrücken, 1993, Invisible Memorial Square, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Blanka Cordes
Saarbrücken, 1993, Invisible Memorial Square, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Blanka Cordes
The fate of most of those incarcerated in the Gestapo prison is unclear. Some of them were held there for a few hours, others for several months.
On October 22, 1940, the Nationals Socialists deported a total of nearly 7,000 people from Baden, Palatinate and the Saarland to France. In 1942, many of the Jews from Saarland were deported from Gurs to the Auschwitz death camp by the SS and perished there.
Image: Saarbrücken, 1995, Inscriptions on the cell wall of the former Gestapo cell, Historisches Museum Saar, Angelika Klein
Saarbrücken, 1995, Inscriptions on the cell wall of the former Gestapo cell, Historisches Museum Saar, Angelika Klein

Image: Saarbrücken, 1992, Construction site on the Invisibile Memorial Square, Historisches Museum Saar
Saarbrücken, 1992, Construction site on the Invisibile Memorial Square, Historisches Museum Saar
One of the Gestapo cells was discovered in the basement of the Schloss during restoration work in 1975. Messages which prisoners had scratched into the cell walls were discovered. About 120 French, Russian, Polish and Ukrainian names could be identified.
In April 1990, Jochen Gerz, at the time a professor at the Academy of Art in Saarbrücken, and a group of students initiated the creation of an invisible monument against racism. Gerz chose the Schlossplatz as the location due to its close proximity to the former Gestapo prison. In July 1990, the project group decided to go about creating the memorial inofficially. After the Saarbrücken regional authority had heard about the initiative, it officially supported the memorial's completion.
2,146 stones from the plastering on the square in front of the Schloss were removed one by one beginning April 1993. Engraved on the bottom of each stone was the name of a Jewish cemetery in Germany and the stone returned to its original position, engraved side down. On May 23, 1993, the so-called Monument Against Racism was dedicated in the presence of Ignatz Bubis, the chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Information boards on the edge of Schlossplatz presented background information on the memorial. Already in 1988, the Historical Museum Saar created a permanent exhibition entitled »Ten instead of a Thousand Years – National Socialism in the Saar Region 1935–1945«. The exhibition was revised in 2008. All of the inscriptions found in the former Gestapo cell in 1975 have been presented in a catalogue, including translations. The restored Gestapo cell is also a part of the museum's exhibition space.
Image: Saarbrücken, 1994, Invisible Memorial Square with the central building of the Schloss in the background, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Christof Kiefer
Saarbrücken, 1994, Invisible Memorial Square with the central building of the Schloss in the background, Stadtverband Saarbrücken, Christof Kiefer

Name
Platz des Unsichtbaren Mahnmals
Address
Schlossplatz
66119 Saarbrücken
Phone
+49 (0)681 506 450 1
Fax
+49 (0)681 506 450 90
Web
http://www.historisches-museum.org/
E-Mail
hms@hismus.de
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