Between Coercion and Concentration Camp

The Poor and the Marginalised in Hamburg during the Nazi Era.

Under the Nazi regime, thousands of socially marginalised persons living in poverty were persecuted as supposedly ‘anti-social’. But it was not until 2020 that the German Bundestag finally recognised them as victims of Nazi persecution. Who were these women and men, these adolescents and children? What had they suffered? Why did their history of persecution go unnoticed for decades?

This exhibition provides an account of the many hundreds of Hamburg residents who were written off, declared legally incompetent and forcibly sterilised, locked away in closed institutions and imprisoned in concentration camps. It sheds light on the role played by the public welfare services, welfare institutions and the police, and illustrates the tradition of exclusion and degradation of people deemed ‘anti-social’ – an attitude that persists to this day.

Rathausausstellung 2022 - Tafel 01: „Zwischen Zwangsfürsorge und KZ“ | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 01: "Between Coercion and Concentration Camp" Rathausausstellung 2022 - Tafel 02: Wen trafen soziale Ausgrenzung und Verfolgung? | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 02: Who was affected by social excklusion and persecution? Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 03: Ausgrenzung und Zwangsmaßnahmen vor 1933 | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 – Panel 03: Exclusion and coercive measures before 1933 Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 04: Die „Bettlerrazzia“ im September 1933 | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 – Panel 04: The September 1933 ‘Crackdown on beggars’ Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 05: Das Netzwerk der Verfolgungsinstanzen | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 – Panel 05: The network of complicit institutions Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 06: Überwachung und Verfolgung durch die Polizei | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 – Panel 06: Surveillance and persecution by the police Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 07: Die „Aktion Arbeitsscheu Reich“ | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 07: The Aktion Arbeitsscheu Reich Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 08: Öffentliche Fürsorge im Nationalsozialismus | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 08: The state welfare system under the National Socialist regime Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 09: Schikanen und verweigerte Hilfen | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 09: Harassment and denied assistance Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 10: Armut, sexuelle Gewalt und Zwangssterilisation: Die Familie L. | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 10: Poverty, sexual violence, forced sterilisation: The L. family Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 11: Zwang zur Arbeit | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 11: Compelled to work Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 12: Kontrolle des Sexualverhaltens | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 12: Sexual behaviour under surveillance Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 13: Überwachung der Prostitution | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 13: Regulation of prostitution Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 14: Entmündigung und Zwangsunterbringung | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 14: Declaration of incompetence and forced confinement Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 15: Zwangssterilisationen | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 15: Forced sterilisations Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 16: Die Hamburger Wohlfahrtsanstalten im Nationalsozialismus | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 16: Hamburg’s state welfare institutions under National Socialism Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 17: Die Bewahranstalt Farmsen | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 17: The Farmsen retention centre Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 18: „Trinkerheilstätte“ und Zweiganstalten des Versorgungsheims Farmsen | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 18: ‘Trinkerheilstätte’ and branch institutions of the Farmsen care home Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 19: Verhaftet, entmündigt, zwangssterilisiert: Erna N. (1904-1983)| Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 19: Arrested, declared incompetent, forcibly sterilised: Erna N. (1904-1983) Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 20: Zwangsunterbringung in anderen Versorgungsheimen | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 20: Compulsory placement in other care homes Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 21: Heime für Kinder und Jugendliche | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 21: Homes for children and adolescents Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 22: Das Mädchenheim Schwanenwik | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 22: The Schwanenwik girls‘ home Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 23: Auflehnung und Selbstbehauptung | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 23: Rebellion and self-assertion Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 24: Aus den Wohlfahrtsanstalten in den Tod | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 24: From the welfare institutions to the grave Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 25: Verschleppt in ein Konzentrationslager | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 25: Deported to a concentration camp Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 26: Haft im KZ Neuengamme auf Anordnung der Kriminalpolizei | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 26: Sent to the Neuengamme concentration camp by order of the Kriminalpolizei Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 27: „Asoziale“ Häftlinge im KZ Neuengamme | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 27: ‘Anti-Socials’ in the Neuengamme concentration camp Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 28: Jacob Haut: „Herzinnigste Grüße“ aus dem KZ Neuengamme | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 28: Jacob Haut: ‘Most heartfelt greetings‘ from the Neuengamme concentration camp Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 29: Jugendkonzentrationslager | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 29: Juvenile concentration camps Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 30: 1945 – Kein Ende der Verfolgung | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 30: 1945 – No end to the persecution Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 31: Verweigerte Entschädigung | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 31: Compensation denied Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 32: Keine Entschädigung für KZ-Überlebende: Der Fall Wilhelm T. | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 26: No compensation for concentration camp survivors: The case of Wilhelm T. Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 33: Keine Entschädigung für Zwangssterilisierte | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 33: No compensation for the forcibly sterilised Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 34: Der lange Kampf um Anerkennung | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 34: The long struggle for recognition Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 35: Erinnern und Gedenken | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 35: Remembrance and commemoration Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 36: Und heute? | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 36: And today? Rathausausstellung 2022 – Tafel 37: Impressum | Town-hall Exhibition 2022 - Panel 37: Contributions
Media Library

The complete permanent exhibition "Time Traces" and the other side exhibitions on the grounds of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial are also available digitally in the memorial's media library. Unfortunately, the media library is only available in German.

media library
Contact us at

Do you have questions or have you encountered errors while using the website? Then please write to us at:

E-mail: lernwerkstatt@gedenkstaetten.hamburg.de

Phone: +49 40 428 131 551