exploring perpetrator spaces and the question of how to incorporate a legacy of brutality and ignorance in the larger narrative of European cultural heritage.
The project is the result of a joint initiative by the former German Nazi camps and now memorial centres Falstadsenteret (Norway), Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork (Netherlands) and Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen (Germany). The project runs to December 2023, and is co-funded by Creative Europe.
Over the past few years, the three institutions have all met with challenges in trying to incorporate ‘perpetrator spaces’ – former camp headquarters and commander houses – in their teaching and curatorial practices. The project is motivated by these challenges.
It is also motivated by an accompanying conviction that today, over 75 years after WW2 and in a time where growing nationalism and violent extremism threatens European integration, it is crucial not to keep perpetrator history and memory in the dark, risking populist voices claiming their ownership to it.