About the exhibition

In the winter semester 2020-21, the students explored the topic “Childhood and Youth under National Socialism,” as well as the underage prisoners at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp and their diverse stories of persecution. The seminar centered on the relationship between marginalized and persecuted children (Jews, Sinti and Roma, sick people, non-Germans, etc.) and the children of the “master race.” It also dealt with the topic of how post-war societies approached the subject.

In the course of the digital seminar, it soon became apparent that the focus had to be expanded from children in concentration camps to include the numerous young people under the age of 21 who were also imprisoned. The perspective was also expanded to include the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp, which was established in 1943 as one of the numerous subcamps of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

In cooperation with the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, the students in the seminar designed chapters for the exhibition, using a variety of exhibits.  Studio IT’S ABOUT (Berlin) designed and constructed the online exhibition. Its appearance is derived from that of the Children in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp exhibition, but sets new accents.

The online exhibition Children and Teenagers in the Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camps is designed for both visitors to the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora memorials and for anyone interested in the subject.