#StolenMemory premieres in Ukraine

Poster exhibition about personal belongings of concentration camp
inmates begins in Lviv

The exhibition tells the stories of inmates in the concentration camps of the Nazi period
and the personal possessions taken from them at the time of their arrest. The archive in
Bad Arolsen (Germany) still has the stolen mementoes of some 2,000 people in its
holdings. About 70 of these keepsakes that shall be returned to their rightful owners
originally belonged to Nazi persecution victims from Ukraine.

Search for the families of Ukrainian victims of Nazi persecution

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, it has hardly been possible to
search for their families actively. “The new exhibition in the Ukraine marks a fresh start
for this important on-site research work,” says Anna Meier-Osiński, Arolsen Archives’
Outreach Manager for Central and Eastern Europe. “We focus especially on inviting
teens from Ukraine and all over Europe to join the growing network of volunteers. They
not only help in the search for families and the return of the objects, but also contribute to
keeping the names, faces, and stories of the persecution victims alive. And they serve as
a reminder that peace in Europe cannot be taken for granted.”

With the aid of the exhibition and the #StolenMemory campaign, the Arolsen Archives
and volunteers from all over Europe are working to return these objects to the families of
the original owners. More than 1,000 families have been found since the campaign got
underway in 2016.

The exhibition’s aims: To draw attention and gain support

Now in Ukraine for the first time, the exhibition presents photos of those personal
belongings and recalls the fates of six Ukrainian victims of persecution. After beginning
its tour in Lviv, it will be shown at other venues including Kyiv, Dnipro, Chernihiv, and
Mykolaiv. The tour is being organized in cooperation with the NGO Kyiv Educational
Center TolerSpace, which organizes trauma-sensitive educational offers and provides
psychosocial support. The German Federal Foreign Office is funding the exhibition.

A comprehensive accompanying program

Online seminars, a social media campaign, and international educational projects are
accompanying the exhibition. Since 2019, the Arolsen Archives have been organizing
international youths’ meetings in cooperation with and funded by the German-Polish
Youth Office (GPYO). Ukrainian students have also participated in the seminars held at
the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim/Auschwitz. The website stolenmemory.org offers interesting material which has been translated into Ukrainian in
particular for young people. Short animated films with supplementary web stories recount
individual fates.