Commemoration Ceremony Ravensbrück Memorial – Anniversary of Liberation

A Place of Remembrance

The Ravensbrück Memorial is located on the Schwedtsee lake in Fürstenberg/Havel, in the far north of Brandenburg and thus in the Oberhavel district on the border with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Between 1939 and 1945, the Nazis operated the largest concentration camp for women on German Reich territory here. Over 140,000 women, children, and – in the neighboring men's camp – men from over 40 European countries were imprisoned here; several tens of thousands were murdered.

The Annual Commemoration Ceremony

Since the late 1950s, survivors and their families, together with the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation and the International Ravensbrück Committee, have commemorated the anniversary of the liberation – the Red Army reached the camp on April 30, 1945. The central commemoration ceremony takes place every year at the beginning of May and is the highlight of a multi-day accompanying program of contemporary witness talks, readings, exhibitions, and film screenings.

Program of the Commemoration Ceremony

• Welcome by the Director of the Memorial and the President of the International Ravensbrück Committee
• Speech by the Brandenburg Minister for Science, Research and Culture
• Testimonies from a survivor and a representative of the Sinti and Roma
• Religious commemoration with prayer and Kaddish
• Musical accompaniment
• Laying of wreaths at the Wall of Nations

Multi-day Accompanying Program

Readings, contemporary witness talks, exhibitions, and concerts take place around the central ceremony. For decades, the memorial has emphasized the importance of making the international dimension of the Ravensbrück camp visible: simultaneous interpreters translate the speeches into German, English, Polish, and French.

An Open Culture of Remembrance

The event is public, but registration is mandatory. It is an important place for political education, especially for young people from schools, universities, and initiatives from Brandenburg, Berlin, and all of Europe – especially in a time when contemporary witnesses are becoming rarer.