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      On Opera Square

      Holocaust Memorial

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      Students of the St. Ursula School presenting some evocative content from the information board at its unveiling on 15 October 2013 © LHH

      Students of the St. Ursula School presenting some evocative content from the information board at its unveiling on 15 October 2013

      This Memorial commemorates the 1,930 people from Hannover who were deported and murdered by the Nazis before and during the Second World War.

      Since October 1994, this memorial on the Opera Square in the heart of the town has commemorated the Hanoverian Jewish victims of National Socialism. It was created on the initiative of the 'Memoriam' association. Michelangelo Pistoletto designed it in 1993 as an accessible pyramid that, instead of a point, has a doorway arch in which two people can sit vis-à-vis.

      Information board

      Marlis Drevermann at the unveiling of the memorial information board on 25 October 2013 © LHH

      Marlis Drevermann at the unveiling of the memorial information board on 25 October 2013

      On 25 October 2013 an information board at the memorial was unveiled, bearing an historical overview, background information about Jewish life in Hannover, about anti-semitism and persecution, some annotations on the origination of the memorial and references regarding some of the names on the memorial pyramid.

      Sensitive and respectful attitude

      On the day of the unveiling, the City's Director of Culture and Education Marlis Drevermann explained that with this information board the city is inviting people to a sensitive and respectful attitude at this place of commemoration. Drevermann is convinced that the board will motivate people to talk about the memorial: "Talking with each other works on equal terms, not by setting up prohibition signs. We hope that the board will initiate many conversations". She brought to mind that the memorial "of the biggest infamy in our history" had from the outset been planned not only to be looked at, but also to walk onto – and this should be maintained. The aim of the memorial and information board was to evocate "defending the values of democracy and of respectful interaction in the urban society". With these information boards – others being set up at the Maschsee lake, the former Synagogue in Rote Reihe and also at the former concentration camp in Stöcken – the city was contributing to "creating an open and tolerant atmosphere for dialogue".