The best walks and hikes around Olderup

During the tour, you can download and listen to an audio guide using QR codes displayed at each station. It's very interesting, informative, and lovingly designed. A visit is highly recommended.

Further information, the audio guide and the exhibition can also be found on the memorial’s homepage: www.husumschwesing.de

The prisoners of the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp subcamp had to dig anti-tank ditches. They arrived on September 25th and October 19th, 1944, in two large transports from the Neuengamme concentration camp; there were about 2,600 prisoners in total. Most of them had to do hard labor on construction sites; many became ill after a short time. The number of prisoners unable to work rose to over 700 by the end of November. By the time the camp was dissolved on December 27th, 1944, more than 300 prisoners had died in Husum-Schwesing. Another concentration camp subcamp for building anti-tank ditches was located directly south of the Danish border, in Ladelund. On November 1st, 1944, the camp SS transferred 1,000 prisoners from the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp subcamp there.

The preserved foundations are the remains of the camp's sanitary barracks. There were four such barracks in the concentration camp subcamp. The district of North Friesland had the foundation remains of two of the sanitary barracks uncovered. The sanitary barracks were not sufficient for the more than a thousand concentration camp prisoners at the same time. The contamination of the latrines and washing facilities meant that many suffered from diarrhea and other illnesses. Added to this were a lack of clothing, overcrowded accommodation and poor food.

The fire hydrant became a symbol through the design of the memorial. Its remains represent the arbitrariness with which SS men and some Kapos beat and tortured the concentration camp prisoners. They used the fire hydrant to mistreat the prisoners: the men were tied to the metal column while soaking wet or had to sit on the cover of the fire hydrant (which is now missing) and remain there. The concentration camp prisoners were subjected to numerous other forms of harassment and punishment.

The memorial plaques indicate the burial of the concentration camp prisoners in mass graves in the Husum Eastern Cemetery. At the same time, they complement the field of steles by indicating not only the name, but also the country of origin, age and profession of each known deceased. After the end of the Second World War, some of the dead buried in the Husum Eastern Cemetery were identified and their remains were transferred to their countries of origin. These reburials were completed in 1955. The grave complex was then redesigned and inaugurated in 1957. For decades, the mass graves in the Husum Eastern Cemetery were the place that the former concentration camp prisoners visited for their commemorative events. This only changed with the establishment of the memorial on the site of the former Husum-Schwesing concentration camp in 1987.

The daily route of the concentration camp prisoners to the forced labor at Friesenwall led either through the railway or the road-side camp entrance. The concentration camp prisoners initially had to walk about 12 to 15 km, but later trains were also used to transport them to the construction sites. The prisoners then had to walk from the railway line through the marsh to the work sites. On the way to the forced labor and back to the camp, they often passed through the town of Husum and other places in the surrounding area. Those who lived in Husum and other places in the surrounding area saw the concentration camp prisoners on their marches. The population behaved very differently towards them, ranging from giving them food to attacking the prisoners.

The House of the Present offers the opportunity to deal in depth and with the present with this and other questions and approaches to dealing with the Nazi past and today's society. "National Socialism, Husum-Schwesing concentration camp... You can't learn anything from this history - you have to learn something!" In addition, three other theme panels encourage you to deal with the complex issues of "Prosecution of (war) crimes", "Living on with history" and "Room for action", each with numerous theses and questions. One aim is to link history and the present in an opinion- and question-oriented way. In this way, conversations are encouraged and thought-provoking, critical approaches and discussions are enabled.