4 April 2026 marked the 81st anniversary of the liberation of the Ohrdruf satellite concentration camp near Gotha. It was the first camp that the US Army reached which had not been completely cleared. The images from Ohrdruf, taken by US troops, were seen around the world and shaped international awareness of the crimes of the Nazi regime.
Since 2022, the Arolsen Archives, the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, together with the Weimar School of Painting and Drawing and many local institutions and committed individuals, have been working to bridge the gap in remembrance. In doing so, artistic means and digital media make the events tangible, particularly for young people.
This year, 12 young people organised the commemorative event. The 14- to 19-year-old volunteers from six different locations within and outside Thuringia have been working intensively since November 2025 on history, the culture of remembrance and contemporary forms of commemoration as part of the EVZ Foundation’s project “Your HistoryLab for New Perspectives”, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).
“Early on, we as a project group realised that we have very different connections to the history of Nazi terror and to the historic site of Ohrdruf (…). What unites us all is the conviction that a place like Ohrdruf and its victims must be firmly anchored in the consciousness of young people too, and that new approaches to the culture of remembrance by young people
“Early on, we as a project group realised that we have very different connections to the history of Nazi terror and to the historic site of Ohrdruf (…). What unites us all is the conviction that a place like Ohrdruf and its victims must be firmly anchored in the consciousness of young people too, and that new approaches to remembrance must therefore be developed by young people for young people.”
The commemorative event was conceived, organised and carried out by young people; it was hosted by the Arolsen Archives in cooperation with the Foundation ‘Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future’ (EVZ), the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation and the Weimar School of Painting and Drawing. It began with a tour and a commemoration at the site of the former Ohrdruf satellite camp, which is now a Bundeswehr military training area. This was followed by a panel discussion and in-depth workshops for the young participants at Ehrenstein Castle in Ohrdruf.
