Just before the Americans entered Dortmund, on April 13, 1945, the Nazis, towards the very end of the war, once again demonstrated how little human life was worth in the Third Reich.
Around 7 people were shot in Dortmund and the surrounding area between March 12 and April 300. Most of them were forced laborers from the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as German communists and anti-fascists.
Most victims - unidentified
They were all shot repeatedly at various locations by the Gestapo in the Bittermark Forest, in Romberg Park, and in the area around the train station, and then buried in mass graves. The bodies were exhumed shortly after the war. However, most of the victims, mostly foreign nationals, were never identified.
Most perpetrators - unpunished
None of the 147 members of the Dortmund Gestapo were convicted of murder or complicity in murder.
Only 28 were arrested - and in the ensuing trial, 15 were acquitted. One received 8 years in prison, and the others received 2 to 6 years in prison.
Commemorating the victims every year
Since it was Easter at the time of the mass murders, since the end of World War II, a commemoration has always been held in Bittermark on Good Friday, and since 1960 there has been a monument to the victims.
This Good Friday, a memorial service will be held in front of the memorial. The mayor of Dortmund will speak there, as will Nicole Godard, president of the Association of French Forced Workers.
Before the commemoration itself, the Heinrich Čerkus Memorial Race is being held in memory of the former Borussia BVB football ground guard, who was also shot.
Čerkus copied banned leaflets on a printing press in the club's office, and he and other opponents of the Nazis were betrayed by an informant. About twenty of them were arrested in early February 1945 and tortured before being killed.
This is an updated article that was first published in 2024.
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