On Friday, 8 August 2025, the Arolsen Archives will open the open-air traveling exhibition #StolenMemory at the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial Site. The exhibition focuses on the last possessions of concentration camp inmates and the question of how these so-called “effects” can still be returned to the families of the victims today.
The exhibition will be on display in a fold-out shipping container on the grounds of the memorial site, right next to the former inmates’ camp.
"Effects" are personal items that were taken from prisoners by the Nazis when they arrived at the concentration camps. These often included wedding rings, watches, fountain pens, or wallets with photos.
At the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, prisoners also had to hand over their civilian clothes and personal belongings in the storeroom called “Effektenkammer”. There they were given striped prisoner uniforms with numbers and angle marks. Andreas Froese, director of the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial, explains:
"The concentration camp system aimed to rob the deported people of their personal identity. This included the forced surrender of personal effects."
#StolenMemory is a campaign by the Arolsen Archives to return these personal items to their relatives. Over 1,000 families have already been found since the campaign was launched in 2016. The exhibition shows pictures of such "effects" and tells the stories of ten victims of Nazi persecution.
The exhibition can be visited from 8 to 26 August during the museum's opening hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
