“Russenlager” and forced labour. Soviet prisoners of war in Bremen - “home” as a reference for historical memory Creating an exhibition on a voluntary basis: a case study

Abstract

This article focuses on emotional approaches within the framework of the exhibition “Russenlager” and Forced Labour in Bremen. Having traced local events and circumstances related to general historical topics, we expose on 14 displays a network of camps of Soviet POWs (“Russenlager”), work commandos, places of labour and the profiting companies in Bremen. Accordingly, ‘home’ is the emotional core, combined with a face-to-face approach presenting individual Soviet POWs, depicted on facsimile registration cards, issued by the Wehrmacht, which we use as guides through the exhibition. Another biographical approach extends into the present, involving the contact with a relative of a Soviet POW, who was forced to work in Bremen until he perished.
Key words: Soviet POW, forced labour, collective memory, home, emotional approach.