"Mahnmal Aumunder Synagoge" 2009
Clarissa Dietrich
Memorial for the Synagogue of Aumund
Bronze, 3 parts, various sizes: 2.9m, 1.33m, 0.83m
On the afternoon of 10th November 1938, the synagogue of Aumund was set on fire by the Nazis. Together with Jewish citizens from other districts of Bremen 38 Jewish citizens from Aumund, Blumenthal and Vegesack were deported to Minsk in November 1941, where they were executed or died as a result of their mistreatment. In the summer of 1942 further, mostly senior, citizens were deported to the concentration camp Theresienstadt. Among these was the Rabbi of the Jewish congregation of Aumund, Jacob Wolff, and his family. He died in Theresienstadt.
In 1978, a memorial plaque designed by the artist Ulrich Conrad was installed at the location of the destroyed synagogue. As an intentional artistic gesture, the plaque is shattered by a violent blow and shows three punched holes that symbolise the destruction of the synagogue. In 2005 the square was renamed Jacob-Wolff-Platz after the last Rabbi of the Jewish congregation in Aumund.
The work by the sculptor Clarissa Dietrich of Bremen consists of three bronze elements. They pick up and magnify the shape of the three holes in the earlier memorial plaque. The bronze shards are positioned relative to each other so that the beholder’s gaze is steered towards the memorial plaque. Additionally, a plaque has been installed that holds the names of all the Jewish members from Bremen Nord who were displaced, deported or killed by the national socialists.