Collecting stories with a thirst for research

Veronica Scholz

Veronica Scholz was born in Giessen in 1989, the year of the peaceful revolution. When she came to Chemnitz to study, she knew nothing of the history that connects these two cities. Karl-Marx-Stadt was the site of the prison that 30,000 political prisoners had to go through before they were able to leave the country thanks to the Federal Republic's prisoner release programme and were eventually taken to the emergency reception centre in Giessen. Together with other European Studies students from Chemnitz University of Technology, the 26-year-old will be tracing the history of the Kaßberg prison and the Giessen emergency reception centre. From Saturday 11 April until next Wednesday, they and other students will be hosting the "Open Gate Days".

How did you first hear about the Kaßberg prison?
Veronica Scholz: When I was new in the city, I asked for directions and struck up a conversation with a passer-by from Chemnitz. He heard that I wasn't from the neighbourhood. I told him that I was from Giessen and he replied straight away: "Ah, Giessen. He told me about the release of prisoners in the GDR and that Chemnitz and Giessen have a special history. I didn't know that before.

Is too little light shed on the history of the prisons?
If you hear anything about Stasi prisons, it's Hohenschönhausen-Berlin. In 1989, it was the largest prison in the GDR. In 1989, however, the Kaßberg prison was the largest Stasi remand centre in the GDR. That always remains somewhat in the shadows, even though the story is so exciting. All political prisoners who were released in the GDR were first taken to Karl-Marx-Stadt and then bussed to Giessen. Giessen was also the central and therefore only emergency reception centre in the entire Federal Republic of Germany that took in the prisoners there.

When did you see the Kaßberg prison for the first time?
It was at the begehungen art and culture festival in 2011. I then studied the building intensively in a history seminar on places of repression in Chemnitz. We quickly realised that it was a very research-oriented seminar. We read Stasi files and rummaged through archives.

Why are you interested in this place?
The connection to Giessen was of course exciting for me personally because it is a relatively unknown and unexplored history for my generation. And when you realise that you're researching something like no one else before you, that's something special. That drives you on. And the interviews I conducted with contemporary witnesses were very intense and impressive.

What are your plans from 11 April?
We are a group of young people studying European history or European studies. We are opening the prison for five days from 11 April. We have called our project "Days of the Open Gate". We want to inform, commemorate and discuss. Among other things, we will be presenting our own research findings. A fellow student will present his research work on the history of the prison during the Nazi era. I myself have reconstructed the history of the Soviet occupation. We want to offer talks and guided tours with contemporary witnesses. Exhibitions will show the history of the building. There will also be a photo exhibition from Gießen by Karl-Heinz Brunk, who secretly photographed the release of the prisoners.

Which partners are you working with in Chemnitz?
With the churches, for example. There will be an inner-German peace prayer jointly organised by Pastor Brenner from the Evangelical Lutheran church district of Chemnitz and Pastor Wagner from Giessen. In this service, they will commemorate 25 years of German unity and the shared history of the prisoner release programme between Karl-Marx-Stadt and Giessen. We also work together with the association Lern- und Gedenkort Kaßberg-Gefängnis e.V. as well as with the Stasi Records Office and Chemnitz University of Technology. We also have many other sponsors.

What else do you offer that is out of the ordinary?
Culture is a must, of course. We have called it "experiencing going to prison". We will be working with light and audio effects on three evenings. We will be able to hear the university choir and the adult orchestra of the municipal music school. Visitors should get to know this place in a different way, but also not forget its history. To round off the week, we invite you to a lecture on 15 April in which a scientist from Giessen will discuss the emergency admission procedure. This will be followed by a panel discussion with guests from politics, science and representatives interested in the subsequent use of the building.

Were you able to benefit from your connections to Giessen during the project?
(laughs) I now have a better network in Chemnitz than in Giessen. I approached the pastor personally. Otherwise, we took the official route and it quickly became clear who to contact and who would support us.

What specifically did you research?
My title is: The Soviet offices in Chemnitz and Karl-Marx-Stadt 1945-1989. That sounds boring at first. But it's not, if you consider that the Soviet offices were used by the Soviet secret service. I looked for places of repression in Chemnitz, for example detention cellars. People who came under suspicion were locked up there, interrogated and sometimes mistreated. The Kaßberg prison is naturally a central location in my research work. But there are also some places in Siegmar or in Carolastrasse. That's the exciting thing: You ring the doorbell and people don't even know what happened in their cellars.

How do the people of Chemnitz deal with their history from your perspective?
There is still a lot of resentment. But there are also many stories. There is always someone who can tell a story about the Kaßberg prison. That was a motivation for me to bring these stories back to light, because it would be a shame if they were forgotten. So far, I don't think people have thought enough about the history of the building and questioned it. But the interest is there.

Has working on the project changed your view of Chemnitz?
I got to know more about Chemnitz, not just the cellars. (laughs) I learnt a lot about the history and significance of the city. When I arrived here, there was no Kraftklub. There was only Chemnitz and the usual clichés. And you always had to justify yourself.

What is your image of the city today?
You can still do something here, make a difference. On the one hand, it's sad that the prison is empty and that nobody had the idea of doing the project before. That surprises me, but it was an opportunity for us.

Was it easy to organise something like this as students?
That's the nice thing. In Chemnitz there is still a lot of freedom and space for ideas. Of course you need support. Some things can fail because of that. You have to keep at it and find sponsors. That worked out well for us in the end. The other question is whether it will be accepted. That's sometimes a bit difficult in Chemnitz. There are great things, lots of initiatives. Sometimes there isn't as much interest as there would be in other cities. But let's see. After the project, I'll be able to make a better judgement.

Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Yes, I have the impression. I find myself explaining myself and defending Chemnitz.

"Open Gate Days" from 11-15 April 2015 at Kaßberg Prison Chemnitz
Initiated by students and alumni of Chemnitz University of Technology in cooperation with Lern- und Gedenkort Kaßberg-Gefängnis e.V. and the Saxon State Commissioner for Stasi Records, Mr Rathenow. Made possible by the kind provision of the building by the Staatsbetrieb Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement (SIB). More information at http://projekt.gedenkort-kassberg.de