Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarian Violence (Bocholt Stadtwaldlager)

Memorial to the victims of totalitarian violence.

Anne Frank Freedom Tree
The chestnut tree that stood in the garden of the rear building on Prinsengracht in Amsterdam was destroyed in a storm in 2010. Volunteers of the "Stichting Elementree" collected the chestnuts from the tree and planted them. They grew to neat trees now. One of these trees was planted on December 4, 2020 here at the memorial in the former city forest camp in Bocholt.Anne Frank always had the chestnut in her field of vision when she looked out the window of the rear building in Amsterdam. She and her family hid there from July 1942 to August 1944. In her diary, which she received on her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942, she wrote several times about the chestnut. Most recently on May 13, 1944: "Our chestnut tree is in full bloom from top to bottom, it is full of leaves and much more beautiful than last year".Yes Anne-Frank-Freiheitsbaum should stimulate reflection on the topic of living together, regardless of language / origin, orientation or belief. At the same time it stands for peace and freedom, then and now. The chestnut reminds of the victims of totalitarian violence in the city forest camp.The tree was planted on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II as part of the cross-border initiative “Celebrating 75 Years of Peace and Freedom Together”.

My father became a prisoner of war near Aachen. The day after he was brought here - probably by truck. Here they have neatly noted and taken what he had with him: a monthly salary accurate to the cent and a few postage stamps. From here he went in a boxcar to a Lager in Poland. (take turns in the car by the open crack) Fortunately the Fuehrer had stroked his heart and sent the Dutch home. (After all, they were 'Aryans' and they had fought well during their invasion of the Netherlands) In that one month he lost seven kilos but was able to gain weight again at home.
Every now and then I cycle through the Stadtwald and think about this. Unfortunately I miss the buildings and the railway, good that there is this monument. I believe that my father as a prisoner of war in Germany / Poland was treated well under the circumstances. Not much more than a monument can be seen of that Lager in Poland. But I have never been there, and Streetview offers a solution. Later, or so it was planned, he also got that money back