Tagung: Kinder aus verbotenen und unerwünschten Beziehungen in Zeiten des Krieges | Geschichte, Erinnerung, Kontinuitäten

In the organizer's words:

A conference of the Sandbostel Camp Memorial and the Documentation Center for Nazi Forced Labour in Berlin.

The conference is dedicated to a chapter of the history of the Second World War that has so far received little attention: the children from so-called "forbidden" and socially repressed relationships between forced laborers, prisoners of war in the German Reich, German occupying soldiers and local women or men. These relationships were characterized by violence, racist attributions and state repression - their consequences had an impact far beyond 1945.

On the occasion of the presentation of the traveling exhibition "trotzdem da!- Children from Forbidden Relationships between Germans and Prisoners of War or Forced Laborers", developed at the Sandbostel Camp Memorial and on display in Berlin until May 2026, the conference will bring historians, educators, descendants of those affected and actors in the culture of remembrance into an interdisciplinary dialogue.

The focus will be on historical classifications, life story experiences and transgenerational perspectives. At the same time, the conference opens up a view of the post-war period and comparative perspectives in Europe and beyond. The aim is to make gaps in research visible, to critically reflect on the culture of remembrance and to provide impulses for new forms of historical-political educational work.

Participation is free of charge. Please register by March 15, 2026: veranstaltung_ns-zwangsarbeit(at)topographie.de. Online participation is possible.

Program:
Thursday, 19 March 2026

From 15:30 Arrival and welcome coffee

16:00 Welcome and introduction
Dr. Christine Glauning (Documentation Centre for Nazi Forced Labour), Andreas Ehresmann (Sandbostel Camp Memorial)

16:30 Project presentation "Still there!"
Lucy Debus (Project trotzdem da!), Gwendoline Cicottini (Project trotzdem da!/ Buchenwald Memorial)

17:00 Independent viewing of the exhibition

19:00 Public evening event "The Lion is telling the Story of the Forest". Film (20 min.) and discussion. With Gerd A. Meyer (son from a forbidden relationship), Ksenja Holzmann (Denkort Bunker Valentin/Projekt Multi-peRSPEKTif) and N.N. (Projekt Multi-peRSPEKTif) on multi-perspective perspectives on memory culture(s) and forbidden relationships. Moderation: Lucy Debus (Project nevertheless there!)

21:00 End

Friday, March 20, 2026

09:00 Welcome

1 Historical contexts
09:15 Panel 1: Children from forbidden relationships in the German Reich
Marcel Brüntrup (Commission for Research on Everyday Culture in Westphalia), Gwendoline Cicottini (nevertheless there!) Buchenwald Memorial), Lukas Schretter (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, Online)

11:00 Coffee break

11:15 Panel 2: Children from forbidden relationships in the occupied territories
Jakub Gałęziowski (University of Warsaw), Mieke Kirkels (historian, Margraten, Netherlands, online), N.N.

13:00 Lunch break

2 Life stories and social conditions

14:15 Panel 1: Life stories of children from unwanted relationships during the Second World War
Lucy Debus (Projekt trotzdem da!), Sophie Hubbe (historian, Munich), N.N.

16:00 Coffee break

16:15 Panel 2: "Unwanted" children in different contexts of war and violence: comparative perspectives
Julia Roos (Indiana University Bloomington), Stef Scagliola (historian, Netherlands), N.N.

18:00 Summary of the day & discussion

19:00 End

Saturday March 21, 2026

09:00 Welcome

3 Transgenerational perspectives and memory culture
09:15 Panel 1: Transgenerational consequences of Nazi persecution and social exclusion in the post-war period
Karen Heddinga (Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial) in conversation with descendants from forbidden relationships of the first and second generation

11:00 Coffee break

11:15 Panel 2: Children from forbidden relationships in the culture of remembrance and legal reappraisal
Jan Dohrmann (Projekt trotzdem da!) Christine Glauning (Dokumentationszentrum NS-Zwangsarbeit), Thomas Muggenthaler (Bayerischer Rundfunk)

13:00 Conclusion and final discussion

14:00 End of the conference and departure