Mahnmal Bittermark

Mahnmal Bittermark stands in Dortmund’s Bittermark district as a memorial to people killed by the Gestapo during the Second World War. The site recalls Nazi violence in Dortmund. The victims included forced labourers from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Poland, and the Soviet Union. German resistance members and civilians were also among the victims. After Dortmund’s liberation, the victims’ bodies were exhumed, and the memorial later became a burial place. Many of the victims remain buried at the site. Will Schwarz and Karel Niestrath designed the long, cuboid structure, whose walls taper towards the top. Two barred windows provide its interior light. French artist Léon Zack made the interior mosaic, whose abstract forms recall barbed wire. Niestrath’s friezes show violence under the Nazi regime. A crypt holds the remains of an unknown French forced labourer. The crypt carries designation as French territory. The architecture, mosaic, friezes, and burial place preserve several layers of historical remembrance. The memorial connects Dortmund’s wartime history with the stories of forced labourers, resistance members, and civilians. Each element gives the site a specific historical meaning.