Dealing with the time of National Socialist tyranny constantly anew is part  
of the fundamental consensus of our democratic society. We need to take a look back to realise our responsibility for what happened and the significance of the past for shaping the future.
“Network of Memory and Future” has put much effort into the task of supporting the culture of remembrance in the region of Hanover. “Places of Memory”, this guide to memorials of persecution and resistance during the reign of the National Socialists, is a visible result of this endeavour and serves to depict and link memorials.

The significance of such a guide is not to be underestimated, since we find ourselves in a generational change – in a transformational time from personal remembrance and experienced fate to a social discussion about transmitted information. As our culture of remembrance undergoes change, we need memorials which sensitise especially young people to the fragility of freedom and constitutional legality and which demand action. Against racism, against anti-Semitism and against any kind of right-wing extremism.

My sincere thanks go to all those who enable this guide with their commitment and their historic expertise.
May it encounter a wide interest among the public and contribute to a new and more intensive culture of social memory and commemoration.

Yours,
Hauke Jagau
Chief administrator of the region of Hanover


The time of National Socialist tyranny in our city must not be forgotten. Nevertheless, this part of our past fades into the background of the collective consciousness time and again, just as the fates of the people affected.

The Network of Memory and Future endeavours to meet this phenomenon effectively and now presents “Places of Remembrance” – a guide to sites of persecution and resistance during the Nazi dictatorship in the region of Hanover.

This guide through the urban and regional topography of the terror is an appropriate way to inform young people especially and to raise their interest for the topic dealt with. This issue will demand high attentiveness due to its confronting character, challenging the reader to exercise accountability even beyond the day.

Right-wing extremist groups and even political parties with racial and inhuman paroles, for which there is no room in a democratic society, act again and again.

Through this guide the picture of our National Socialist past becomes clearer. It offers clues and indications, and it helps to classify the presented places of commemoration historically. Furthermore, it contributes to sensitize the focus for our own lives, for the individual social and political environment. Future needs remembrance!

The cooperation of groups, initiatives, unions and institutions in the Network of Memory and Future is particularly precious because on this occasion private and public agents dedicate themselves together to the culture of remembrance. Most of all, they deserve gratitude for the extensive researches and detailed work.

Stephan Weil
Lord Mayor of Hanover