The Documentation Center Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation is located at Anhalter Bahnhof in the heart of Berlin - a unique place of learning and remembrance about flight, expulsion and forced migration in the past and present. You can expect exhibitions, a library with an archive of contemporary witnesses, a room of silence, guided tours, workshops and events. And all this with free admission!
The documentation center offers its visitors three permanent exhibitions on the topics of flight, expulsion and reconciliation on two floors. The ongoing program is complemented by unique special exhibitions that reflect the spirit of the times!
The century of flight
Why do people have to flee or are displaced? What do people who have to flee or are displaced experience? What experiences do they have along the way? What does the loss of their homeland mean and what difficulties do people face when they find refuge in another country? The permanent exhibition sheds light on politically, ethnically and religiously motivated forced migrations in the 20th century in Europe and beyond. The focus of the presentation is on the flight and expulsion of Germans during and after the Second World War, which began in Germany.
View of the permanent exhibition © Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung, Photo: Markus Gröteke
A European history of forced migrations
The first part of the permanent exhibition deals with the dimensions of flight, expulsion and forced migration from a European perspective. Examples from different geographical contexts show recurring phenomena that form a basis for understanding forced migration in the 20th century and beyond. Expulsions are a phenomenon of modernity and have reached a new order of magnitude since the end of the 19th century. Whether over 100 years ago in Armenia, after the Second World War in Central Europe or today in Syria - wars and armed conflicts force millions of people to leave their homes. Forced migrations mean great danger and painful losses. The experience of flight and displacement fundamentally changes the lives of those affected. Loss and new beginnings often leave their mark on those affected and their descendants for generations.
View of the permanent exhibition © Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung, Photo: Markus Gröteke
Flight and expulsion of the Germans
The second part of the permanent exhibition on the second floor deals with the flight and expulsion of Germans. During the Second World War, National Socialist Germany occupied large parts of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and waged an unprecedented and cruel war of extermination. Millions of people were exploited, deported, expelled and murdered. Against this backdrop, the Allies decide on a post-war order for Europe that provides for border changes and population displacements. In the final months of the war, millions of Germans flee westwards to escape the Red Army. Most of the people living in the eastern territories of the German Reich and in central and south-eastern Europe are displaced after the end of the war. In total, more than 14 million people were affected by flight and expulsion, and more than 600,000 people lost their lives.
The integration of 12.5 million displaced people is a fundamental challenge for both German post-war societies. The political conditions for this differ in the two German states. The memory of flight and expulsion remains controversial.
Open all year round, free admission!
www.flucht-vertreibung-versoehnung.de
View of the permanent exhibition © Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung, Photo: Markus Gröteke
