The Herbert Baum Gedenkstein

This small stone cube marks the site in Berlin’s Lustgarten where, in May 1942, the Herbert Baum Group staged an arson attack on an anti-Soviet exhibit staged by the Nazis. The Baum Group, a resistance faction founded by Herbert Baum in 1936, was primarily made up of young German Jews and Communists. Many Group members were arrested and either killed or sent to concentration camps. After his arrest, soon after the arson attack, Herbert Baum committed suicide in prison in June 1942; his wife was executed in August. 

The City Council of East Berlin commissioned the Herbert Baum Gedenkstein in 1981 to stand as a symbol of East Germany’s friendship with the Soviet Union. After the reunification of Germany, some Berliners thought the stone should be removed as part of a renovation of the Lustgarten. But Gerhard Zadek, a surviving member of the Herbert Baum Group, suggested that instead, the message on the stone should be updated, reframed, and expanded. The District City Hall agreed, and in 2001, two transparent Plexiglass plaques were added on top of the existing stone, adding new information while allowing the original memorial to remain visible.

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References

German Resistance Memorial Center:
External Link

Jordan, Jennifer A. Structures of Memory. Stanford University Press, 2006: 73-75.

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Discussions

Discussion of Herbert Baum Gedenkstein

When memorials become ideologically problematic, is it better to get rid of them––or to add to them? The original Herbert Baum memorial reflected the ideology…

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Design of Herbert Baum Gedenkstein

The Herbert Baum Gedenkstein, as it was designed by Jürgen Raue in its original form, consists of a small stone cube with inscriptions on each…

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