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134-631: The Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan , near Detroit , is Michigan's largest Holocaust museum. The Zekelman Holocaust Center, founded as the Holocaust Memorial Center (The HC), the first free-standing institution of its kind in the United States, was founded by CEO Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig with his fellow members of Shaarit Haplaytah ("the Remnant," survivors of

268-574: A city attorney who acts as a legal advisor and representative for all City matters. The Mayor's Youth Council is an active teen committee/council who work under the city to help address teen problems and issues. This council helped to build the Riley Skate Park (the largest skate park in the Midwest), and sends delegates to the National League of Cities (NLC) conferences, has articles published in

402-458: A shtetl replica. The exhibit recognizes the active role of Jewish people in the global political economy, including their role in science, socialist revolution, political activism, combating racism, anti-Semitism, and community building through community organizations such as the Kehillah . The exhibition includes a historical catalog of anti-Semitism prior to and following the rise and collapse of

536-492: A Ravensbrück survivor from France who published her own eyewitness account of the camp in 1975. After liberation, Anna Garcin-Mayade , French painter and member of the French Resistance, painted works illustrating prisoners and the terrible conditions of the camps; these were recreations of works she had created while in the camps. In 2005, Ravensbrück survivor Judith Sherman published a book of prose and poetry titled Say

670-463: A Timeline of Jewish History, which details the contributions of each major community of Jews, organized by country and historical period, including names, pictures and the nature of individual contributions by authors, artists, communal leaders and institutions. In addition to the Timeline, the history of European Jewish culture is documented through artwork, maps, photographs, audio-visual presentations and

804-513: A central role in the GDR's remembrance policy under Erich Honecker . They were controlled by the Ministry of Culture and served as places of identification and legitimisation of the GDR. According to historian Anne-Kathleen Tillack-Graf the political instrumentalisation of these memorials, especially for the current needs of the GDR, became particularly clear during the major celebrations of the liberation of

938-415: A circular room, directly to the left of The Boxcar exhibit. Beginning at the right and circling around is a catalog of global Jewish history, from 2000 BCE with the end of Sumerian power, to 2001 CE, with the second Intifada suicide bombing . The center of the room includes an interactive guide to global Jewish history, and the initial circular room is a reminder of the scope of that history. This portion of

1072-456: A flame burning at all times directly following and to the left of the entrance. This flame honors the memories and lives of the victims of the Holocaust. "In Jewish practice, a twenty-four hour candle is lit on the anniversary of the death of a parent or child," and because there is often no grave or date of anniversary for the lost, the flame burns for them at all hours of the day. The Eternal Flame

1206-487: A former Ravensbrück guard (1944-1945), who had lived in San Francisco , CA since 1959. When a new prisoner arrived at Ravensbrück she was required to wear a colour-coded triangle (a winkel ) that identified her by category, with a letter sewn within the triangle indicating the prisoner's nationality. For example, Polish women wore red triangles, denoting a political prisoner, with a letter "P" (by 1942, Polish women became

1340-484: A gallery dedicated to art and historical exhibits, hosts educational programs for different age groups, and curates eleven core exhibits across its vast space. The HC combats antisemitism through education and through its dedication to survivors and the active struggle of the global Jewish community during rise of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and well after the collapse of the Nazi Regime . By focusing on survivor stories and

1474-459: A generous portion of bread, margarine, and sausage. Conditions quickly deteriorated. Elsie Maréchal , a young Belgian who worked with the Comet Line , was a prisoner at Ravensbrück from 1943 to 1945. She described the conditions: They didn't shoot the women. We were to die of misery, hunger and exhaustion...when we arrived at Ravensbrück, it was the worst. The first thing I saw was a cart with all

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1608-457: A large cage, the size of a birdhouse the like you see at a zoo. Within it paraded peacocks ( stolzierten ) and on a climbing tree dangled monkeys and a parrot which always screamed the same word, "Mama". I wondered, "this is a concentration camp"? Buber-Nuemann wrote how her first meal in Ravensbrück exceeded her expectations, when she was served sweet porridge with dried fruit ( backobst ), plus

1742-402: A mass grave was found by the cemetery accidentally. In more recent excavations, archaeologists have found human body parts that were never fully burned in cremation. Ravensbrück archaeology is hard to come by from the actual site itself, as most of its artifacts escaped with its survivors. Many of these artifacts were lost once some of the survivors reached Sweden. Survivors kept them hidden in

1876-634: A new museum on the grounds of the Old Orchard Theatre on Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills. The Center's new design received front-page coverage in the Wall Street Journal , with a headline asking, "Should a Museum Look as Disturbing as What it Portrays?". Since its inception, the HC has been visited by more than one million visitors from all over the world. Tens of thousands of schoolchildren tour

2010-435: A nonpartisan capacity in odd-numbered years. Mayors are limited to two consecutive terms, while other councilmembers are not subject to term limits . The council elects one of its members to serve as mayor pro tempore . The city council appoints a city manager , who manages the day-to-day operations of the city; a clerk who oversees elections and maintains city codes, ordinances, resolutions and other legal documents; and

2144-441: A research and development center in Farmington Hills. According to the city's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top local employers are: Farmington Hills operates under the council-manager form of government. It is governed by a 7-member city council , consisting of a mayor elected to two-year terms, and six councilmembers elected to staggered four-year terms. Councilmembers serve at-large , and are elected in

2278-522: A second triangle for the other categories. For example, quite often it was for rassenschande ("racial pollution"). Some detainees had their hair shaved, such as those from Czechoslovakia and Poland, but other transports did not. In 1943, for instance, a group of Norwegian women came to the camp (Norwegians/Scandinavians were ranked by the Nazis as the purest of all Aryans). None of them had their hair shaved. Between 1942 and 1943, almost all Jewish women from

2412-497: A subdivision named Quaker Valley Farms that was incorporated as the village of Quakertown in 1959. The other was Wood Creek Farms , developed in 1937 as a subdivision by George Wellington of Franklin, who named it after a New England estate. It was incorporated as a village in 1957. The villages, together with the remainder of Farmington Township, were incorporated into the City of Farmington Hills in 1973. The City grew rapidly throughout

2546-607: A tavern and a general store to accommodate travelers on the plank road between Detroit and Howell. The name remains in the Clarenceville School District . Even though the school buildings for Clarenceville are in Livonia in Wayne County, the school district serves a portion of Farmington Hills. In 1839, a post office named East Farmington was opened, but it closed in 1842. In 1847, a post office named North Farmington

2680-403: A way to keep the two communities vibrant. Farmington and Farmington Hills already share several services, such as a school district, a library system and a district court, however, both cities utilize their own fire departments, and Farmington has a public safety department rather than a police department. According to a 2015 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $ 93,274, and

2814-575: Is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan . A northwestern suburb of Detroit , Farmington Hills is located roughly 22 miles (35.4 km) from downtown Detroit . As of the 2020 census , the city's population was 83,986, making it the second-largest community in Oakland County. Farmington Hills consistently ranks as one of the safest cities in the United States , as well as in

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2948-621: Is flanked on both sides by the Memorial Wall, which names the concentration and extermination camps that served as the unmarked graves of the innocents murdered in the Holocaust. The wall reads "These do I remember and for them my soul weeps," listing Auschwitz , Babi Yar , Belzec , Bergen-Belsen , Breendonck , Buchenwald , Chelmno , Dachau , Drancy , Jasenovac , Klooga , Lwow-Janowska , Majdanek , Mauthausen , Ponary , and Ravensbruck . The following connected wall veers right, with etchings of different nations across Europe and Africa with

3082-561: Is located in Farmington Hills, as is the Michigan School of Psychology . Farmington Hills was also the location for the ficticious University of Farmington , created by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of a sting operation. The major thoroughfares in the city are M-5 , Orchard Lake Road, 12 Mile Road, 8 Mile Road, Northwestern Highway, I-696 , and I-275 . The city contains several freeway interchanges connecting local roads to

3216-603: Is located in Farmington Hills. The Nissan technical center handled project engineering of vehicle bodies used in North America and Latin America. It also has a small laboratory, where as of 2012, research is being conducted with hydrogen fuel cells. The company planned to add electrical battery and recharging of electrical vehicle research to the laboratory. As of January 2012 the technical center had 800 full-time employees. At that time Nissan planned to hire 150 more engineers to work in

3350-583: Is located in the Farmington Public Schools district. The district includes eight elementary schools, three middle schools, and one K-8 lottery school, of which all but one are located in Farmington Hills. North Farmington High School , a large traditional high school, and Farmington Central High School , a smaller alternative high school, are located in Farmington Hills, and Farmington High School in neighboring Farmington also serves portions of Farmington Hills. Harrison High School also operated in

3484-582: Is the subject of several biographies documenting her ordeals. Among the Communist survivors of the camp was French Resistance member Louise Magadur . Maisie Renault, sister of Gilbert Renault, wrote about her captivity in Ravensbrück in La Grande Misère which won France's Prix Verité in 1948. Other survivors who wrote memoirs about their experiences include Gemma La Guardia Gluck , sister of New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia , as well as Germaine Tillion ,

3618-524: Is used throughout the exhibit to respect a Jewish practice .) The goal of the Museum of European Jewish Heritage is to educate visitors about the culture and way of life that were destroyed by the perpetrators of the Holocaust, aiming to kindle an awareness of the ethical, moral, spiritual, educational and cultural contributions of the Jewish people, and thereby promote inter-cultural understanding. The museum contains

3752-510: The Archdiocese of Detroit . St. Fabian is in Farmington Hills, and Our Lady of Sorrows School is in Farmington . Farmington Hills also includes an all-girls Catholic high school, Mercy High School , one Lutheran school, Concordia Lutheran School/St. Paul's Lutheran Preschool, and Hillel Day School , a non-denominational Jewish day school. The Orchard Ridge campus of Oakland Community College

3886-653: The Doctors' Trial in 1946. Between 120 and 140 Romani women were sterilized in the camp in January 1945. All had been deceived into signing the consent form, having been told by the camp overseers that the German authorities would release them if they complied. All inmates were required to do heavy labor ranging from strenuous outdoor jobs to building the V-2 rocket parts for Siemens . The SS also built several factories near Ravensbrück for

4020-602: The Farmington Community Library . Farmington Hills is the home of the Holocaust Memorial Center , the only Holocaust memorial in the State of Michigan. The center's mission is to educate the public about the tragedy and evils of the Holocaust. The Holocaust Memorial Center was originally located in neighboring West Bloomfield Township, but has since expanded and moved to its current facility. According to

4154-910: The Law Concerning the Change in Family Names . Each law among many other social and cultural structures contributed to the legalization and normalization of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. Following this section is a videoed exhibit on Herschel Grynszpan , a German Jew who shot and killed a German Diplomat at the German Embassy in Paris in 1938. This became the justification for Kristalinacht , or "the Night of Broken Glass," where 300 synagogues were burned down and 200 homes and 7,500 shops and businesses were destroyed, along with

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4288-639: The Roman Catholic nun Élise Rivet , Élisabeth de Rothschild (the only member of the Rothschild family to die in the Holocaust ), Russian Orthodox nun St. Maria Skobtsova , the 25-year-old French Princess Anne de Bauffremont-Courtenay , Milena Jesenská , lover of Franz Kafka , and Olga Benário , wife of the Brazilian Communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes . The largest single group of women executed at

4422-537: The Uckermark death complex of Ravensbrück was Ruth Neudeck (January 1945 – March 1945). Regular Aufseherinnen were not usually granted access to the internees' compound unless they supervised inside work details. Most of the SS women met their prisoner work gangs at the gate each morning and returned them later in the day. The treatment by the female guards in Ravensbrück was normally brutal. Elfriede Muller, an Aufseherin in

4556-485: The United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 33.31 square miles (86.27 km ), of which 33.28 square miles (86.19 km ) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km ) is water. Farmington Hills is bordered by West Bloomfield to the north, Franklin and Southfield to the east, Livonia to the south, and Novi to the west. The first white settler in what became Farmington Township

4690-447: The invasion of Poland . By the summer of 1941 with the launch of Operation Barbarossa , an estimated total of 5,000 women were imprisoned, who were fed gradually decreasing hunger rations. By the end of 1942, the inmate population of Ravensbrück had grown to about 10,000. The greatest number of prisoners at one time in Ravensbrück was probably about 45,000. Between 1939 and 1945, some 130,000 to 132,000 female prisoners passed through

4824-520: The poverty line , including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over. As of the census of 2020, there were 83,986 people residing in the city, and 33,972 households. The population density was 2,396.0 inhabitants per square mile (925.1/km ). The racial makeup (including Hispanics in the racial categories) of the city was 62.7% White , 19.9% Black or African American , 0.4% Native American , 14.1% Asian , and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.3% of

4958-408: The 74 Polish victims, called Kaninchen , Króliki , Lapins , or "Rabbits" by the experimenters, five died as a result of the experiments, six with unhealed wounds were executed, and (with assistance from other inmates) the rest survived with permanent physical damage. Four such survivors— Jadwiga Dzido , Maria Broel-Plater, Władysława Karolewska, and Maria Kuśmierczuk—testified against Nazi doctors at

5092-734: The Governance Committee, consisting of Gary Karp as President, Steve D. Grant as Chairman, Larry Kraft as Vice President, Adam Grant as Secretary, Alan Zekelman as Treasurer, Leo Eisenberg, Steven R. Weisberg, and Arthurt Jay Weiss. Other Board Members include Frederick Blechman, Mindi Fynke, Kenneth Goss, Nelson Hersh, Lilly Jacobson, Barbary Kappy, Irvin Kappy, Shari Ferber Kaufman, Arie Leibovitz, Lainie Lipshultz, Edward Malinowski, Spencer Patrich, David Propis, Sam Shamie, Alex Shiffman, David Silbert, Charles Silow, Bubba Urdan, and Arthur A. Weiss. Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills

5226-477: The HC was selected as one of the eleven sites in the United States to receive a sapling from the tree that grew outside of Anne Frank 's hiding place in Amsterdam. The exhibit emphasizes that as she was in hiding for almost two years, she could only see out of a single window, where she would gaze at this white chestnut tree. The tree blooms outside behind the exhibits signage which details the diary of Anne Frank and

5360-477: The HC. It is the first exhibit that visitors will see as they enter, and stands to the immediate right of the entrance, accompanied by information which emphasizes the historical significance of the boxcar in the history of the Holocaust. The WWII-era boxcar was used to transport Jewish peoples and other peoples which the Nazis deemed undesirable during the perpetration of the Final Solution. The signage in front of

5494-669: The Holocaust). It took nearly twenty years of planning and grassroots fundraising before Shaarit Haplaytah was ready to build. Ground was broken for the Holocaust Memorial Center on the property of the Jewish Community Campus at Maple and Drake Roads in West Bloomfield, Michigan , on December 6, 1981. Almost three years later, in October 1984, the HC was dedicated and opened. When the organization outgrew its original location, it built

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5628-481: The Holocaust, Medical Aspects, Memorial Books, Memorial and Museums, Music, National Socialism, Newspapers and Periodicals, Personal Narratives, Propaganda, Psychological Studies, Refugees, Registers, Relief Organizations, Rescue Efforts, Resistance, Revisionism, Righteous Gentiles, Second Generation, U.S. Role, War Crime Trials, and WWII Aftermath. Archive visitors can contact Feiga Weiss for access to archival materials. The Zekelman Holocaust Center involves itself with

5762-416: The Holocaust, but their triumph in overcoming one of mankind's greatest atrocities. The exhibit also emphasizes the cultural hurdles faced by survivors in diaspora, and the way Michigan's social and cultural landscape effected their journey. The Portraits of Honor reminds that despite genocide and wanton violence, Jewish people have fought, rebuilt, and created lives for themselves across the world. In 2009,

5896-552: The Jewish community across the globe. Following the Postwar Period is the Portraits of Honor, honoring Michigan Holocaust Survivors . A ramp displays the portraits of survivors on the left and also emphasizes the life of survivors in metropolitan Detroit. The exhibit was developed under the guidance of Dr. Charles Silow , a son of Holocaust Survivors. The exhibit not only portrays the suffering and violence experienced by survivors of

6030-580: The Jewish victims of fascism. Since 1984, the former SS headquarters have housed the Museum des antifaschistischen Widerstandskampfes (Museum of Anti-fascist Resistance). After the withdrawal from Germany of the Soviet Army , which up to 1993 had been using parts of the former camp for military purposes, it became possible to incorporate more areas of the camp into the memorial site. The three National Memorials Buchenwald , Sachsenhausen , and Ravensbrück played

6164-601: The Multi-Racial Multi-Cultural Commission (MRMC), the Commission on Aging, Farmington Public School District and the Farmington Public Library to inform residents on a variety of quality-of-life issues designed to promote wellness, access and knowledge. In 2006, a public meeting was held in Farmington Hills to discuss the possible merger of the two cities as a money saving venture, and also as

6298-638: The Name . Sherman writes of her childhood home in Kurima , Czechoslovakia , and of several deportations, hiding in homes and in the forest, undergoing torture, and witnessing murder in Ravensbrück before her final liberation. Approximately 500 women from Ravensbrück were transferred to Dachau , where they were assigned as labourers to the Agfa-Commando ; the women assembled ignition timing devices for bombs, artillery ammunition, and V-1 and V-2 rockets. Gustav Noske ,

6432-811: The Nazi Regime as a reminder that anti-Semitism is historically pervasive beyond the history of the Holocaust and Nazism. This portion includes the history of the Blood Libel , Russian and Polish Pogroms , Wilhelm Marr and the Anti-Semitic League , the history of Alfred Dreyfus , American anti-Semitism and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , Henry Ford's role in American anti-Semitic social and cultural structures, and pre-WWII National Socialism . This exhibit leads into

6566-450: The Nazi regime, and as the regime expanded, more camps were constructed and were used for the extermination of Jewish peoples and other groups considered degenerate by the Nazi regime. While the most infamous camps include Treblinka, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau, Chelmno, Sobibor, Belzec and Majdanek, this exhibit emphasizes the existence of thousands of camps across Europe. This exhibit also catalogs

6700-457: The Nazis undertook medical experiments on Ravensbrück prisoners to test the effectiveness of sulfonamides . In the spring of 1941, the SS established a small adjacent camp for male inmates, who built and managed the camp's gas chambers in January 1945. Of the female prisoners who passed through the Ravensbrück camp, about 50,000 perished; some 2,200 were killed in the gas chambers. Construction of

6834-475: The Ravensbrück camp system. According to Encyclopædia Britannica , about 50,000 of them perished from disease, starvation, overwork and despair; some 2,200 were murdered in the gas chambers. On 29–30 April 1945, some 3,500 prisoners were still alive in the main camp. Although the inmates came from every country in German-occupied Europe, the largest single national group in the camp were Polish. In

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6968-490: The Ravensbrück camp were sent to Auschwitz in several transports, following Nazi policy to make Germany Judenrein (cleansed of Jews). Based on the Nazis' incomplete transport list ( Zugangsliste ), documenting 25,028 names of women sent by Nazis to the camp, it is estimated that the Ravensbrück prisoner population's ethnic structure comprised: Poles 24.9%, Germans 19.9%, Jews 15.1%, Soviets 15.0%, French 7.3%, Romani 5.4%, other 12.4%. The Gestapo further categorised

7102-602: The Schwedtsee Lake. Rosa Thälmann, a former concentration camp inmate and widow of the politician Ernst Thälmann , held the opening speech. Compared to Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen , it was the smallest of the three National Memorials of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) . For the inaugural opening of the National Memorial site, a scaled-up version of Tragende ( Woman with Burden ) was created (under

7236-517: The Swedish and Danish Red Cross shortly after the evacuation. On 30 April 1945, fewer than 3,500 malnourished and sickly prisoners were discovered alive at the camp when it was liberated by the Red Army. The survivors of the death march were liberated in the following hours by a Soviet scout unit. The SS guards, female Aufseherinnen guards, and former prisoner-functionaries with administrative positions at

7370-569: The Women's Concentration Camp", which provides information about the origins of the camp, describes daily life in the camp, and explains the principle of Vernichtung durch Arbeit (extermination through work). Since 2004 there has also been an exhibition about the female guards at the Ravensbrück Women's Concentration Camp, housed in another of their former accommodation blocks. Additionally, temporary exhibitions of special interest are held regularly at

7504-770: The Zekelmans. In 2013, the Jewish News covered the planting of the Anne Frank Tree Sapling, and in the same year USA Today covered the removal of Nazi signage at an abandoned automobile plant in Detroit. The HC continues to receive press coverage during community events, with donations, and the opening of new exhibitions or re-opening of closed exhibits. The museum was founded by survivors and continues to honor their memory and history through their facilitators, curators, and board of directors. The current Board of Directors includes

7638-474: The aftermath of the fall of the Nazi regime. It includes information on the Nuremberg trials and the judicial persecution or acquittals of Nazi leadership, and the global political economy's response to the fall of Nazi Germany. Atop the faces of those on trial is a statement which reads, "The Verdict: The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials brought 22 Nazi officials to court in 1945-1946. People were shocked by how ordinary

7772-419: The bodies were kept nearby at the site of their cremation. In 2019, the archaeological remains of Polish women were found in the Fürstenberg cemetery. Nine urns and two plaques were discovered. Their ashes were found buried with metal plaques that had once been part of their urns. The urns had since broken down in the soil but the plaques still have the identities of those who were buried there. Previously in 1989,

7906-428: The boxcar is architecture implemented to give the likeness of the Hannoverscher Bahnhof station in Hamburg, Germany , where victims would have been transported from. The visual and audio exhibit on the wall to the left describes the cobblestone streets of the Warsaw Ghetto , and the Umschlagplatz , or transfer point, which Jews would be forced to gather on. The cramped space of the boxcar and street intend to exemplify

8040-421: The boxcar's opening reads, "Werkstattwagen Nr. [mobile workshop car No.] 4050 942 0784-3 was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust to transport Jews and other prisoners to the killing centers. Sometimes more than 100 people were stuffed into without food. These "passengers" were ticketed by the SS , who paid the Reichsbahn [railroad] for transportation - receiving a credit because the fare was one-way." Surrounding

8174-426: The camp began in November 1938 by the order of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler and was unusual in that it was intended exclusively to hold female inmates. Ravensbrück first housed prisoners in May 1939, when the SS moved 900 women from the Lichtenburg concentration camp in Saxony . Eight months after the start of World War II the camp's maximum capacity was already exceeded. It underwent major expansion following

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8308-492: The camp during the war includes about 48,500 from Poland , 28,000 from the Soviet Union , almost 24,000 from Germany and Austria , nearly 8,000 from France , almost 2,000 from Belgium , and thousands from other countries including a few from the United Kingdom and the United States . More than 20,000 (15 percent) of the total were Jewish More than 80 percent were political prisoners. Many prisoners were employed as slave laborers by Siemens & Halske . From 1942 to 1945,

8442-504: The camp was so harsh that the prisoners nicknamed her "The Beast of Ravensbrück". Other guards in the camp included Hermine Boettcher-Brueckner , Luise Danz , Irma Grese , Herta Oberheuser , and Margarethe de Hueber. The female chief overseers ( Lagerfuehrerinnen and Oberaufseherinnen ) in Ravensbrück were: In 1973, the U.S. government extradited Hermine Braunsteiner , living in Maspeth, Queens , NY, for trial in Germany for war crimes , and in 2006, extradited Elfriede Rinkel , 84,

8576-432: The camp was strictly prohibited. Despite this, there are still artifacts found today that display resistance. A sprig of the lily of the valley is a prime example. While only a piece of plastic, if caught could be considered an act of "sabotage" and largely punishable. In an interview done just after liberation in Sweden, Interview 420 describes: "The smallest infractions were elevated to the level of 'sabotage', which brought

8710-431: The camp were 200 young Polish members of the Home Army . A number of lesbians were imprisoned and murdered at the camp, including Henny Schermann and Mary Pünjer . Among the survivors of Ravensbrück was author Corrie ten Boom , arrested with her family for harbouring Jews in their home in Haarlem , the Netherlands. She documented her ordeal alongside her sister Betsie ten Boom in her book The Hiding Place , which

8844-472: The camp were arrested at the end of the war by the Allies and tried at the Hamburg Ravensbrück trials from 1946 to 1948. Sixteen of the accused were found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. Having fled to Bavaria, Fritz Suhren and Hans Pflaum  [ fr ] were caught by the American troops in 1949 and were sent to the French occupation zone . The trial and appeal took place from February to May 1950. The jury

8978-450: The camp were cremated in the nearby Fürstenberg crematorium until 1943 when SS authorities constructed a crematorium at a site near the camp prison. In January 1945, the SS also transformed a hut near the crematorium into a gas chamber , where they murdered several thousand prisoners before the camp's liberation in April 1945; in particular, they executed some 3,600 prisoners from the Uckermark police camp for "deviant" girls and women, which

9112-439: The camp's operational period. The technical term for a female guard in a Nazi camp was an Aufseherin , 'overseer'. Ravensbrück also served as a training camp for over 4,000 female overseers. The women either stayed in the camp or eventually served in other camps. Some of these women went on to serve as chief wardresses in other camps. Several dozen block overseers (Blockführerinnen), accompanied by dogs, SS men and whips oversaw

9246-553: The camp. Prisoners could be punished if caught but many disregarded camp rules and continued to make art in secret, such as dolls for orphaned or lost children. Chances were not good for children at Ravensbrück. Many lost their mothers, and as a result lost what little protection they did have. Many were medically experimented on or killed. Children on their own would not survive in the camp but women would step forward and behave as surrogate/adoptive mothers, making dolls and taking care of them. The creation of art or personal belongings in

9380-461: The center, Adolf Hitler . On the left side of the entrance to the following section of the exhibit is a collection of artifacts and history of the MS St. Louis , the last passenger ship to leave Nazi Germany, carrying 937 German Jewish Passengers, highlighting the situations and avenues German Jews pursued in emigration. This exhibit details the active struggle of Jewish communities in the Ghettos across Europe, including an extensive contribution to

9514-437: The children in the camp represented almost all nations of Europe occupied by Germany. Between April and October 1944, their number increased considerably, consisting of two groups. One group was composed of Romani children brought into the camp with their mothers or sisters after the Romani camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau was closed. The other group included mostly children who were brought with Polish mothers sent to Ravensbrück after

9648-623: The city from 1970 until its closure in 2019, after which it was repurposed as a community center, named The Hawk. Small portions of the city are within the Clarenceville and Walled Lake Consolidated school districts. The city is also home to Oakland Early College , an early college high school administered by the West Bloomfield School District . The area includes several private schools , including two parochial Catholic schools, Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Fabian, run by

9782-621: The collapse of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Most of these children died of starvation. Ravensbrück had 70 sub-camps used for slave labour that were spread across an area from the Baltic Sea to Bavaria . Among the thousands executed at Ravensbrück were four members of the British World War II organization Special Operations Executive (SOE): Denise Bloch , Cecily Lefort , Lilian Rolfe and Violette Szabo . Other victims included

9916-432: The concentration camps. Today, the former accommodation blocks for the female guards are a youth hostel and youth meeting center. In the course of the reorganization, which took place in the early 1990s, the Museum des antifaschistischen Widerstandskampfes was replaced by two new permanent exhibitions: "Women of Ravensbrück", which displays the biographies of 27 former prisoners, and "Ravensbrück. Topography and History of

10050-633: The contributions of her history to a larger understanding of the Holocaust. The International Institute of the Righteous (IIR) provides visitors with a look at the people and institutions who performed acts of altruism in history in the face of evil or great danger. The IIR pays tribute to those who have rescued and supported their fellow human beings, even at great risk to themselves and their families. Exhibits include portraits and individual biographies together with governmental and organizational histories that highlight altruistic acts. "In 1988, Anita Grosz,

10184-406: The crematorium. One form of resistance was the secret education programmes organised by prisoners for their fellow inmates. All national groups had some sort of programme. The most extensive were among Polish women, wherein various high school-level classes were taught by experienced teachers. In 1939 and 1940, camp living conditions were acceptable: laundry and bed linen were changed regularly and

10318-403: The daughter of Kindertransport survivor Hanus Grosz, conceived the idea of preserving the memories of Kindertransport experience the art of quilting." The exhibit displays the work of these "Kinder," who are now adults, through quilting which share the experiences of repressed memories. It is an exhibit which emphasizes collective memory portrayed through art and community, and the HC emphasizes

10452-469: The dead piled on it. Their arms and legs hanging out, and mouths and eyes wide open. They reduced us to nothing. We didn't even feel like we had the value of cattle. You worked and you died. Starting in the summer of 1942, medical experiments were conducted without consent on 86 women; 74 of them were Polish inmates. Two types of experiments were conducted on the Polish political prisoners. The first type tested

10586-444: The defendants seemed..." This statement aligns with the center's mission of emphasizing that the crimes against humanity committed by the Nazi regime could be repeated, as these men were ordinary, and yet committed genocide. The center of the exhibition is dedicated to survivors, forming a blue-lit circle. To the left are the stories of orphans displaced by the Holocaust, and to the right is a description of displaced persons, detailing

10720-414: The diasporic history of Jewish peoples following the Holocaust. Each section emphasizes the struggle and triumph of survivors and the family of survivors following the collapse of the Nazi regime. Accompanied with the global political history of the post-war international landscape, the history of survivors, displaced Jewish communities, and orphaned Jewish children, emphasize the active and ongoing history of

10854-587: The difficulty of verbalizing memories of trauma experienced by survivors and their families. The HC contains physical and online archives which can be accessed by the public through appointment or electronically through their website. Their collections include: Allied Response, Antisemitism, Art, Bibliography, Biography, Children, Concentration Camps, Curricula, Displaced Persons, Dissertations, European Jewish History, Genealogy, Geographical Finding Aids, Ghettos, Jewish-Christian Relations, Judaica, Juvenile Literature, Kindertransport, Legislation, Liberation, Literature of

10988-411: The efficacy of sulfonamide drugs. These experiments involved deliberate cutting into and infecting of leg bones and muscles with virulent bacteria, cutting nerves, introducing substances like pieces of wood or glass into tissues, and fracturing bones. The second set of experiments studied bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration, and the possibility of transplanting bones from one person to another. Out of

11122-412: The exhibit begins with a quote from Leo Tolstoy: "The Jew is the emblem of eternity. He whom neither slaughter nor torture of thousands of years could destroy...He who was the first to produce the oracles of G-d, he who has been for so long the guardian of prophecy, and transmitted it to the rest of the world - such a nation cannot be destroyed. The Jew is everlasting as eternity itself." (The spelling "G-d"

11256-500: The food was adequate, although in the first winter of 1939/40, limitations began to be noticeable. The German Communist, Margarete Buber-Neumann, came to Ravensbrück as an inmate after nearly two years in a Russian Soviet Gulag . She described her first impressions of Ravensbrück in comparison to the Soviet camp in Karaganda: I looked across the great square, and could not believe my eyes. It

11390-530: The former German Minister of Defense (1919–1920), stayed in Ravensbrück concentration camp after his arrest by the Gestapo in 1944. Later Noske was freed by advancing Allied troops from a Gestapo prison in Berlin. Camp commandants included : The other male officers were : Besides the male Nazi administrators, the camp staff included over 150 female guards assigned to oversee the prisoners at some point during

11524-529: The historical and community significance of the Holocaust. As one of the premier Holocaust Museums in the United States, the HC has been covered extensively by local and national news. In 2022, it has been covered by The Detroit Free Press regarding the Homeland Security Chief in Metro Detroit's visit to the HC. In 2021, the HC announced its largest gift in 37 years with the $ 15 million donation from

11658-418: The historical causalities of war and their effects on those processes, and the ways in which Nazi officials denied genocide and attempted to erase evidence. This final section also portrays the different forms of active resistance of Jewish and other persecuted groups against Nazi extermination across different nations and historical scenarios. This exhibit includes detailed video footage and information about

11792-402: The history of camp construction and their political and social relevance to the regime. The center of this exhibit features a detailed video of the camps, and on the left, the entrance to the following exhibit. This exhibit displays an array of televisions portraying the video footage complied by Dwight D. Eisenhower 's mandate which required civilian news media and military personnel to record

11926-678: The history of the Warsaw Ghetto, the history and construction of the Judenrat , and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising . This section of the exhibition aligns with the museums goals of emphasizing the active resistance of Jewish communities against the Nazi regime. This section leads into a timeline of Nazi expansion and WWII history, and the transition into the Final Solution . It emphasizes the processes of genocide across different European nations,

12060-466: The history of the role of Jewish communities in a broader European history, and leads into the following Descent Into Nazism exhibit. The next exhibit leads the viewer down a long hallway of curated Nazi artifacts, headed with a large portrait of Adolf Hitler. The hallway is dimly lit with black and red paint in stark comparison to the varying colors of the Jewish Heritage exhibit. The exhibit includes

12194-407: The history of this struggle, the HC educates visitors so that they understand the historical context of the Holocaust and how it happened. The HC also does not use verbiage such as, "Jews killed," when referring to the victims of the Holocaust, and instead uses the phrasing, "murdered," as it emphasizes the violent and anti-Semitic intention of the perpetrators. The Holocaust Memorial Center maintains

12328-415: The horrific conditions of the concentration and extermination camps. The exhibit consists of a long hallway with the video footage playing on the television array on the left side, and at the end a sculpture of a Jewish victim with a bunk typical to a camp at their back. Prior to The Abyss walkway is a content warning for the disturbing imagery ahead. Exiting The Abyss leads to an extensive exhibit detailing

12462-463: The inmates as: political 83.54%, anti-social 12.35%, criminal 2.02%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.11%, rassenschande (racial defilement) 0.78%, other 0.20%. The list is one of the most important documents, preserved in the last moments of the camp operation by members of the Polish underground girl guides unit " Mury " (The Walls). The rest of the camp documents were burned by escaping SS overseers in pits or in

12596-480: The lack of space and inhumane treatment of those transported, accompanied by the signage which emphasizes this treatment, the mechanization and processes of the Holocaust, and the idea of this being a one way journey to a final destination. The Museum of European Jewish Heritage, the largest gallery in the HC's Core Exhibit, provides visitors with a view of Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust. The exhibit leads with

12730-426: The largest national component at the camp). Soviet prisoners of war, and German and Austrian Communists, wore red triangles; common criminals wore green triangles; and Jehovah's Witnesses were labelled with lavender triangles. Prostitutes, Romani, homosexuals, and women who refused to marry were lumped together, with black triangles. Jewish women wore yellow triangles but sometimes, unlike the other prisoners, they wore

12864-1085: The local and state community to engage and educate community members. It hosts a number of events, including the Ellie Wiesel Night Competition, the Yom HaShoah Commemoration Holocaust Remembrace Day , the Zekelman Family Campus Family Campus, self-guided tours, and institution tours. The HC also supports learning & leadership programs for younger age groups, and an adult museum education program, which "offers custom interactive experiences with in-person tours of our exhibits and virtual museum experiences. The educational programs offer corporate cultural diversity workshops, programs for security sector professionals, professional development workshops for educators, museum experiences for middle & high school groups, art & writing competitions for students grades seven through twelve. Each program emphasizes

12998-411: The local newspaper, helps run citywide events, organizes battle of the bands, and hosts their own talk show. The Commission for Children, Youth and Families - operated in partnership with neighboring Farmington - is dedicated to creating a welcoming community for individuals of all ages and backgrounds. With a special emphasis on volunteerism, community service and education, the Commission partners with

13132-458: The median income for a family was $ 198,136. Males had a median income of $ 61,757 versus $ 39,540 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 36,134. Farmington Hills is well known for its luxury estates, its rolling hills, and is also listed on Forbes as one of the most prosperous suburbs in the US, with a household net worth of $ 725,120. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below

13266-436: The memorial. On 16 and 17 April 2005, a ceremony was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the camp's liberation. Among those invited were approximately 600 survivors from all over the world, mostly eastern Europe. At the same time a new, permanent outdoor exhibition was opened, on the theme of the train transports to Ravensbrück. Its central exhibit is a refurbished goods wagon. The exhibition's information boards describe

13400-489: The mid-20th century. Farmington Hills is home to the headquarters of numerous major companies, including Gale , Mango Languages , 5-Hour Energy , and The Sharper Image , as well as the United States headquarters of Bosch , Mercedes-Benz Financial Services , and TD Auto Finance . The city was also previously home to the headquarters of Compuware , White Motor Company , A&W Restaurants , and Michigan National Bank . Nissan 's North American technical center

13534-626: The murder of 91 Jewish people and the placement of 30,000 Jewish men into concentration camps. The exhibit follows with descriptions of other groups persecuted by the Nazi regime, including homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Romani peoples. At the center of this hallway flanked by curated Nazi uniforms and armaments' is an explanation of Nazi hierarchy, with the central Nazi leaders at the center, including Hans Frank , Martin Bormann , Hermann Goering , Heinrich Himmler , Paul Josef (Joseph) Goebbels , Rudolf Hess , Adolf Eichmann , Albert Speer , and in

13668-592: The museum each year and speak with a survivor of the Holocaust. Rabbi Rosenzveig died on December 11, 2008, in Royal Oak, Michigan, at Beaumont Hospital as the result of heart failure. Steve Goldman served as CEO from 2009 until his retirement in February 2016, at which time he was succeeded by Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld . The expansion on the new site consists of an expanded Holocaust Center and two new museums, designed by Neumann/Smith Architecture . The Holocaust Memorial Center

13802-509: The next, and emphasizes the longstanding persecutions of global Jewish communities, and their resistance to anti-Semitism. Turning the final corner leads to the history of European Jewish communities, from their emergence from the Ghetto in 1871, to Berlin urbanization in 1888-1918, to World War I from 1914 to 1918, and finally to the Weimar Republic from 1918 to 1933. This section catalogs

13936-647: The number of Jews murdered in each below. The top right corner of the wall reads, "The number of Jews murdered under Nazi direction in the different countries of Europe. The total number of Jews that died in Ghettos, Concentration Camps, Mobile Gas Units, Mass Murders, and Exterminations in Gas Chambers is...6,258,484." Part of the Henrietta and Alvin Weisberg Gallery, The Boxcar is the largest curated historical artifact in

14070-669: The origins of the transports and how they developed over time and explain the different types of trains, where they arrived, and the part played by the local residents. It is probably the only exhibition so far at a German memorial which is dedicated solely to the subject of the transports to the camp. A monument to the French victims of Ravensbruck is one of the memorials to several concentration camps in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris . Ravensbrück did not have its own burial site, so most of

14204-812: The political and cultural structures which established anti-Semitism as a paradigm in Nazi Germany and its eventual annexed territories. The walkway veering to the left includes detailed information on the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , the Reich Citizenship Law , the Nuremberg Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, and the Second Decree Implementing

14338-525: The population. As of the census of 2010, there were 79,740 people, 33,559 households, and 21,412 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,396.0 inhabitants per square mile (925.1/km ). There were 36,178 housing units at an average density of 1,087.1 per square mile (419.7/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 69.7% White , 17.4% African American , 0.2% Native American , 10.1% Asian , 0.4% from other races , and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of

14472-440: The population. There were 33,559 households, of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.2% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

14606-463: The population. 12.6% were of German , 9.1% Polish , 8.3% Irish , 7.1% English and 5.5% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000 . There were 33,559 households, out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who

14740-535: The prisoners in their living quarters in Ravensbrück, at roll call and during food distribution. At any single time, a report overseer (Rapportführerin) handled the roll calls and general discipline of the internees. Rosel Laurenzen originally served as head of the labour pool at the camp (Arbeitdienstführerin) along with her assistant Gertrud Schoeber. In 1944 Greta Bösel took over this command. Other high ranking female guards included Christel Jankowsky, Ilse Göritz, Margot Dreschel , and Elisabeth Kammer. Head wardress at

14874-427: The production of textiles and electrical components. Ravensbrück was the main supplier of women for the brothels set up at many major Nazi camps toward the end of the war. Although women often volunteered for these positions, hoping they would be spared the most difficult physical labour and perhaps receive better rations, most in fact died quickly due to sexual abuse and the rampant spread of venereal disease. For

15008-412: The proliferation of concentration camps and extermination camps. The exhibitions leads with a cattle car which can be entered, and on the left and front walls of the car are the portrayals of Jewish victims. Entering the camp system brings one through a gate made in the likeness of a Nazi era concentration camp. Camps began construction in 1933, and were used first to primarily persecute political enemies of

15142-656: The same community. These two cities combined were part of Farmington Township in the time of the Northwest Territory. Features of the community include a recently renovated downtown, boutiques, a vintage cinema, numerous restaurants, exotic car dealerships, art galleries, and public parks including Heritage Park. There are several historical sites including the Longacre House and the Governor Warner Mansion. Both cities are served by Farmington Public Schools and

15276-474: The sculptor Will Lammert was commissioned to design the memorial site between the crematorium , the camp wall, and Schwedtsee Lake . Up to his death in 1957, the artist created a large number of sculpted models of women. On 12 September 1959, the Ravensbrück National Memorial was inaugurated outside the former concentration camp on an area of 3.5 ha between the former camp wall and the shore of

15410-486: The spring of 1941, the SS authorities established a small men's camp adjacent to the main camp. The male inmates built and managed the gas chambers for the camp in 1944. There were children in the camp as well. At first, they arrived with mothers who were Romani or Jews incarcerated in the camp or were born to imprisoned women. There were few children early on, including a few Czech children from Lidice in July 1942. Later

15544-491: The spring of 1945, the SS leadership decided to remove as many prisoners as they could, in order to avoid leaving live witnesses behind who could testify as to what had occurred in the camp. At the end of March, the SS ordered all physically capable women to form a column and exit the camp in the direction of northern Mecklenburg, forcing over 24,500 prisoners on a death march . Some 2,500 ethnic German prisoners remaining were released, and 500 women were handed over to officials of

15678-573: The state of Michigan, at 589. As of the census of 2000, there were 82,111 people, 33,559 households, and 21,813 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,466.4 inhabitants per square mile (952.3/km ). There were 34,858 housing units at an average density of 1,047.0 per square mile (404.2/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 82.95% White , 6.94% African American , 0.17% Native American , 7.54% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.46% from other races , and 1.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.47% of

15812-500: The state of Michigan. The area ranked as the 30th safest city in the U.S. in 2010 and as the 2nd safest city in Michigan in 2020. Farmington Hills also ranks as the 36th highest-income place in the United States with a population of 50,000 or more and ranked as 14th America's best cities to live by 24/7 Wall St. in 2016. Although the two cities have separate services and addresses, Farmington and Farmington Hills are often thought of as

15946-664: The supervision of Fritz Cremer ) and exhibited. This central symbolic figure, also known as the " Pietà of Ravensbrück", stands atop a stele on the peninsula in Lake Schwedtsee. The Zwei Stehende ( Two Women Standing ) monument also has its origins in Lammert's models. Other statues, which were also originally created for Ravensbrück, have been on display at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Berlin Mitte since 1985, in commemoration of

16080-504: The technical center. The technical center opened in November 1991 at a cost of $ 80 million. In 2005, Nissan added a $ 14 million design studio at their Farmington Hills campus, and the Nissan AZEAL was the first car to be designed there. Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc. maintains an office in Farmington Hills, as does Panasonic Automotive Systems. Lordstown Motors operates

16214-505: The two interstates. Public transit services are provided by SMART . Notable current and former residents include: Ravensbr%C3%BCck concentration camp Ravensbrück ( pronounced [ˌʁaːvn̩sˈbʁʏk] ) was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, 90 km (56 mi) north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel ). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 132,000 women who were in

16348-601: The waistbands and hems of their clothes. As the women were being cleaned, their clothes were burned. While the women showed hesitation in getting rid of their clothes, no one voiced why they were upset about it. They didn't yet trust the people taking care of them after all they had endured. Karin Landgren Blomqvist helped the survivors but regrets this detail: The clothes one was to take care of proved to be dirty rags, infested with lice, which were according to Swedish standards too worn down to be worth cleaning. The consequence

16482-506: The women in the camp, it was important to retain some of their dignity and sense of humanity. Therefore, they made necklaces, bracelets, and other personal items, like small dolls and books, as keepsakes. These personal effects were of great importance to the women and many of them risked their lives to keep these possessions. Some of these types of effects can be seen at the exhibition "Voices from Ravensbrück" (hosted by Lund University Library, Sweden). The bodies of those perished or killed in

16616-422: Was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age in the city was 42.1 years. 21.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 30.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.1% male and 52.9% female. In April 2013, Farmington Hills had the fourth largest Japanese national population in

16750-461: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.04. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males. Almost all of Farmington Hills

16884-406: Was a Quaker from Farmington, New York , named Arthur Power. He purchased land in 1823 and returned in 1824 with a group of families and associates to clear the land. The settlement became known as Quakertown . A post office was established in February 1826 with the name of Farmington. The original post office is still standing today, and is a designated historical site . The township of Farmington

17018-454: Was composed of representatives from the French, Dutch and Luxembourg governments, presided by the chief justice officer of the French zone . Several dozens of former prisoners were subpoenaed. Suhren and Pflaum were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They were sentenced to death and executed on 12 June 1950. On the site of the former concentration camp, there is a memorial. In 1954,

17152-500: Was established a mile south of the township line as Wolcott's Corners. After the death of postmaster Chauncey D. Walcott in 1865, the office moved to the township line in the northeast quarter of section 4 (near the intersection of 14 Mile Road and Farmington Road). The post office functioned until September 1902. Before the remainder of Farmington Township was incorporated as the city of Farmington Hills, there were two other incorporated entities within its boundaries. The first began as

17286-580: Was eventually produced as a motion picture. Polish Countess Karolina Lanckoronska , an art historian and author of Michelangelo in Ravensbrück , was imprisoned there from 1943 until 1945. SOE agents who survived were Yvonne Baseden and Eileen Nearne , who was a prisoner in 1944 before being transferred to another work camp and escaping. Englishwoman Mary Lindell and American Virginia d'Albert-Lake , both leaders of escape and evasion lines in France, survived. Another SOE agent, Odette Sansom , also survived and

17420-472: Was organized in 1827, and the settlement was incorporated as the village of Farmington in the winter of 1866–67. A fire on October 9, 1872, destroyed many buildings in the village center. Farmington was incorporated as a city in 1926. A small settlement was also developed in Clarenceville , in the extreme southeast corner of the township on the boundary with Livonia in Wayne County . Stephen Jennings built

17554-482: Was renamed The Zekelman Holocaust Center in January 2022, recognizing $ 25 million of family donations. The Holocaust Memorial Center's stated mission is to "engage, educate, and empower by remembering the Holocaust. In doing so, the Memorial Center engages in a number of community activities, hosts tours for public schools, universities, institutions and interested tour groups, curates an expansive library archive and

17688-430: Was surrounded by manicured lawns, covered by flower beds on which bloomed bright red flowers. A wide street, which led to a large open area, was flanked by two rows of wooden barracks, on both sides stood rows of young trees and along the roadside ran straight flower beds as far as the eye could see. The square and the streets seemed freshly raked. To the left towards the watchtower, I saw a white wooden barrack and beside it

17822-546: Was taken under the control of the Ravensbrück SS at the start of 1945. In January 1945, prior to the liberation of the remaining camp survivors, an estimated 45,000 female prisoners and over 5,000 male prisoners remained at Ravensbrück, including children and those transported from satellite camps only to be murdered in the gas chamber , which was being performed in haste. With the Soviet Red Army 's rapid approach in

17956-468: Was that it was all burned. Many survivors protested, but few dared to say why. They dared not believe we were fully without German influence. We had been too naïve and unsuspecting. Inseams, hems, and waistbands, many had with great effort and danger for life during internment in camp managed to save personal souvenirs and treasures. Now, when liberation was a fact, they lost these very last objects from their original lives. These were things secretly made in

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