DS038 Walking Our History: Inside the "Entangled Pasts" Exhibition at Sachsenhausen

DS038 Walking Our History: Inside the "Entangled Pasts" Exhibition at Sachsenhausen

What does it feel like to see your own family history inside a memorial museum? In this episode, we—three descendants of former Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners—take you with us as we walk the historic camp grounds. From the infamous gates of Tower A to the haunting underground tunnels, we retrace our ancestors’ steps and confront a heavy family legacy. Together, we visit the camp’s new exhibition, “Entangled Pasts. Descendants speak.” This is a deeply personal journey about memory, breaking the silence, and the responsibility of the next generations. Our story, told by us. Listen in as we reclaim our ancestors’ voices directly from sacred ground. The new website of the Sachsenhausen Memorial, specially created for descendants, can be found here: Information for Descendants [https://descendants.sachsenhausen-sbg.de/] A huge thank you to the team at the Sachsenhausen Memorial and the EVZ Foundation for making this exhebition possible. [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-480x640.png]

DS037 Herbert Böhm (german/deutsch)

Herbert Böhm wurde am 21.07.1901 in Trebnitz, Schlesien (heute Trzebnica, Polen) geboren. Als reisender Zimmermann mit Ehefrau und 7 Kindern kommt er immer wieder in schwierige wirtschaftliche Situationen und erregt so die Aufmerksamkeit der Sozialbehörden des gleichgeschalteten NS-Staates. Am 23.10.1940 wurde gefesselt in das KZ Sachsenhausen gebracht. Dort wird er der Häftlingskategorie der “Asozialen” zugeordnet. Herbert Böhm starb wahrscheinlich Ende 1943 oder Anfang 1944 im KZ Ravensbrück. In dieser Episonde erzählt Mascha Krink die Geschichte von ihrem Großvater Herbert Böhm. In dem Podcast Auf den Spuren unseres als “asozial” stigmatisierten Großvaters: Herbert Böhm [https://open.spotify.com/show/6WsbFsC0lO0yjYF789BwBu] wird die Geschichte von Herbert Böhm noch ausführlicher dargestellt. Mascha Krink war Gründungsmitglied im Verband für das Erinnern an die verleugneten Opfer des Nationalsozialismus e.V. [https://www.dieverleugneten-vevon.de/]

DS036 Honoring the women of the Sachsenhausen brothel (english)

Kelsey interviews Tom Mustroph who, along with partner Barbara Gstaltmayr, is working to create a memorial honoring the women who were forced to work at the Sachsenhausen brothel.  The working title of the project is:  “Gedenken für die Frauen, die im Lagerbordell des KZ Sachsenhausen zur Prostition gezwungen wurden” In english this translates to: »In remembrance of the women who were forced into prostitution in the camp brothel of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp« This memorial will be at the site of the former site of the brothel. The creative direction is led by the artist Monica Bonvicini with students of Universität der Künste Berlin (Berlin University of the Arts). This project is also in collaboration with the historian Robert Sommer. Visiting Sachsenhausen, the brothel is not mentioned on the visitors guide map but you can find this site behind the pathology lab building. There you can see the metal frame outline of the former brothel, filled with large gravel. The title on the frame says, “sonderbau” or “special building”, which was the official Nazi label for the brothel. We look forward to hearing more about this memorial project when it is created and installed in the future.  If you’d like to know more about the brothel at Sachsenhausen, who was there, how it worked and how it was a part of the Nazi system, go to Episode 35 [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/ds035-forced-prostitution-in-concentration-camps-englisch/] to hear the interview with Robert Sommer who has beautifully researched and published a book on the topic and is collaborating with Tom and Barbara on the memorial. [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1024x683.jpeg]Commemoration ceremony honoring the women who were forced to work at the Sachsenhausen brothel. This event took place during the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Sachsenhausen. Photo credit: Karsten Schirmer, for the Sachsenhausen Memorial, May, 2026. ---------------------------------------- Descendants Stuff podcast is produced by Jakob Feisthauer, Kelsey Snook and Nicole Wines – three descendants of Sachsenhausen prisoners and co-creators of the Sachsenhausen Stuff [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/] project. The Descendants Stuff team would like to extend a special thank you to the team at the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum [https://www.sachsenhausen-sbg.de/en/] especially Dr. Astrid Ley, and the members of the educational department’s project “What Voice Do We Have?”, as well as the descendant’s collective, Voices of the Next Generation [http://voices-of-the-next-generations.org/]. Our theme music, “Heil, Sachsenhausen!” was written and performed by former Sachsenhausen prisoner Aleksander Kulisiewicz. Thanks to the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum [https://www.ushmm.org/] and the Aleksander Kulisiewicz collection [https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn546848] for granting permission for its use. If you are a Sachsenhausen descendant who would like to share your story, please contact us [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/contact/].

DS035 Forced prostitution in concentration camps (english)

In this episode, Kelsey speaks with Robert Sommer, author of the book, “The Concentration Camp Brothel: Forced Sexual Labor Under Nazi Rule [https://fordhampress.com/the-concentration-camp-brothel-hb-9781531509903.html]”.  Sachsenhausen operated a brothel within the camp, located above the morgue of the pathology building. Robert shares why the brothel existed, how it fit into the Nazi system of operations and racial hierarchy, who was allowed to visit, the complex victim-perpetrator dynamic and why it’s challenging to talk about even 80 years later. If you’re planning a visit to the Sachsenhausen memorial we encourage you to look for and ask about the brothel. The building no longer exists, it doesn’t appear on the map and even its official name (“Sonderbau”, which translates to “Special Building”) hardly explains what happened there. Robert’s book was published by Fordham Press under the ISBN 978-1-5315-0991-0 [https://fordhampress.com/the-concentration-camp-brothel-hb-9781531509903.html].  The German edition was published by Ferdinand Schöningh under the ISBN 978-3-506-79334-8 [https://www.beck-shop.de/sommer-kz-bordell/product/33564349?srsltid=AfmBOooD5ZemmPhG2gLByX3Z3rRdqZSzd5jMTVan4Ny82_N5DrNk7WWv]. [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sommer_Brothel_Door-681x1024.jpg]Example of a brothel room door with viewing window (photo: Robert Sommer, Auschwitz, 2005) [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Pay_voucher_Sachsenhausen.jpg]Sachsenhausen bonus voucher for the value of .50 Reichsmarks. This could be used for purchases within the camp, including a visit to the brothel. [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1.jpeg]Authorization certificate allowing a Sachsenhausen prisoner to visit the camp brothel. [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-977x1024.png] [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1-1024x768.png] ---------------------------------------- Descendants Stuff podcast is produced by Jakob Feisthauer, Kelsey Snook and Nicole Wines – three descendants of Sachsenhausen prisoners and co-creators of the Sachsenhausen Stuff [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/] project. The Descendants Stuff team would like to extend a special thank you to the team at the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum [https://www.sachsenhausen-sbg.de/en/] especially Dr. Astrid Ley, and the members of the educational department’s project “What Voice Do We Have?”, as well as the descendant’s collective, Voices of the Next Generation [http://voices-of-the-next-generations.org/]. Our theme music, “Heil, Sachsenhausen!” was written and performed by former Sachsenhausen prisoner Aleksander Kulisiewicz. Thanks to the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum [https://www.ushmm.org/] and the Aleksander Kulisiewicz collection [https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn546848] for granting permission for its use. If you are a Sachsenhausen descendant who would like to share your story, please contact us [https://sachsenhausen-stuff.com/contact/].

DS034 Horst Jonas (german/deutsch)

Horst Jonas wurde am 24. Juni 1914 in Bremerhaven geboren. Im Jahr 1935 wurde er verhaftet und wegen kommunistischen Widerstands zu einer Zuchthausstrafe verurteilt. Nach Verbüßung seiner Haft wurde er 1939 in das Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen eingeliefert. Von dort aus wurde er zunächst nach Auschwitz und später nach Buchenwald verlegt. Am 22. Juni 1967 starb er in Berlin. In dieser Episode spricht Jakob mit Werner Jonas, dem Sohn von Horst Jonas.