Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., November 04, 2007 Cheshvan 23, 5768 | | Israel Time: 00:11 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Print Edition Diplomacy Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel

Visitors to the site of the "Topography of Terror" exhibition on Friday look at photographs and documents about the Gestapo. (AP) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 22:43 02/11/2007 Germany starts work on exhibit at site of Nazi SS, Gestapo HQ By The Associated Press tags: Nazis, SS, Berlin, Gestapo The German government on Friday started construction of an exhibition center at the site where the Gestapo, leaders of the SS and other top officials in Adolf Hitler's police state presided over Nazi-era crimes. "The site stands like no other place in Berlin for terror and genocide," Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told reporters while marking the start of work. With the new center, he said, one of the most important, authentic places of remembrance in Berlin will gain in stature. The functional glass-and-metal structure, a single-story pavilion designed by German architect Ursula Wilms, will complete a memorial known as the Topography of Terror at what was one of the centers of Nazi power. It should be opened on May 8, 2010 - the 65th anniversary of Nazi Germany's final surrender. Advertisement Visitors - currently around 500,000 a year - have been able to view an open-air exhibition in what remains of the Gestapo cellars, which were uncovered in the 1980s in what is now largely wasteland. The Gestapo also had its prison at the headquarters. Next door once stood the Hotel Prinz Albrecht, which housed the leadership of the SS, the Nazi party's dreaded paramilitary unit - including Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich - and the Reich Security Main Office. Officials prepared the 1942 Wannsee Conference, where Nazi leaders formalized their plans for the Holocaust, at the site. The SS acted as a special police force and was involved in some of the worst crimes committed in territory under Nazi control during World War II. The remains of the damaged buildings were leveled after World War II. The site is in what was for decades a neglected corner of postwar West Berlin, right next to the Berlin Wall. It is still bordered by one of the wall's few remaining sections. Wowereit said Wilms' design is architecturally restrained and does not distract from the matter at hand. The estimated $33 million cost of the new center will be shouldered by the German federal government and the city government. Andreas Nachama, a former head of Berlin's Jewish community who leads the foundation overseeing the project, said that it would include a library and seminar rooms as well as the documentation center. "The site will now become a worthy place of memory," said Wolfgang Boernsen, a lawmaker for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. We more than owe this to the victims of the Nazis' regime of terror, on whose fate decisions were made here. The site is a few minutes' walk from the capital's Holocaust memorial, which opened two years ago. It is across the road from the one-time Nazi Aviation Ministry, which is now Germany's Finance Ministry. More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us Academic freedom The High Court has challenged strict IDF criteria for the entry of Palestinian students. Rapping rabbi British Jewish rapper MC Rebbe is a finalist in the world's largest blog competition.   1.   Where is Jonathan S ... 18:26  |  Axel 02/11/07   2.   Here I am 19:26  |  Jonathan S 02/11/07   3.   Germany 20:27  |  siegfried buchwalte 02/11/07   4.   Germany and memory 20:56  |  Michael N 02/11/07   5.   Will it have...Grand Mufti Al-Huseini? 21:26  |  Curious Jew 02/11/07   6.   GESTAPO past 22:19  |  avruimye 02/11/07   7.   For S Buchwalte in Baltimore 22:29  |  Jonathan S 02/11/07   8.   Axel #2 23:14  |  roland 02/11/07   9.   Jonathan 23:20  |  ron 02/11/07   10.   Nazis 23:43  |  Chicago Arab 02/11/07   11.   Siegfried, get a grip on yourself! 00:09  |  Wiktor 03/11/07   12.   Education is a good thing 00:11  |  Chris Linthwaite 03/11/07   13.   jonathan s 2 00:57  |  realism 03/11/07   14.   #10 Chicago Arab is over his head 03:04  |  Michael N 03/11/07   15.   Bravo 05:26  |  Danny 03/11/07   16.   #10 How do you compare 05:53  |  Tobia 03/11/07   17.   to late 06:31  |  aisa 03/11/07   18.   A RESURGENCE OF NAZI ACTIVITY IN AUSTRIA 08:58  |  A.Quezer 03/11/07   19.   # 18 in Ausria we have laws 10:12  |  Kris 03/11/07   20.   Wiktor 10:13  |  Hilda 03/11/07   21.   YES:AUSTRIA:http://eurostan.eu/index.php/977799 10:23  |  D.NIGHER 03/11/07   22.   will attract more visitors from abroad, but that`s it 11:48  |  Leona 03/11/07   23.   JonathanS, I need to know 12:41  |  Dav 03/11/07   24.   #10 Tobia BRAVO GREAT RESPONSE!!!!! 12:47  |  Petra 03/11/07   25.   #20 who will pay the pals? the saudis, iran, syria AS ALWAYS 12:54  |  Petra 03/11/07   26.   A RESURGENCE IN AUSTRIA THANK YOU FOR THE TRUTH!!! 12:56  |  Petra 03/11/07   27.   #19 WE HAVE LAWS. YES, AND WHAT ABOUT 1939-1944? 12:58  |  Petra 03/11/07   28.   #21 THANKS FOR THE LINK TO TRUTH. 12:59  |  Petra 03/11/07   29.   @27 Petra on laws 15:24  |  Mark B. 03/11/07   30.   Hilda (#20) - It`s very simple! 16:38  |  Wiktor 03/11/07   31.   Tobia, you don`t see WHAT? 16:50  |  Wiktor 03/11/07   32.   Where is JonathanS answer to #23 ? 18:13  |  Dav 03/11/07   33.   #21 D..Nigher (1), Austria pretends to be a victim 21:47  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 03/11/07   34.   #21 D. Nhiger (Part II) Austrai pretends to be a victim... 21:55  |  Max Zinger 03/11/07   35.   For Dav 22:42  |  Jonathan S 03/11/07   36.   #35 Jonathan S 10:26  |  Dav 04/11/07   37.   dav 23:40  |  realism 04/11/07

Today Online Court challenges criteria for Palestinian student entry to Israel Responses: 110 Turkey seeks right to build monument in Jerusalem's Old City Responses: 138 IAF strikes kill four Palestinians after Qassams hit Negev Responses: 226 Leftists scuffle with supporters of Rabin's assassin outside jail Responses: 114 Olmert: Core issues are on the agenda for Annapolis summit Responses: 181 Rosner's Domain * NY's Bloomberg: No rational case for bombing Iran * Rosner's new Guest: Women's perspective on the Torah * The genes that make Jews smart (What To Read) * AIPAC trial: Bring on the top government officials More Headlines 23:51 Olmert: Core issues are on the Annapolis agenda 20:12 Three East J'lem men arrested for planning attacks in Israel 18:47 IDF strikes kill 4 Gazans as Qassam volleys hit Negev 17:51 Protesters scuffle with supporters of Rabin's assassin outside jail 20:49 Gov't okays payments for overlooked Holocaust survivors 20:39 Palestinian factions DFLP, PFLP attempt to mediate between Hamas, Fatah 19:35 'Rapping rabbi' makes finals in world's largest blog competition 19:11 PA awards former Mideast envoys Wolfensohn, Hansen prize for excellence 16:57 Egypt unveils King Tut's mummy to the public for the first time Previous Editions Select Day 04 nov 02 nov 01 nov 31 oct 30 oct 29 oct 28 oct 26 oct 25 oct 24 oct 23 oct 22 oct

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