Today was the 70th Anniversary Service of Remembrance at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp at Oranienburg, Brandenburg just North of Berlin. The weather was Kind to us with sun and a few clouds. There was a very large attendance including that of the German Defence Minister and many other Politicians from numerous countries. The Brandenburg Police Chief, who sat next to me informed me that there was over 3000 persons in attendance and I can believe that as it was really tight around each Memorial, especially at Station "Z". Several of the executed Special Service personnel's relatives attended from the UK and at their Memorial Stone. I was pleased to meet Francis Suthill, whose father, also Francis Suthill is commemorated. Francis and another spoke the names of those commemorated before I spoke the Exhortation, pausing for a minutes silence before saying the Kohima Epitath. The Station "Z" Service was very well received with a Full choir providing appropriate singing. Several Long speeched were made the Ministers and other Prominent persons, but an ex inmate provided a most vivid speech of his Transportation from Auswitz to Sachsenhausen and his mishandling by the Doctors there who experimented on them. Extremely heart wrenching. I was amongst 80 others laying wreaths and Flowers and the whole Service at Station "Z" took just over two and a half hours. Our RBL Standard and Union Standard was on Parade togethere with the French Sachsenhausen Standard. The photos are from my Handy but I hope to receive some from a Freelance Photographer and also from the Black Kilts who provided Two Pipers for the earlier Services. Regards Tom
good day smudger jnr,yesterday.03:29 pm.re:sashsenhausen memorial day 19th april.2015.thank you for posting.great photo's,to the victims.may they rest in peace.regards bernard 85
Thanks for the Kind comments and I will Forward more photographs when I receive them from other sources. Regards Tom
Here are a few more photographs that were taken by one of our members when I was laying one of the wreaths. Regards Tom
Thanks Tom for posting the ceremonial event at Sachenhausen...all these camps are a reminder of a dimension of Nazism.As time goes on,it's a fact that younger generations appear to be unaware of what happened in the name of a cultured European country. I remember an article in the Sunday Times magazine many years ago purporting that a victim of Station Z,the SOE agent Grover -Williams had survived the war and was living in Normandy...cannot have been well researched.Pleased to see that Francis Suthill was able to attend to remember his father. As regards the camp,the Venlo Incident gives a good insight of Payne Best and Stevens experiences who were kept in protective custody at Sachenhausen.I see that the public records relating to Payne Best, which were said to be open in 2015,have in fact being open since 23 May 2013.Surrounding this event,from their interrogation,it has been claimed,that other MI6 European networks were compromised....not been able to see further disclosures on this claim. Interestingly,I note that two former SS guards were put on trial,found guilty and executed as late as June 1955 and April 1964 in the era of the GDR/SU occupation of East Germany.