The “Alter Leipziger Bahnhof” (Old Leipzig Railway Station) is one of the central locations of Nazi crimes in Dresden. On January 21, 1942, around 300 Jewish people were deported from here to the Riga ghetto, many of whom were later murdered. For decades, this place remained out of the public eye – both spatially and politically. It was convenient to forget.
The fact that this has changed is thanks to the commitment of many people and the tireless efforts of Renate Aris, now 90 years old, a Holocaust survivor and one of the last contemporary witnesses in Saxony. Her goal is clear: the Old Leipzig Railway Station should return visibly to the cityscape – as a place of remembrance, learning, and encounter.
Since 2022, a continuous civil society structure has developed from this: initially a support group, and since November 2023, the non-profit association “Gedenkort Alter Leipziger Bahnhof e.V.” (Old Leipzig Railway Station Memorial Site). The founding of the association stands for continuity, professionalism, and long-term responsibility for the content and organizational development of the site. In 2024, the association won the city’s tender to develop a concept for the site’s future use.
This concept has been publicly available since March 2025. It was presented and discussed at a city event and offers all interested parties insight into the planned content, goals, and development steps.
Transparency and participation have been central components of the process from the start. Based on professional expertise, the concept explicitly aims to establish the site as a memorial of national significance—also with a view to later participation by the state and federal government.
Nevertheless, the project is at a political standstill.
The Dresden City Council had allocated €100,000 for each of 2025 and 2026 to continue work on the concept. The funds are earmarked for continuing historical research, developing educational programs for children and young people, exhibitions, and maintaining contact with the descendants of the people affected. To date, these funds have not been released. They have even expired for 2025.
The decisive factor is the resistance of the CDU, FDP/Freie Bürger, AfD, and Team Zastrow. The result: postponements, blockades, standstill. Among other things, this is justified by unresolved ownership issues or a concept that is allegedly “too big.”
There was exactly one applicant for the implementation of these tasks: the association “Gedenkort Alter Leipziger Bahnhof e.V.” (Memorial Site Old Leipzig Railway Station). It is currently the only local actor working continuously, professionally and on behalf of the city to reappraise and develop the memorial site. In this light, the release of the approved funds would be an objective and obvious decision.
This is problematic not only from an organizational point of view, but also politically. This is not just any cultural project, but one of historical responsibility. The repeated refusal to release the funds sends a fatal signal: that dealing with Nazi crimes is negotiable. This is exactly what must not happen. The Old Leipzig Station is not an optional memorial site. It is necessary.