Wednesday 19 March 2008

EL-DE Haus

I visted EL-DE Haus today, it looks like a normal urban building from the outside no?


but its basement hides a terrible secret. This building was the Gestapo HQ and interrogation centre in Köln from 1933-1945. Today the it houses a permament exhibition to those minorites persecuted by the Nazi's in Köln:
*Sterilised Women
*Jews
*Roma and Cinti
*Phyiscally and Mentally Disabled
*Homosexuals
*Anti-Social Elements

The basement housed 10 cells and you can still read the inscriptions on the walls. There are lots of them, in German, French, Russian and Dutch. They tell stories and are a testament to those who were tortured there.

I always find it hard to be unmoved by exhibitions on Nazi Germany, and there were tears in my eyes on many occasions when the audio guide was telling specific stories of people and families in Cologne. I would recommend a trip here to anyone coming to Cologne.


More Photos

NOTE: I did not take photos in the Basement, I didnt think it was right just like when I was in the gas chambers in Dachau five years ago.