Szczypiorski House - an International Youth Venue and Youth Hostel in Sachsenhausen,

In September 2005, work began in Sachsenhausen on the conversion of the villa once used by the chief of staff of the concentration camps into an international youth venue and youth hostel. Concentration camp prisoners built this prestigious building in 1938/39. The work and group rooms are already under construction and the house will also offer accommodation for young people and adults. As of summer 2006, Szczypiorski House will open its doors for historical and political work in the field of education.

The house, in the immediate vicinity of the Memorial and Museum in Sachsenhausen, offers the following:

• Accommodation for up to 32 people in two- and four-bed rooms
• Seminar rooms
• Multimedia teaching aids and a library
• Various projects and seminars on the history of the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen and the Soviet special camp, as well as on education to democracy and human rights issues.
• A leisure time area
• Berlin proximity with a direct rail and local train service within walking distance
• Sport and leisure facilities in the surroundings (e.g. the ‘T.U.R.M Experience City Oranienburg’ leisure centre; bathing amenities at nearby Lehnitz Lake and the Berlin to Copenhagen bicycle path)
   

The venue will be set up in cooperation with the Berlin-Brandenburg branch of the German Youth-Hostel Association and the Brandenburg Memorial Foundation. The Memorial Foundation has taken on the responsibility for the educational concept, which will be developed in conjunction with the educational association. The latter includes the registered association ‘Action Group for Building an International Youth Venue in Sachsenhausen’ and various other groups involved in youth educational work in Berlin and Brandenburg.

The house has been named after the eminent Polish author Andrzej Szczypiorski (1928 – 2000) a former prisoner in the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen who has made an enormous contribution to mutual understanding between Poles and Germans through his literary and political work. The dedication also aims at setting an example to show that the house can be seen as an invitation, particularly for young Poles and Germans, to use it as a meeting venue.
 

The sum of 1.25€ million has been allocated by Germany’s Federal Family Ministry and the Brandenburg Ministry of Education to fund the development of the facility. The German Youth-Hostel Association will contribute 65,000€. In 1993, the Memorial Foundation had construction work carried out on the roof of the building.

Bookings can be made for the time as of September 1st 2006.

For information on the educational programmes, accommodation etc. please contact the following address:

Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen
Visitors’ Service
Straße der Nationen 22
16515 Oranienburg