In March 2026, work will begin on the construction of a memorial to Jehovah’s Witnesses who were persecuted and murdered under National Socialism in Berlin’s Tiergarten park, near the goldfish pond.
The construction dates back to the decision of the Bundestag on 22 June 2023. The project is being financed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and the implementation is being carried out by the Denkmal Foundation. The artist Matthias Leeck designed the simple bronze sculpture for the memorial site. Due to its weight, it will be transported to the future memorial site in individual parts and assembled on site. The memorial site will be integrated into the Großer Tiergarten garden landscape monument in accordance with the specifications of the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, together with an information board, an access path and various plantings. The company BHBVT Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH, Berlin, was commissioned to obtain all permits and carry out all construction work. The memorial will be maintained by the Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Inauguration of the memorial
The memorial site will be opened to the public on 24 June 2026. Among those expected to attend the one-hour ceremony are Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, Minister of State for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer, and Berlin Senator for Culture Sarah Wedl-Wilson.
Short documentary ‘Bible Students – Incredible Courage’
The Permanent Conference of Nazi Memorial Sites in the Berlin Area took the German Bundestag’s decision on 22 June 2023 as an opportunity to produce a short film about the religious community. The short film ‘Bible Students – Incredible Courage’ was completed in January 2026 and can now be viewed here. It provides information about Nazi persecution, the courageous resistance of many Jehovah’s Witnesses against the Nazi regime, and the ongoing repression in the GDR after 1945.
Biographical supplement – School projects and youth memorial initiatives are creating an interactive map showing places of resistance and persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in time for the memorial’s inauguration.
Under the heading ‘Memory of the Nameless,’ young people, guided by teachers and youth workers, are creating a constantly growing database of biographies of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This data forms the basis for an interactive map of places of resistance and persecution. Historical documents and photos, as well as video clips created during the young people’s work, will supplement the biographical information on the interactive map. Throughout the project, the young people will repeatedly engage in active exchange formats with their research results. The project is funded by the EVZ Foundation and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) as part of the JUGEND erinnert vor Ort & engagiert (YOUTH remembers locally & gets involved) programme.
Upcoming dates:
June 18, 2026, 11 a.m., press conference at the Holocaust Memorial Information Centre, Cora-Berliner-Straße 1, 10117 Berlin
June 23, 2026, 3 p.m., Reception of the Arnold Liebster Foundation, Academy of Arts, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
24 June 2026, 11 a.m., inauguration of the memorial to Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted and murdered under National Socialism, Großer Tiergarten near the goldfish pond, 10117 Berlin
Background:
The Christian religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, also known as the Earnest Bible Students, was systematically persecuted in Germany from 1933 and in Nazi-controlled Europe from 1938 onwards. Almost 14,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses – women and men – were imprisoned, including 4,200 in concentration camps, where they were stigmatised with a ‘purple triangle’. At least 1,700 female and male witnesses lost their lives as a result of the Nazi tyranny.
On 22 August 1936, the Gestapo carried out a series of arrests at the goldfish pond (in the immediate vicinity of which the memorial is being erected). In the course of a veritable wave of arrests in 1936, leading Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout Germany were imprisoned. At least 17 of them lost their lives.
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Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Press and Public Relations, Tel. +49(0)30 – 26 39 43 – 26, presse@stiftung-denkmal.de
