The final steps

The monument is entitled "The last steps".

It commemorates Ivan Kowal from Ukraine and Stanislaw Gontek from Poland, who were murdered in Wellendorf on April 16, 1945 - just a few days after their liberation. They had previously been forced to work as laborers on a farm in Kloster Oesede.

The memorial consists of seven granite steps. Granite is a hard, resistant stone. It stands for the permanence of memory and for the responsibility to never forget what has happened.

The steps are of different heights - a symbol of the fact that not every step in life was equally difficult. Between them are narrow gaps that look like scars. They make visible the violence and suffering that Ivan and Stanislaw had to endure.

Each of the seven steps tells a piece of her journey:
1. the origin,
2. protraction,
3. forced labor,
4. the brief hope of freedom,
5. the last path,
6. the murder,
7. the long silence afterwards.

The staircase ends abruptly - just like the lives of the two men. It makes it clear: violence destroys everything - dreams, the future, humanity.

At the same time, the staircase points towards the sun. It symbolizes the hope that we can learn from the past and shape a more humane future together - if we take responsibility.

The memorial is a place of remembrance. But it also poses a question to us all:
How do we ensure that this never happens again?