Monument for Sinti and Roma in the Diebsteich Cemetery

In November 2023, a monument was erected in the Diebsteich Cemetery in memory of the thousands of Sinti and Roma people persecuted by the National Socialists. Around 1,400 men, women, and children were deported from Hamburg alone and sent to concentration and extermination camps. Several hundred of these individuals came from the surrounding regions and were taken to Hamburg to be deported. Many of the Sinti and Roma who survived persecution are now buried in the Diebsteich Cemetery.

The creation of the memorial area in the Diebsteich Cemetery was initiated by the Sinti-Verein Hamburg. It consists of a three-metre-high obelisk surrounded by a circle of benches and pillars. The monument is a remembrance of the past, but it is also a place for encounters in the present. It calls upon visitors to reject all forms of racism, antiziganism, and exclusion.