With the passage of time, many citizens in neighboring areas of NS concentration camps confront previously suppressed references to actions and occurrences that happened in their area during the Nazi regime. This phenomenon is not uncommon in German cities, towns, and villages. As concerned citizens pursue the leads and document the discoveries, they seek others who have embarked on a similar path. Such was the case in Burghausen, where concerned citizens reached out to our association Für das Erinnern – KZ-Gedenkstätte Mühldorfer Hart e.V. years ago.
The central memorial at Burghausen is located at the Botanical Garden on the Ludwigsberg. Commemorative concerts have been held at the site since 2013 to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January. The concerts are either held at the memorial on the hill or at the Capuchin Church St. Anna in the old city center.
In 2024, the Burghausen local group was formally founded and subsequently joined our association in mutual solidarity.
Execution by the SS
Three employees of Wacker Chemie are honored in the memorial in Burghausen. In the last days of the war, the three men undertook measures to thwart the plans of the Nazi management to destroy the chemical plant. The three men arranged for the arming of the emergency workforce, occupied the telephone exchange thereby disrupting communications, and blocked the important access roads into the plant. The men were captured and executed behind the management building on April 28, 1945 upon the orders of the NSDAP district leader Fritz Schwägerl.
Expulsion
At the entrance to the Botanical Garden of Burghausen on the Ludwigsberg are five Stolpersteine in memory of the Galitzenstein family. Dr. Eugen Galitzenstein was the chief chemist of the Wacker chemical company and lived at the company villa on the site. Dr. Galitzenstein had a noteworthy career at Wacker Chemie, having first joined the company at their operations in Nuremberg before WWI. During the war, he served actively at the front till 1916 when the Prussian War Ministry ordered his transfer to Burghausen to participate in the building of the chemical plant for the production of acetone needed in the war effort. After the war, Dr. Galitzenstein remained with Wacker Chemie Burghausen in the position of Chief Chemist.
With the Nazi power ascendancy, the Galitzensteins were subjected to growing antisemitic harassment. The children were able to flee to safety in America, France and England in the period between 1933–1936. Following the November Pogroms (Kristallnacht), Dr. Galitzenstein was imprisoned in Dachau. Through the intercession of his employers, Wacker Chemie, Dr. Galitzenstein was released six weeks later. He and his wife then fled safely to England leaving all personal possessions and properties behind.
The former “Galitzenstein Villa” now houses the archives of Wacker Chemie.
