The “Law on Tenancy Relations with Jews,” passed in April 1939, stripped Jewish tenants of all rights and housing security. In Berlin, nearly half of the Jewish population was forced to vacate their homes and relocate to compulsory accommodation—often their final residence before being deported and killed. In a project funded by the Alfred Landecker Foundation, the Aktives Museum Fascism and Resistance in Berlin (Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin e.V.) and the Stolpersteine Berlin Coordination Office have researched this history and published their findings in the Zwangsräume online exhibition.
On 15 October, the companion book Zwangsräume: Antisemitische Wohnungspolitik in Berlin 1939-1945 was launched at the Topography of Terror Foundation in Berlin. Edited by Dr Akim Jah and Dr Christoph Kreutzmüller, the volume includes an interview with Steffen Jost, Head of Program at the Alfred Landecker Foundation.
The book complements the online exhibition by providing further information on historical contexts, detailing the authorities involved, and providing insight into living conditions within the Zwangsräume. It features examples of apartments and their residents in Berlin, while also reflecting on the situation in other cities. Detailed reports offer readers a behind-the-scenes look at the sourcing of materials, the exhibition’s development, and its accompanying public outreach efforts.
During the book launch, Lena Altman, Co-CEO of the Alfred Landecker Foundation, emphasised the project’s significance: “The Aktives Museum has succeeded in raising awareness with the wider general public through this project while grounding it in solid academic research. The Zwangsräume project lays a vital foundation for rendering the Nazi regime’s political measures visible and historically contextualising them. It also builds a bridge to the present day.”
The publication is available as an open-access PDF and can also be ordered via the Metropol Verlag website: https://metropol-verlag.de/produkt/zwangsraeume-antisemitische-wohnungspolitik-in-berlin-1939-1945/
Access the online exhibition here: https://zwangsraeume.berlin/en