Für das Prospektionsteam der Interdisziplinären Arbeitsgruppe Konflitklandschaften der Universität Osnabrück, das sich in diesen Tagen als Teil des Projekts “Tödliche Zwangsarbeit in Karya” in Griechenland befindet, ist auch der heutige Sonntag Forschungstag. Für die kommenden Tages ist sich stark verschlechterndes Wetter prognostiziert. Umso wichtiger ist es, dass vor dem bevorstehenden Unwetter die wichtigsten Tasks abgeschlossen sein werden. Am achten Prospektionstag fokussiert sich das Team um Professor Dr. Christoph Rass auf eine Oberflächenprospektion am Standort der Unterkunftsbaracken für die jüdischen Zwangsarbeiter aus Thessaloniki, auf die Untersuchung möglicher Grablagen sowie auf unterschiedliche Arten der 3-D Dokumentation der Bahnstation Karya und des ehemaligen Baustellengeländes.
Der wichtigste Teil des Tages ist aber der Besuch der im Projekt parallel laufenden deutsch-griechischen Jugendbegegnung, bei der Studierende der Universität Thessaloniki und der Universität Osnabrück gemeinsam den historischen Kontext des Zwangsarbeitseinsatzes jüdischer Männer aus Thessaloniki unter deutscher Besatzung recherchieren. Die Jugendbegegnung wird vom Dokumentationszentrum Zwangsarbeit organisiert und durchgeführt.




Den Hauptteil dieser Karya-Depesche schreiben daher zwei Studierende der deutsch-griechischen Jugendbegegnung als Gastbeitrag.
“Deadliy forced labour at Karya: A visit at the prospection site.
by
Ismini Binta (University of Thessaloniki)
(Nils) Nico Kaschubat (University of Osnabrück)

Today is April 2nd, and early in the morning, the first group of students of the greek-german youth meeting, “Deadly Forced Labor in Karya,” arrived to participate in the prospection site near Lamia. As soon as the first group of our student team arrived at the field, Professor Christoph Rass, head of the Interdisciplinary Research Group Conflict Landscapes, gave us a tour explaining all the aspects and details of the project in progress. He talked about all the transformations in the area causing changes in the landscape by forces of nature and human intervention.
Today, nature has started consuming the remaining facilities, and we are still determining how much of the historic environment will be visible or in existence in some years. This assumption indicates the importance of the work progess, recording as much of the findings on the site before it all succumbs to its natural decay as well as destruction by looters who search the place for scrap metall.
We walked with Professor Rass across the old railway line and the newer one, built in the years after the Second World War. He led us through the “cut” and the tunnel. The “cut” is a passage through the mountain leading into a plateau made by the forced laborers, Jewish men deported to the site and forced to work there – most likelay just before they themselves were murdered by the Germans. Right in the “cut” entrance, two of us interviewed Professor Rass, while students of his group interviewed some of us.

After that, we had the chance to watch some colleagues in the field, tracing the ground and detecting metals like buttons, iron nails, and bullet casings that give proof of the existence of the buildings were the forced laborers were housed and locked in at hight as well as possible crimes against the prisoner<s.

One of the groups focuses on the surface survey of the prospection site. The task revolves around detailed work, needing to be careful about how deep one can dig to avoid accidentally destroying artifacts. The excavations are made more difficult by the rocky ground. The prospecting team unearths the evidence of the atrocities. Every part of a barbed wire and shell casing is a further step in making what has long since disappeared visible.

Public awareness and visibility are also the goals of the group, which deals with the digital recreation of the scene of violence. This process uses a 3D-Scanner and an app that real estate agents typically use to showcase buildings. In turn, it is these 3D models
that provide visual background to the narrative and makes it accessible in various ways for educational and museological purposes. One of these ways was revealed to us today utilizing a narrow gauge railway gondola, which has become the most significant artifact at the prospecting site – the gondola was left there ba the Germans in 1943. Moreover, the fact that it bears the German description “Koppel” gives us precise information about its origin. Because of its size, it was suitable for today’s scans; three group participants managed to make a 3D model of the rail gondola.
Finally, we had a conversation with the photography recreation team, who talked about their work process, connecting the old photos with the places and the exact areas that were taken. The participants, during their visit and their work alongside the team from the University of Osnabrück, showed respect for the history of this place and the people who were tortured and forced to labour under these circumstances. The same project work, with rotating roles among the group participants, continued into the afternoon by all the members of the team.
OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
TEAM NGHM (3. April 2023). Karya Depesche #6. NGHM@UOS. Abgerufen am 25. April 2025 von https://doi.org/10.58079/sc0k