The history of the Association of Friends of the NS-Documentation Centre of the City of Krefeld
The beginning of the association
After long debates about the where and how of a memorial site to commemorate the victims of the Nazi dictatorship and the resistance against it, the NS-Documentation Centre of the City of Krefeld, at that time still NS-Documentation and Meeting Centre, was opened on 24 November 1991 at Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 42.
Decisive for the choice of location was the double history of the house: on the one hand it contained the only murals of the artist Heinrich Campendonk, who was ostracized by the Nazis, and on the other hand it was once the home of the Jew Richard Merländer, who was murdered by the Nazis. Although there was fundamental agreement between all parties on the necessity of establishing a municipal memorial, the institution was not uncontroversial in this form. For this reason, even before the official opening, there were considerations in the political arena to form a support group which was to support the work in the Villa Merländer with advice and action.