Commemoration - FC St. Pauli inaugurates memorial plaque at training ground
With a memorial plaque, FC St. Pauli remembers the Jewish history of its training ground at Kollausstraße in Hamburg during the first years of National Socialist dictatorship. The plaque was recently unveiled on the initiative of the club and the FC St. Pauli Museum.
Where today is the youth performance center of the Bundesliga football club, there was from 1934 to 1938 the sports field complex of the Jewish sports group "Schild". The facility was opened 90 years ago (July 8, 1934).
The plaque is headed with a quote from Harry Goldstein, one of the founders and leaders of "Schild", long after the liberation of Germany from National Socialism: "... In memory of the unbroken will to live of Jewish youth in Hamburg from 1933 to 1938".
A modern sports facility
After the National Socialists took power in January 1933, more and more Jewish athletes and athletes were pushed out of their clubs and had to organize themselves in Jewish clubs. The sports group "Schild" rented the land and transformed it into a modern sports facility with donations from the Jewish community and the work of its members. Other Jewish clubs were also active there.
November Pogroms 1938 mark the end
Until the November Pogroms 1938, the facility was still one of the few supposedly safe places for the Jewish population in Hamburg. After that, the Jewish sports movement in Germany was shattered.
For a long time, the FC St. Pauli Museum has been dealing with the history of the club and its Jewish members before 1945. The text on the memorial plaque ends with the words "No Forgiveness. No Forgetting".
- The training ground at Kollausstraße, now serving as FC St. Pauli's youth performance center, once housed a modern sports facility operated by the Jewish sports group "Schild" during the 1930s, in the heart of Hamburg's athletic landscape.
- The rise of National Socialism in Germany in January 1933 marked a turning point for Jewish athletes, leading to their expulsion from their previous clubs and the formation of groups like "Schild," which sought refuge in facilities like the one in Kollausstraße.
- Despite the oppressive climate of National Socialism, the soccer pitch at Kollausstraße remained a symbol of resilience and perseverance for Hamburg's Jewish community, standing until the devastating November Pogroms of 1938 that brought an end to the Jewish sports movement in Germany.
- As FC St. Pauli continues to honor its past, the club's museum and memorial plaque serve as a powerful reminder of the history of National Socialism in Germany, offering no forgiveness and insisting on unwavering remembrance.
