Mareen Alburg Duncker

Statement

As a jewelry designer, I was able to work with the memorial for the victims of Nazi "euthanasia" in Bernburg for over a year in the course of Heimatstipendium #2, which is sponsored by the Saxony-Anhalt Art Foundation and the Kloster-Bergesche Foundation. For five of the people murdered there, I have made a memorial ornament. With available photographic material and written documents I was able to get a picture of the respective person. Three of them were murdered under the guise of "euthanasia", two victims had Jewish roots. The research of the memorial and the close contact to the relatives was the basis of my work. The resulting pieces are an attempt to approach these five people, combined with the hope of giving them back the dignity that was taken from them here 80 years ago. A commemorative ornament is never universal, but always personal. As far back as the Paleolithic Age, a special role of jewelry can be proven for the area of death, mourning and remembrance. The choice of material, the value, the artistic design and the iconography are decisive for the meaning of a ritual jewelry.