Art project in memory of two forced laborers murdered in 1945

Call for proposals for an art project in memory of two former forced laborers murdered after their liberation in 1945

Ivan Koval from Ukraine and Stanislaw Gontek from Poland were murdered on April 16, 1945 in the village of Wellendorf by residents of Kloster Oesede. The crime was kept quiet for a very long time and the road to remembrance was long. In memory of the victims, a sign/memorial is to be erected at the cemetery in Kloster Oesede by the 80th anniversary of the crime on April 16, 2025.

The Gestapokeller and Augustaschacht memorials are now holding a competition for an art project to design this memorial. Designs/proposals will be accepted until November 14. We are looking for an artistic design or an object that brings the historical events and their effects in the society and environment of the time into current knowledge and understanding and that addresses and keeps alive the appropriation of the memory of them.

The complete tender text and additional material can be downloaded here.

A digital information opportunity on this call will be offered on October 25, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. If interested, the link can be requested from Dr. Michael Gander by email to

Closing date: November 14, 2024