The Black Triangle

‘Antisocial’

This exhibition tells their stories, in both Germany and the occupied Netherlands. Here, too, approximately 2,700 prisoners in the concentration camps were labelled ‘antisocial’. At the camps, they could be recognised by the black triangle on their camp uniform. You see the persecution of the poorest of the poor in Germany and the Netherlands in a broad context: from early eugenics to the horrors of the concentration camps and the long post-war struggle for recognition. The social policy of the Netherlands in the field of 'antisocial families' before, during and after the war is examined as well. Poor families deemed “antisocial” faced 're-education' in isolated camps in the countryside, during and after the occupation.

Unknown

These moving stories will be virtually unknown to the larger public. Who has ever heard of the ‘beggars’ week’ in Germany in 1933, for example? Or the Moringen and Uckermark youth concentration camps? Who knows that the “preventive police” in the Dutch provinces of Brabant and Limburg hunted down ‘beggars, vagrants, black market traders and other scum’? The hundreds of poor people from Rotterdam who were deported to re-education camps immediately after the war: who has ever heard their stories? Personal stories and evocative documents and objects are complemented by Rob Worst’s powerful illustrations: large prints in dramatic black and white of events of which there are no photographs.

Words as weapons

The social relevance of this material for modern society is never far away. ‘Words as weapons’ is the theme that runs through the entire exhibition. Based on examples taken from history, visitors learn how words can still stigmatise, dehumanise and disguise cruel and inhumane measures, even today.