Hallo, French here.

I didn’t know where else to ask.

I have recently discovered the existence of Geschlossener Jugendwerkhof Torgau, a juvenile detention center that operated in East Germany from 1964 to 1989. I first heard about it through Naoki Urasawa’s manga Monster), in which the fictional orphanage 511 Kinderheim was inspired by Torgau.

I have tried to learn more about these detention centers, but it seems the resources are scarce in both French and English. Unfortunately, I do not speak German. In fact, I can only find a few articles and websites, but no English or French Wikipedia page. I do not find an official translation of the term either (they keep varying from one source to another). 

Have I missed key resources, or is the lack of international coverage real?

I understand this is considered ‘recent’ history, and that the lack of resources might be strongly influenced by cultural factors, but I am still surprised that there is so little content in other languages. I am aware that not all victims spoke about their trauma, and that reports were lost or destroyed after the centers were closed—even so, information does exist, just mainly in German.

I also find it troubling because French students do learn about the Cold War and the consequences of World War II through the duty of remembrance (devoir de mémoire), which plays an active role in our education system. I do believe it connects to Germany’s own culture of remembrance (I think it is called Erinnerungskultur).

Thank you for your time!

by ObsessedTaco

5 comments

  1. I mean, there is German literature about it. The documentation centre itself provides their own publications [https://www.jugendwerkhof-torgau.de/aktuelles/publikationen/publikationen-schriftenreihe/](https://www.jugendwerkhof-torgau.de/aktuelles/publikationen/publikationen-schriftenreihe/)

    I would say, for international audiences it is a bit niche, isn’t it? Researchers who would go into that field of expertise certainly will know enough German in order to read literature and primary sources. And for everybody else, I would say, it is too specific (as opposed to a general overview work of, say, GFR history or more specific the inner workings of GDR (re)education.

    Having a list of English or French literature about *one* specific facility in the GDR is maybe a bit too specific.

  2. Is this not more a question for English- or French-speaking journalists and historians? 

  3. Since you didn’t really ask specifically what interests you in them, I can’t give you your answer outright.

    However, if you want to make use of German sources, I recommend using the free translator tool [DeepL](https://www.deepl.com/de/translator). It’s German to English translation and vice versa are pretty darn good.

  4. You may use DeepL as a translation tool, it is 99.5% accurate in european language translations

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