Y los ladrillos callaron - Und die Ziegel schwiegen

This documentary explores the spaces occupied by the Neuengamme concentration camp in Hamburg. It reconstructs the memory of the victims and their families on the 80th anniversary of its liberation in 1945. It was conceived as a tool for memorial education and builds a narrative bridge between Spain and Germany.

Neuengamme is the sixth largest camp in Germany, but also one of the least known. It is located about twenty kilometers from Hamburg on one of the banks of the Elbe River. Some 100,000 people passed through there during World War II. Until its liberation in May 1945, the Nazi regime deported more than 80,000 men and 13,000 women to Neuengamme. It is known that at least 750 of them were Spanish.

At the beginning of May 2023, I visited these places for the first time. I traveled with some of the victims' families who are grouped together in the Amical de Neuengamme en España, which is based in Asturias and chaired by Balbina, daughter of Evaristo Rebollar, who survived Neuengamme and also the Wöbbelin subcamp. There I also learned the stories of other victims. And their families: Mayu, Rafa, Eva, Jesús Mari... Their testimonies were essential in constructing the monographic podcast story that I titled "Destino Neuengamme: Historia y Memoria" and which is available here.

I also published an extensive travelogue on Eldiario.es that can be read at this link as well as an interview with Barbara Brix, a history teacher who retired in 2006. Around that time, she discovered that her father, a man she remembered as cultured and caring, had been part of the death squads, the so-called SS Einsatzgruppen. She now gives talks at high schools and colleges. Her testimony can be heard in the podcast and read in full here.

This year, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camps. This anniversary arrives in a particularly different setting. In an international context where governments are consolidating that not only fail to condemn the totalitarian regimes of the past, but even endorse them and offer signs of a retaliation. This project is conceived as an educational tool against fascism, in memory of those men and women who ended up thousands of miles from their homes, protagonists of a barbarity that targeted them simply for defending freedom and democracy.

Now, the opportunity arises to collaborate again with the members of the Amical de Neuengamme group, who, after endless formalities, have also obtained authorization to plant a cutting, or sapling, of the Gernika tree, a symbol of peace and freedom, in the Wöbbelin subcamp.

Two years ago, I committed to returning to film a documentary. To raise awareness of the history of the camp, its victims, and their families.

Thus, we have decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to fund the team's travel, production, recording, editing, and rewards.

What will the rewards be?

Acknowledgment and credit mention: Your name or that of your association will appear in the documentary's end credits as a thank you for your support of the project.

Exclusive access to the final online screening: You can watch it before its official premiere.

Documentary poster designed by illustrator Leticia González Díaz. You can enjoy her artwork here

Art book with exclusive photographs and texts

Limited-edition photographic prints

Original soundtrack of the documentary created by Chema Vázquez in physical and digital formats. Check out his Bandcamp

Our team

An atypical biography of the people whose story we have set out to tell you.

Patricia Martínez

My grandma's radio

Her transistor radio was always with her. She carried it in her hand or in one of her robe pockets. It was always on. At night, she turned the volume down a bit and kept it under her pillow.

I admit I liked watching TV more.

Cartoons and movies. There weren't many children's programs in the '80s either.

Much less on the radio. So I got used to listening to the news, game shows, and interviews. The announcers had such beautiful voices!

My grandmother stopped watching TV and reading the newspaper because she went blind. The radio, however, was always there.

I never considered working in radio. Not even when I decided to study journalism. The truth is, I didn't have one of those beautiful voices. And I was afraid, from the distance that marks the world of the living and the dead, of disappointing someone who had been a great fan of the airwaves, out of conviction and necessity.

But radio eventually found me.

And among other things, that's what I've been doing for over fifteen years: telling stories through voice.

Although any format works for me. As is the case with this project.

At this link you can find a small sample of my work and my social media accounts.

• By the way, the first time I heard someone talk about war, it was her.

Luis Hernando

The first photo I remember taking "on purpose" was a self-portrait on a ski lift at a ski resort. I was wearing blizzard goggles and a balaclava hat that had become a helmet, completely stiff and rigid due to the low temperatures. I remember that those days there were lows of -14°C in Cerler. I still have the now "selfie," printed on paper, of an 11-year-old boy in 6th grade on a school holiday trip, where he almost froze but had a blast. I hardly took photos of myself again, and I hardly skied again, but I started to get interested in capturing moments. Over time, I started tinkering with a MiniVHS camera I had at home, and I would dedicate myself to recording and editing videos with my friends, skating and messing around.

Despite how disastrous it would have been to study business administration—even though I had already pre-registered—those innocent experiences and curiosity behind the camera, and perhaps luck, meant that I could later dedicate myself to photography and audiovisual work. And that's what we're working on.

www.luishernando.es

Carlos G.S

You could say I was born with a camera under my arm, or at least that's what my family says. For as long as I can remember, I've always been behind a lens, capturing moments, lights, shadows, and people's strange faces when they don't realize it. If it wasn't with a camera, it was with anything with a record button. I even looked at the TV remote with eyes like, "What if I take you apart so I can see how you work?"

The audiovisual world captivated me from the very beginning. I don't know if it was the power of storytelling, of creating worlds, or simply the perfect excuse to be on my toes. Because, yes, I'm one of those people who can't go five minutes without doing something. Mentally, I'm always plotting something: an idea for a short film, a feature film, a script, or how to improve my setup and photography and recording equipment. Physically, it's the same: if I'm not recording, I'm editing, and if not, I'm probably disassembling some electronic device to see how it works (and then praying that it starts working again).

Technology is my other great passion. I'm one of those people who gets excited about a new gadget, even if it's something I don't need but, hey, it has Bluetooth and connects via Wi-Fi. I love trying new things, even if I sometimes end up with more tangled cables than an octopus in a fabric store. But not everything is going to be the latest technology, okay? Old video game consoles are my weakness. From 8-bit to 128-bit, those machines have a charm that never goes out of style. They're like a time capsule, and playing them is like traveling back in time.

And stories... wow, stories are my weakness. It doesn't matter if it's a movie, a book, a video game, or even a conversation over a drink. If there's a good story behind it, I'm there, hooked. I love how a good narrative can transport you to another world, make you feel things you didn't know you had inside, or simply entertain you for a while and make you forget about other things. And, of course, I'm always thinking about how I could tell it myself, with my style, my camera, and my craziness.

In short, I'm a tireless curious person, a tech lover, and above all, someone who can't sit still. Life's too short not to explore, create, and most of all, enjoy the journey. So here I am, camera in one hand and caffeine in the other, ready for whatever comes next. Are you in?

Leticia González Díaz

Determined to squeeze every ounce of joy out of her days, Leticia González Díaz (Las Palmas, 1976), born in Laviana and adopted by Gijón, culminates a period essentially dedicated to family and work, with the firm determination to satisfy her hunger for learning as a way out of a life behind the bar and counter. In this way, she prepares for university entrance for those over 25, graduating in Advanced Sports Technician, Vocational Training Teaching for Employment, and Graphic Design in a short space of time, combining her studies with various occupations in the fields of sports, graphic arts, and raising a son to educate for the future she yearns for.

Multidisciplinary and self-taught, she writes illustrations, sings stories, designs dances, sculpts scores, and illustrates her own stories. With a humanist-pessimist vocation, this 3.0 author, an environmentalist and feminist to the core, draws on the world's sad beauty to find in work, culture, and social media the vehicle through which to unleash her own multimedia revolution, where nothing escapes her interest and everything has a place.

Currently pursuing a degree in Equality Promotion, she runs her own graphic design studio, illustrating the covers of the Gijón-based publishing house BajAmar and designing posters for the Oviedo-based cultural association La Ciudadana.

Piesenlaluna, her chosen signature, embraces as many styles as possible, avoiding the predictable and routine, yet still achieving her own recognizable style.

What will we use your contributions for?

The money raised through this crowdfunding campaign will cover travel expenses to Germany for the recording. It will also cover the costs of designing the project's graphic elements and soundtrack. The remainder will be used for the production of the rewards, including layout, printing, and shipping.

Planned schedule

Filming will take place the first week of May 2025. From there, the script will be finalized, leading to editing, soundtrack design, and finally post-production. The awards will be presented with the completed documentary in fall 2025.