From Hamburg to São Paulo

On November 23, 2025, Björn Siegel and Anna Menny, together with Andrea Leifeld and Thorsten Schütt, as well as the Authority for Culture and Media (Eva Jakobeit), organized the unveiling of a memorial plaque at Kahlkamp 1A / Blankenese, the former residence of the Kohn / Silberberg family. Claudio Silberberg had travelled from São Paulo with his family for the occasion and, in the discussion that followed, provided insights into the eventful history of the house and his family.

Ahron Arnold and Emma Kohn, Claudio Silberberg's grandparents, had bought the house in 1922 and lived there with their two daughters, Gerda and Else. Due to increasing exclusion and persecution after the National Socialists came to power, the family sought opportunities to leave the country. First, the two daughters managed to flee in 1936, and in 1939, Ahron Arnold and Emma Kohn were able to follow their daughter Gerda to São Paulo. Claudio Silberberg was born in 1943 as the son of Gerda and Walter Silberberg. 

The ambivalent significance of the family's origins in Hamburg, the ongoing relevance of coming to terms with one's own history and preserving memories were also topics discussed on November 24, 2025, during the ceremony “60 Years of the Visiting Program for Former Jewish Citizens of Hamburg,” which was organized by the Hamburg Cultural Authority (BKM) at the Kunsthalle.

In addition to Claudio Silberberg and Björn Siegel, Daphna Horwitz, Linde Apel (Werkstatt der Erinnerung, FZH) and Eva Jakobeit (BKM, Department of Remembrance Culture) took part in the panel discussion. Kirsten Heinsohn, acting director of the Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte, moderated the discussion, which also addressed the opportunities and challenges of encounters during the “visiting program.” Parts of the photo catalog published by Anna Menny, Lisa Bortels, and Björn Siegel, which was compiled in the first half of the year to mark the 60th anniversary of the “visiting program,” were also presented that evening. The photo catalog “Family Photos I Family Stories” presents photographs and documents from 17 different family archives. The pictures show everyday life, school life, and working life in Hamburg; they show flight and new beginnings in mostly unknown countries and family life there up to the present day. The photos and short texts highlight the family histories, all of which are marked by persecution, flight from Hamburg, and new beginnings in exile.

You can find more information about the photo catalog here.