Ceremony for the mounting of a memorial plaque by the foundation “The final address”
Since 2015, the foundation “The final address” has been commemorating the last places of residence of victims of Stalinist terror with memorial plaques. Over 800 plaques have already been mounted in the territory of the former Soviet Union. Now for the first time such a memorial has also been created in Berlin at Mengerzeile 8 – on the initiative of the borough of Treptow-Köpenick and in cooperation with the foundation.
The plaque, which was ceremoniously mounted at this address today, will from now on be a reminder that this was the last place of residence of Fritz Storch, who was arrested by the GDR authorities in 1951 and was shot in Moscow shortly after. Deutsche Wohnen, whose portfolio includes the property at Mengerzeile 8, supports this project.
Fritz Storch was head of telecommunications at the East German railways in Oberschöneweide. In 1951, he was arrested by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) and taken to the Soviet Union. A few months later, he was shot there. Amongst other alleged offences, he was accused of having made derogatory remarks about the SED regime. In 1999, he was officially rehabilitated.
The foundation “The final address” has been working since 2015 together with commemorative organisations in Russia and other countries within the sphere of influence of the former Soviet Union to mark the final places of residence of victims of Stalinist terror in the Soviet Union with small metal plaques on which the names and most important biographical data of these victims are set out. To date, there are more than 800 plaques on houses in Russia, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and Germany. The people commemorated were arrested and sentenced on the basis of arbitrary accusations by Soviet organs of state, were shot or died in custody and had their innocence confirmed later in the course of a rehabilitation procedure.
Deutsche Wohnen
Deutsche Wohnen is one of the leading publicly listed property companies in Europe and is part of the Vonovia Group. The business focus of the company is on managing its own portfolio of residential properties in dynamic metropolitan regions and conurbations in Germany. Deutsche Wohnen sees itself as having both a social responsibility and a duty to maintain and newly develop good-quality and affordable housing in vibrant residential neighbourhoods. As at 31 March 2022, the portfolio comprised a total of around 143,200 units, of which 140,600 were residential and around 2,600 commercial.
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