The expansion of Flossenbürg concentration camp led to the establishment of subcamps, the first of which was established at Stulln in February 1942 to provide forced labor to a mining company. Many of them were located in the Sudetenland or across the border in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.[1] The vast majority were established after 1 March 1944.[2] Initially, the subcamps were not involved in armaments production, which changed in the second half of 1944 due to a large influx of available prisoners and the activities of the Jägerstab, which sought to increase German aircraft production.[1] The Jägerstab's dispersal of aircraft production spurred the expansion of the subcamp system in 1944[3] and resulted in the establishment of the two largest of the subcamps, at Hersbruck and Leitmeritz.[1] In the second half of 1944, 45 new camps were created, compared to three camps in the previous six months. The staffing these new camps was increasingly filled by Luftwaffe soldiers, Volksdeutsche SS men (ethnic Germans from outside the Reich), and SS women, for the subcamps containing female prisoners.[4] By April 1945, 80% of the prisoners were at the subcamps.[5] Of all the concentration camp systems, Flossenbürg's subcamp system was one of the three most important to the economy of Nazi Germany, along with those of Dachau and Mauthausen.[6]
Began in 1942 as a work detachment from Flossenbürg main camp, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away, for the Ernst Stich Quarry. In 1944, production lines for parts of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter were established and initially manned by prisoners from the main camp. The barracks were built and prisoners moved in around the end of 1944. The camp was guarded mostly by Luftwaffe guards and conditions were poor. On 16 April 1945 the prisoners were transferred back to the main camp.[7][8]
Prisoners were held in the Rezathalle fair pavilion and worked at repairing bomb damage to the nearby rail lines. Rations were very low which contributed to the death rate. On 4 April, 93 prisoners were sent to Hersbruck while the rest were sent back to the main camp.[9][10]
None at the camp. Eleven died as a result of their imprisonment.
Prisoners, who had been selected for their skills at Neuengamme, worked at the "Institute of Physical Research", under the leadership of physicist Werner Rambauske [de] to develop remote-controlled bombs at the New Cotton Mill owned by Bodo Lafferentz. Conditions were relatively good, but the role of the Wagner family in the subcamp has attracted interest.[13][14]
1,000 prisoners arrived on 1 September on a transport from Sachsenhausen. Little is known of the conditions, although prisoners probably worked in coal mines and tank production. On 7 October, they were transferred back to the Flossenbürg main camp and thence to Leitmeritz.[15][16]
The prisoners, all women who had been transported from Auschwitz, produced metal parts for airplanes and machine guns for Astrawerke [de], 12-hour days six days a week. Nutrition was lacking but the physical brutality of guards was less than elsewhere.[17][18]
16 from mistreatment and additional victims of bombing of Dresden and executions
Most prisoners were Polish Jews who came from the Łódź Ghetto via Stutthof. Already in bad condition, they suffered from poor living conditions and forced labor producing machine guns for Bernsdorf & Co. After the bombing of Dresden on 13 February, the prisoners were sent to Mockethal except 50 men who were forced to clear bomb debris.[20][21]
This was the second and longest-lasting of the Flossenbürg subcamps. Prisoners worked mostly on construction for the SS-Bauleitung Dresden but were also drafted for other construction projects and sold to private firms.[22][23]
Many of the women in the camp had already spent years in other concentration camps. In Dresden, they worked and slept in the same building at 14 Florastrasse, a supplier for Junkers aircraft company. During the bombing of Dresden, some women may have died and others managed to escape, while the remainder were taken to Mockethal and returned in mid-March, at which point they worked in clearing debris.[24][25]
Female prisoners, mostly Russian and Polish, worked on producing time fuses, incendiary fragmentation projectiles for antiaircraft cannons, and other weapons. Food rations were insufficient and the female SS guards frequently beat prisoners. In mid-April they were deported to Leitmeritz but all escaped near the Sudeten border.[26][27]
There were three murders. The rest of the deaths came mostly from ill Jewish prisoners who were in poor condition due to previous imprisonment at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.[28][29]
Prisoners had to repair damaged railroad cars for RAW. Food was inadequate while the SS guards severely mistreated prisoners. Some were shot “while attempting to escape”. [30][31]
Dresden Reichsbahn
24 March–May 1945
500
Prisoners worked also for RAW and lived in five-tiered bunk beds near the railroad station hall. The unsanitary conditions led municipal authorities to fear a typhus epidemic.[32][33]
Most prisoners worked in the kitchen for a POW camp for French officers located at the same site. After the SS guards left, the prisoners left the castle and walked to the front line with the United States Army.[35][36]
Women from a variety of countries produced aircraft parts for Ignaz Schmieger AG. From March 1944, they also built the barracks that would become Zwodau concentration camp. Conditions, especially food, were better than elsewhere, and the women lived in a textile factory. There were 18 Luftwaffe guards and 21 SS women.[37]
Prisoners, mostly Russian and French men, worked for the Flöha Tüllfabrik, which had been turned over to production by Erla Maschinenwerk [de], an aircraft manufacturer, in order to disperse production. Some skilled prisoners deliberately sabotaged production despite the risk to themesleves. Fifty-seven prisoners were executed during a death march towards Theresienstadt.[38][39]
The prisoners, mostly Polish Jewish women, arrived on three transports from Auschwitz. They worked for Arado, an aircraft manufacturer. Conditions were fairly good until they were moved to purpose-built barracks in December 1944, but the nutrition was inadequate. In April 1945, remaining prisoners were evacuated to Mauthausen concentration camp.[40][41]
Prisoners worked for the Luftwaffe at Ganacker airfield. Initially, they were housed at the airfield, but later they moved to improvised tents in a forest clearing 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away. Poor housing, insufficient food, as well as a contaminated water supply caused many deaths. Forty-five prisoners, too weak to be moved, were murdered during the evacuation of the camp. Other prisoners died during the death march towards Traunstein.[42][43]
Prisoners worked on the nearby Weiden-Floss-Eslarn railway, unloading cars, and others built a clothing factory operated by the SS. The first SS commander, Kübler, embezzled prisoner rations and beat them; his successor Voigt tried to ensure that prisoners were not mistreated. Sick prisoners were transported to Flossenbürg where some died.[44][45]
Prisoners, many of whom were Romani, did forced labor for Luftfahrtgerätewerk Hakenfelde GmbH, a subsidiary of Siemens which produced aircraft parts including navigation equipment, flight instruments, and electronics. Some prisoners had to clear bomb debris from the railway station in early 1945.[46][47]
220 as a result of camp conditions, 184 in a massacre
Prisoners worked and were quartered in the Mitteldeutsche Stahlwerke [de] factory, which operated on the principle of "extermination through work"—conditions were intended to cause the death of prisoners. On 17 April, 184 prisoners deemed unable to march were shot in the Koselitz sandpits nearby; the remainder were marched to Leitmeritz and Theresienstadt.[48][49]
Most of the prisoners were Polish Jewish women from Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp; in November 1944, 21 Jewish men arrived. Prisoners were forced to build camp barracks, load and unload trains, and work for an aerial intelligence unit which had been relocated from Płaszów.[50][51]
5 at the camp, others died during and after the death march
The prisoners were mostly Polish and Hungarian Jewish women from Transylvania and Carpathian Ruthenia, who were forced to work for Framo producing machine guns, launchers and mortars. The company paid the SS 4 Reichsmarks daily per prisoner, a total of 42,526 RM. Many of the guards were members of the Russian Liberation Army. In April 1945, they were evacuated to Theresienstadt.[52][53]
The largest subcamp of Flossenbürg, it was established as part of an effort to disperse and increase war production. Prisoners were forced to work in the caverns Richard I and II, producing Maybach HL230 tank engines for Auto Union (now Audi) and preparing the second site for intended production of tungsten and molybdenum wire and sheet metal by Osram. In the last weeks of the war, the camp became a hub for death marches, until its dissolution by the German surrender.[71]
Uziel, Daniel (2011). Arming the Luftwaffe: The German Aviation Industry in World War II. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN9780786488797.
Further reading
Adam, Alfons (2013). "Die Arbeiterfrage soll mit Hilfe von KZ-Häftlingen gelöst werden": Zwangsarbeit in KZ-Außenlagern auf dem Gebiet der heutigen Tschechischen Republik ["The labor question should be solved with the help of concentration camp prisoners": Forced labor in the subcamps on the territory of what is now the Czech Republic] (in German). Metropol-Verlag. ISBN978-3-86331-083-7.
Benz, Wolfgang, ed. (2007). Flossenbürg: das Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg und seine Außenlager [Flossenbürg: Flossenbürg Concentration Camp and its Subcamps] (in German). Munich: C. H. Beck. ISBN978-3-406-56229-7.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_2.jpg)
_(4).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
