Poggenhagen refugee youth camp
Coordinates: 52 ° 27 '53 " N , 9 ° 26' 51" E
The Poggenhagen refugee youth camp was a camp for underage refugees (without family ties) from the Soviet occupation zone and the later GDR . It was located on the Ilschenhof on the southern edge of the municipality of Poggenhagen , today part of Neustadt am Rübenberge in Lower Saxony .
Goal setting
The task of the camp was to take in refugees who had not yet reached the age of 21. These young people were usually transferred to Poggenhagen from the general refugee camps, for example from the camps in Friedland or Uelzen . Until their escape and personal circumstances were checked, they were housed in this relatively remote place. They also stayed mostly voluntarily until they were able to take up work and were assigned a place of residence in the camp.
Living conditions
The predominantly male youths were housed in semicircular corrugated iron huts, so-called Nissen huts . The girls lived in the main house, which was also the kitchen. The supply of food and drink, as well as medical care, were assured and good. Any clothing requirements were supplemented by donations from the used clothing collection . There was no financial support at this time, but the work as a camp guard, in the kitchen or as a clerk in the reception offices , where the interrogations were carried out, was remunerated at DM 7.00 per week (as of 1949/50).
The accommodations of the GCLO staff at Wunstorf Airport , who had to load the transport aircraft of the British Air Force during the Berlin Airlift, were located near the camp . There were often arguments with these men, mainly because of the girls housed in the camp.
More refugee youth camps
- Berlin-Kladow
- Sandbostel district of Rotenburg (Wümme)
literature
- Heiner Wittrock "Wunstorf Air Base, Part 2 (1945-1998)" Editor: City of Wunstorf