Annener Gußstahlwerk external camp

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Annener Gußstahlwerk external camp
Memorial stone subcamp Annener Gußstahlwerk of the Buchenwald concentration camp

Memorial stone subcamp Annener Gußstahlwerk of the Buchenwald concentration camp

Data
place Anne
Client Annener cast steelworks
Construction year 1944
demolition 1945
Coordinates 51 ° 26 '53.7 "  N , 7 ° 22' 16.7"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 26 '53.7 "  N , 7 ° 22' 16.7"  E
Georeferencing Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap
Information board for forced labor in Witten during the National Socialism
Information board for the forced labor camp “Westfeldstrasse” and Buchenwald subcamp

The Annener Gußstahlwerk subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, often also called the Witten-Annen subcamp for short , was an external unit of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Witten (district of Annen ) and existed from September 16, 1944 to March 28, 1945. The total of over 750 prisoners had to do forced labor in the armaments company Annener Gußstahlwerk .

history

prehistory

Since 1940 the Annener cast steelworks, u. a. Cast steel parts produced for the aircraft industry, civil slave laborers from Belgium (500), the Netherlands , Czechoslovakia and Poland (2200), since 1941 also Russian prisoners of war , civil slave laborers and from October 1943 Italian military internees . These were housed in various camps near the plant .

Before the concentration camp was set up , more than 10,000 foreign workers , prisoners of war and civilian slave labor were employed in various factories in Witten . At the end of August 1944, 2,172 foreign women and men (civilian and prisoner-of-war forced laborers) were working in the Annen cast steel works, 51.4% of the total workforce.

The later concentration camp satellite camp was planned as a "prison camp for 1000 men" at Spiekermannschen Platz since the turn of the year 1942/43, but was not approved by the building regulations until September 9, 1944 . According to SS requirements, additional watchtowers were built and the camp was double- fenced with barbed wire . In the immediate vicinity there was a so-called "Russian camp" since 1942, a labor camp for civilian slave laborers and prisoners of war, whose inmates also had to work in the Annen cast steel works.

Concentration camp subcamps

Part of the camp site around 1950

On September 16, 1944, 700 men were brought from the Buchenwald concentration camp to Annen in closed freight cars . Most of them were Soviet citizens (248) and French (226), but also Poles, Czechoslovaks , Italians, Germans, Belgians and the like. a. The prisoners' ages ranged from 16 to 63 years. On average, they were under 30 years old, with a fifth under 20.

Aerial photo of the camp from 1945

Most of them were prisoners classified as political . In addition, there were prisoners in the categories “ Arbeitsschue Reich ” (ASR), “Arbeitsserziehungshäftlinge” (AEH), so-called “ Jewish half-breeds of the first degree ” and “ professional criminals ” (BV).

The guards consisted of around 40 SS men who also guarded the prisoners while they were working in the plant and whose barracks were separated from the prisoners' area in what is now the remaining area. Camp commandant was SS-Oberscharführer Ernst Zorbach until November 1944 , then Hermann Schleef . Organizationally, the subcamp was assigned to the Buchenwald main camp, and in disciplinary terms it was subordinate to the Brüllstrasse concentration camp subcamp in Bochum .

The prisoner area consisted of four accommodation barracks , each of which housed over 150 men, a roll call area , an infirmary , the usual functional buildings and a separate accommodation for the camp elder . The warehouse consisted of a total of 14 buildings and was at least partially visible from the Witten-Dortmund railway line .

Hall A7, in which the concentration camp inmates had to do forced labor, today the Annen Business Center

The prisoners had to work twelve-hour day and night shifts six days a week in Hall A7, machining workshop II , the Annen cast steelworks (today the Annen Business Center ). The quantitative and qualitative inadequate food supply , which mainly consisted of bread and thin cabbage soup , led to numerous deficiency symptoms. Since the turn of the year 1944/45 there was hardly any heating in the factory or in the barracks. Nevertheless, it was punishable for the prisoners to stuff their thin prison clothing even temporarily (with cardboard , straw or newspapers ). The medical care was inadequate and consisted mainly of prescription of bed rest in the hospital and occasional dose of aspirin . Nine prisoners were brought back to Buchenwald because of pulmonary tuberculosis , two of whom did not survive the trip. The prisoners were also exposed to the violence and arbitrariness of the SS men and of camp elder Alfred Spillner , a "professional criminal".

The corpses of at least 30 concentration camp prisoners who died in Witten were initially cremated in the Dortmund crematorium . From February 1945 they were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Annen, which was leveled in 1938 .

At the end of March 1945 the Allies drew closer. On the night of March 28 to 29, 1945, the SS drove the remaining 613 prisoners north-east. At the beginning of April 1945 they were liberated by American troops near Lippstadt .

The Second World War ended in Witten on April 11, 1945 when it was occupied by American troops .

Time of repression

Foundations of barracks

As early as the summer of 1945, the Catholic St. Josef Community used the barracks of the labor camp and the satellite camp as a kindergarten . The rest of the camp area was cleared down to the foundations and released for development from 1950 . In 1958 the Catholic kindergarten moved and the remaining barracks were also torn down. The area served as a wild garbage dump and parking lot . In the early 1960s, the city planned to build its third grammar school on the site of the former camp . Due to lack of funds, an empty school building in the city center was used instead. In 1977 row houses were built on the site .

Former memorial stone "Dead of the Allies" from 1959 on the municipal cemetery in Witten-Annen (inscription was removed in 1990.)

At the municipal cemetery in Witten-Annen , a memorial stone with the misleading inscription “Dead of the Allies” was placed next to the graves of the concentration camp prisoners and forced laborers.

In 1967 the Bochum public prosecutor brought charges of attempted murder against Ernst Zorbach. He was accused of deliberately refusing help in 1944 to a prisoner who had had an accident while trying to escape . Investigations were also initiated against Hermann Schleef. Both were convicted, however, mainly for their involvement in other homicides. In addition, there was no legal review.

Rediscovery

Former extinguishing water pond where the excavations took place
One-man bunker

In 1984 the then class 10a of the Albert-Martmöller-Gymnasium visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial and discovered the Witten-Annen subcamp there on an overview map. As part of a history competition , the pupils researched and triggered a public discussion on communal oblivion with their article published as a brochure in 1985 . At the initiative of the students, the city of Witten erected a memorial stone designed by Anselm Treese on the edge of the remaining area on April 11, 1985 . In 1990 the remaining area of ​​the camp was examined by two archaeologists and a historian looked for other sources . In 1992 the city announced an international artistic competition with a total of 29,000 DM prize money, in which 161 artists from all over Germany and neighboring countries took part. The budget for the realization of the memorial should be around 250,000 DM. The first prize envisaged, the residual surface 114 with concrete - cuboids m to cover with 2.20 m edge length at a distance of 1.10. Due to a lack of funds, none of the designs from the competition were implemented. Instead, today's so-called Immermannstrasse memorial consists of a red gravel area overgrown by weeds and the memorial plaque that was erected in 1985. Since 1992, the remaining area has been registered as a ground monument in the city's list of monuments.

Forced labor memorial at the Annen municipal cemetery from 1993
Prisoner stamps in the LWL Museum of Archeology
Crockery and cutlery of the prisoners in the LWL Museum of Archeology
Archaeological finds in the Technical Town Hall

In 1990 the misleading inscription “Dead of the Allies” was removed from the memorial at the municipal cemetery in Annen and in 1993 a memorial plaque was put up for the forced laborers who died in Witten. ( Location ) With the 394 victims named there, the dead from the Witten-Annen satellite camp is also remembered. In the LWL Museum for Archeology in Herne , some finds from the 1990 excavation have been exhibited as part of the permanent exhibition since 2003 . Crockery (tin cans and bowls), cutlery and identification tags of the concentration camp inmates can be seen in two showcases . Finds from the excavation of 1990 can also be found in the Technical Town Hall . a. Crockery, cutlery, signs, combs, ammunition cases and the remains of an incendiary bomb are kept.

In 2013 the memorial stone was moved to the remaining area and two information boards were set up.

A large part of the excavation finds from 1990/91 were rediscovered in a cellar in Witten in 2017 and for the first time professionally documented and archived by LWL Archeology for Westphalia . In retrospect, the excavation of 1990/91 marks the inconspicuous beginning of a developing Holocaust archeology .

Speculation about the place

There is speculation that the remaining area may not have been part of the subcamp but of the neighboring labor camp (a so-called "Russian camp").

See also

literature

  • Manfred Grieger , Klaus Völkel: The “Annener Gußstahlwerk” (AGW) subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. September 1944 – April 1945 . Ed .: Stadt Witten, Der Stadtdirektor, Stadtarchiv . 1st edition. Klartext Verlag , Essen 1997, ISBN 3-88474-647-2 .
  • Manfred Grieger: The “AGW” sub- camp. Concentration camp prisoners in the "Annener Gussstahlwerk" in Witten . In: Jan Erik Schulte (Ed.): Concentration camps in the Rhineland and in Westphalia 1933–1945. Central control and regional initiative . Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh , Paderborn 2005, ISBN 3-506-71743-X , p. 205–214 ( excerpt from Google book search [accessed April 3, 2017]).
  • Ralph Klein: The subcamp in Witten-Annen. History, urban use and historical-political handling since 1945 (=  history ). Lit Verlag , Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-643-13109-6 ( information from the publisher ( memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on April 3, 2017]).
  • Manfred Grieger: Witten-Annen . In: Wolfgang Benz , Barbara Distel (eds.): Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald (=  The Place of Terror. History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps ). tape 3 . Verlag CH Beck , Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-406-52963-4 , p. 613–618 ( excerpt from Google book search [accessed on April 3, 2017]).
  • Class 10a of the Albert-Martmöller-Gymnasium in the school year 1984/85 (Ed.): The Witten-Annen concentration camp. An external unit of the Buchenwald concentration camp . 1st edition. Self-published , Witten 1985.
  • Albert Chambon: 81490 . Editions de Paris, Versailles 2004, ISBN 978-2-85162-143-6 (French).
  • Robert Maréchal: Diary . (Diary of a concentration camp prisoner, unpublished, available in the Witten city archive).
  • Gabriele Isenberg: About the excavations in the Witten-Annen concentration camp . In: excavations and finds . No. 40 , 1995, pp. 33-37 .
  • Gabriele Isenberg: The concentration camp in Witten-Annen. Mute witnesses . In: Westfalenspiegel . No. 4 . Ardey-Verlag , Münster 1994, p. 45-48 .
  • Martin Kroker: The archaeological excavations in the Buchenwald satellite camp in Witten-Annen . In: Archeology in the Ruhrland. Lectures of the archaeological matinee 1992 in the Archaeological Museum Altenessen . Essen 1993, p. 42-47 .
  • Planning Office City of Witten: Artistic ideas competition for a memorial on the site of the former Buchenwald satellite camp in Witten-Annen. Documentation . 1st edition. Planning Office City of Witten, Witten 1993.
  • Klaus Völkel: "22 comrades rest here, tortured to death ...". Commemorative publication for the victims of forced labor in Witten, 1941–1945 . Ed .: City of Witten. 1st edition. Publishing house Dr. Dieter Winkler, Bochum 1992, ISBN 3-924517-64-9 ( description and table of contents [accessed on March 22, 2017]).
  • Heinrich Schoppmeyer : Witten. History of the village, town and suburbs . tape 2 . VOHM , Witten 2012, ISBN 978-3-00-040266-1 , p. 148-149 .
  • Peter Geiger: "One of them turned his face to the side - looks like dad". Contemporary witnesses remember the forced labor camp "Westfeldstrasse" and the later subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp on Immermannstrasse as well as its inmates . In cooperation with Ralph Klein. In: VOHM (Hrsg.): Märkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte . tape 114 . Klartext Verlag, Essen 2015, p. 196-212 .

Newspaper articles

  • Karl Siegel: Concreted over to commemorate the Nazi era? Comments on the planning of a concentration camp memorial in Witten . In: SoZ . No. 1/2 , 1993, pp. 16 .

Movies

  • Stolen youth. Herman van Hasselt. Beech forest prisoner 20239. Sirius film studio. Germany 2006. ( DVD , 55 min.) ( Description , accessed on March 22, 2017)
    ( Interview with a Dutch resistance fighter who was also imprisoned in the Witten-Annen concentration camp. Contains only a few statements about this camp.)
  • Interview with Hansheinz König. Current hour . 5th July 1985.

Web links

Commons : Annener Gußstahlwerk satellite camp of Buchenwald concentration camp  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sonja Leidemann : Speech by Mayor Sonja Leidemann on the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day event on January 27, 2011 on the remaining area of ​​the former Buchenwald concentration camp external command. (PDF; 18 kB) January 27, 2011, accessed on March 22, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Hugo Ernst buyer : potato cabbage fire . Childhood in Witten-Annen or a piece of local history. Narrative poem . 1st edition. Märkische Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt Aug. Pott, Witten 1991, ISBN 3-920611-19-5 , p. 62 .
  3. ^ Hermann-Josef Kurz: War Christmas 1944. Encounter between barbed wire . In: The Cathedral . No. 52 , December 25, 1994.
  4. ↑ History of the AMG. Albert-Martmöller-Gymnasium, accessed on June 29, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Susanne Linka: Unobstructed view: Wild growth in front of boards at the municipal cemetery removed. In: Ruhr news . April 13, 2011, accessed January 20, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Buchenwald branch camp. In 1944, SS men refused to help forced laborers who had died in Witten. Accused arrives before the jury for attempted murder . In: WAZ . December 21, 1967.
  7. ↑ Bernd Berke: What the digging brings in Westphalia. In: WR . August 16, 2008, accessed December 1, 2016 .
  8. ↑ LWL's chief archaeologist is retiring. In: Ruhr news. July 30, 2008, accessed January 20, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Good contacts in the museum world. In: WAZ. February 29, 2008, accessed December 1, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Susanne Schild: Memory. Inmate 81490 remembers the concentration camp in Annen. WAZ, December 1, 2016, accessed September 8, 2013 .
  11. ↑ Rediscovered ... Finds from the excavation in the Witten-Annen subcamp (Ennepe-Ruhr district) 1990/91. In: Blog of LWL Archeology. LWL archeology for Westphalia , May 11, 2017, archived from the original on April 15, 2018 ; accessed on April 15, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Ingrid Borkenstein: On “Memorial goes under in wild growth”. Tormented for three years . In: WAZ . June 21, 2013 ( letter to the editor from a resident).