Gundelsdorf subcamp

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Memorial in memory of the Gundelsdorf subcamp and the prisoners housed here

The Gundelsdorf subcamp was one of the numerous subcamps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp . It was located in the Upper Franconian community of Gundelsdorf  - since January 1, 1978 a district of the city of Kronach  - and existed from September 12, 1944 to April 13, 1945. The Jewish , predominantly female prisoners were used as forced labor in the air force supply depot in Gundelsdorf and employed as seamstresses in a company in neighboring Knellendorf .

location

The concentration camp was located on the premises of the former steam brick Marie, directly on the east side of the main road, today's federal road 85 . The company, founded in 1898, had to stop production during the Second World War from 1941 for economic reasons. It had a connection to the railway line Hochstadt-Marktzeuln-Probstzella , which ran west of the main road , which made it easier for the prisoners to be transported. The brickworks, which resumed operations in 1947/48, was finally closed in 1976 and the railroad track crossing the main road was dismantled; Today there is a building materials store on the former premises.

history

In the last years of the Second World War, numerous war-important operations and, in some cases, military units from the eastern regions , where the Red Army was advancing further and further west, were relocated to the German hinterland. “ Aryanized ” businesses run by Jewish businessmen were often chosen as locations , as they could not defend themselves against expropriation and therefore little resistance was to be expected. For example, on September 12, 1944, an air force replenishment warehouse was relocated from near Kraków to the train station in Gundelsdorf. The associated barracks camp was built on the premises of the steam brick Marie founded in 1898 by the Jewish merchant Julius Obermeier , which had to cease production in 1941 for economic reasons.

At the instigation of the command leader, a captain named Friedrich Fischer, 100 Polish Jewish women from the Plaszow concentration camp near Kraków , most of whom had already worked there for fishermen in the supply camp, were deported to Gundelsdorf as workers . The women, who were between 13 and 46 years old, were transported from the middle or end of August 1944 via the Auschwitz concentration camp , where the prisoners stayed for several weeks, to Flossenbürg and from there to Gundelsdorf. After their arrival on September 11, 1944, the women first had to build barracks with simple furnishings and no beds or significant sanitary facilities as accommodation in the clay pit on the brickyard's premises. The camp was designed for an average occupancy of 75 prisoners. Since the supply depot was a military facility of the Luftwaffe, the security personnel in Gundelsdorf - contrary to the usual guard by SS personnel - were also provided by the Luftwaffe. Later, four SS helpers were assigned to Gundelsdorf from Flossenbürg as guards.

From November 7, 1944 at the latest, male prisoners were also used in Gundelsdorf, for whom the camp was expanded accordingly. Originally, this was supposed to be the case when the subcamp was founded; the transport with men who, like the women, had already worked for fishermen near Kraków, was apparently diverted to a previously unidentified Polish mine. At the beginning of November, 50 male prisoners from Flossenbürg were transferred to Gundelsdorf to replace them. These Jewish men, who belonged to different nationalities, mostly came from the Auschwitz concentration camp and were in much worse physical condition than the women already housed in Gundelsdorf. Almost half were therefore transferred back to Flossenbürg, from where on November 25th up to 17 men from Hungary who had previously been used as slave labor in Bor, Serbia , came to Gundelsdorf. In December, numerous sick men and men unable to work were again transferred back to Flossenbürg, for whom a maximum of 22 prisoners, mainly from Italy , came to Gundelsdorf as replacements on December 23rd . The total number of male prisoners who passed through the subcamp over the course of time is not known, as the documents from the Flossenbürg concentration camp sometimes do not allow an exact allocation. However, it should have been between 70 and a maximum of 90 people, of whom only 40 could be identified by name by 2010.

Most of the women and men interned in Gundelsdorf were deployed in the Air Force replenishment warehouse at the train station, where they had to load and unload freight cars. Some of the women were employed in the kitchen and in the laundry. From December 11, 1944, around 20 of the women in neighboring Knellendorf had to sew military uniforms for the Wiedemann & Co. company.

Three of the male prisoners died while imprisoned in Gundelsdorf. The first death occurred at the end of November 1944 when a Greek died of illness and exhaustion in the medical barracks. The second dead was a Hungarian who died in mid-December as a result of ill-treatment by the guards; Two of the officers involved were then transferred to units at the front at the instigation of Kommandofführer Fischer. At the end of December 1944 or beginning of January 1945 the third prisoner, a Pole, died of exhaustion. This last death and the generally poor conditions in the camp were probably the trigger for the dissolution of the men's camp on January 27, 1945; all male prisoners still alive were transported back to Flossenbürg. A large number of the men died there in the following months, were transferred to other satellite camps or evacuated to Bergen-Belsen on March 8, 1945 . In 2010, only four male survivors were known.

At the same time as the men's camp was closed, the women's camp was ordered to be closed within a period of two weeks. The majority of the female prisoners were taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp on February 6, 1945 , from where the women were later transported to various other camps. Only 35 female prisoners remained in Gundelsdorf, including the 20 women employed as seamstresses in Knellendorf. These 20 prisoners were evacuated to Zwodau in the Czech Republic on February 27, 1945 , where they were merged with other women from Helmbrechts and the Silesian Freiburg . On April 13, 1945, the women had to start a so-called death march from there , which many did not survive; they died of exhaustion or were shot by the guards. However, a large number of the women from Gundelsdorf survived the death marches and were liberated.

The 15 Jewish women who remained in Gundelsdorf were probably a group of privileged prisoners who enjoyed greater freedom in the camp and in some cases also had contact with the local residents. One of the women who had to run the Fischer household was hidden by several residents until the American troops marched in on April 12, 1945. All the other women were most likely transported together to Helmbrechts in April 1945, from where they were probably taken to Zwodau, where they also had to go on a death march. A large number of these women survived and could be freed.

The complete dissolution of the Gundelsdorf satellite camp is no longer recorded in the documents of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. It is mentioned there for the last time on April 13, 1945.

Legal processing

After the end of the Second World War, the Coburg public prosecutor's office started investigations into manslaughter due to the death of the abused prisoner and brought charges against command leader Captain Friedrich Fischer, camp leader NCO Wilhelm Sann and other officers. On July 8, 1952, Fischer was sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment for several bodily harm, dangerous bodily harm or their order. Sann was sentenced to one year and three months' imprisonment for multiple assaults and dangerous bodily harm in the same trial. The whereabouts of the remaining officers could not be determined by the authorities and they could not be called to account.

Friedrich Fischer

In relation to Captain Friedrich Fischer, Pascal Cziborra points out parallels to the story of the industrialist Oskar Schindler , whom Fischer may have known personally from his time in Krakow. Like Schindler, Fischer claims to have campaigned for the repatriation of his Jewish workers who are said to have been brought to Auschwitz by the SS without his knowledge. So far, however, no documents have been found to support this. In addition, this version contradicts a statement by the commander of the Plaszow concentration camp, Amon Göth , according to which all prisoner transports to the German Reich generally took place via the Auschwitz camp for quarantine reasons. An intervention by Fischer would therefore not have been necessary. It is unclear whether Fischer actually did not know this or merely reinterpreted the events in his defense in court.

The captain claims to have generally had a good relationship with his Jewish workers and to have been concerned about their well-being. Survivors have confirmed that Fischer was trying to get food and medicine in Krakow and to bring family members together in his camp. It can be doubted that he acted for purely unselfish reasons, since the captain and his subordinates were probably bribed by the workforce and Fischer might just want to get this lucrative source of income.

In Gundelsdorf, too, the relationship between the prisoners and fishermen and his subordinates is said to have been comparatively benevolent at first. The captain tried to get additional food rations, medical care and granted the prisoners certain freedoms that violated the SS detention regulations. These violations, which were noticed during an unannounced inspection by the Flossenbürg camp commandant Max Koegel , were probably the main reason for assigning four SS helpers to Gundelsdorf. With the arrival of these guards, Fischer's behavior towards the inmates changed at least fundamentally. In the statements of former subordinates and the Gundelsdorf population, he is described as a choleric or Jew hater who is said to have often yelled at and mistreated the prisoners. Fischer's own testimony and the testimony of several survivors, who described the captain's behavior as a spectacle for the SS personnel loyal to the line, contradict this; In the absence of the guards, Fischer always behaved fairly and respectfully towards his confidants among the Jewish prisoners.

When the final dissolution of the Gundelsdorf camp and the arrival of the Allied troops was imminent, Fischer is said to have at least indirectly supported the 15 Jewish women who remained in the camp in their escape plans. In addition, he probably planned for a time to release the women as part of a fictitious shooting operation in the forest near Gundelsdorf, but did not put this into practice. Instead he arranged for the last prisoners to be transferred to the Helmbrechts concentration camp, where he believed the women were in relative safety; at the time he had no knowledge of the death marches that took place from there. The longer stay in Gundelsdorf should at least have increased the later chances of survival of the women.

Fischer's version of the events is supported by the fact that it was confirmed by the statements of several survivors of the Gundelsdorf camp. After his conviction, Fischer tried for decades to have the case reopened. To this end, he found several Jewish exonerating witnesses in Israel, Australia, Canada and the USA who supported him with affidavits in his efforts, which, however, ultimately did not lead to his rehabilitation.

memorial

At the initiative of the Protestant Youth , a memorial stone was erected on May 8, 2002 on the bicycle and footpath running parallel to Bundesstraße 85 between Gundelsdorf and Knellendorf. The memorial, which was made by the Kronach sculptor Heinrich Schreiber from a block of Flossenbürger granite , shows a crowd suffering from the weight of an inhuman dictatorship .

literature

  • Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). Lorbeer Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-938969-11-3 .
  • Barbara Heinlein: The former Gundelsdorf subcamp . In: District of Kronach (Hrsg.): Local history yearbook of the district of Kronach . tape 23 - 2001/02 . Anton Hauguth-Verlag, Kronach-Neuses 2002, ISBN 3-9803467-6-5 , p. 217-223 .
  • Protestant youth in the dean's office in Kronach (ed.): The Gundelsdorf satellite camp - results of a search for clues . Widow Marie Link Druck, Kronach 2000.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Barbara Heinlein: The former Gundelsdorf satellite camp . In: Local history yearbook of the district of Kronach . tape 23 - 2001/02 .
  2. ^ A b Gerd Fleischmann: With Julius Obermeier came the economic boom . In: Local history yearbook of the district of Kronach . tape 23 - 2001/02 , p. 197-203 .
  3. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 8 .
  4. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 19th f .
  5. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 21 .
  6. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 22nd f .
  7. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 22 .
  8. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 10 .
  9. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 66 .
  10. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 116 .
  11. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 31 .
  12. ↑ a b c Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf concentration camp - Fischer's list (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp . Volume 6 ). S. 28 .
  13. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 30 .
  14. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 9 .
  15. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 194 .
  16. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 38 f .
  17. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 49 .
  18. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 90 .
  19. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 59-65 .
  20. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 24 .
  21. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 98 f .
  22. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 38 .
  23. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 40-48 .
  24. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 48 .
  25. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 85-88 .
  26. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 89 f .
  27. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 96 f .
  28. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 95 f .
  29. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 101 .
  30. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 191-194 .
  31. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 103 f .
  32. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 108 f .
  33. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 106 .
  34. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 104 f .
  35. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 117 .
  36. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 131 .
  37. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 165 f .
  38. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 11 f .
  39. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 13 f .
  40. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 18 .
  41. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 18th f .
  42. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 17 .
  43. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 15 .
  44. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 35 f .
  45. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 55-57 .
  46. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 70-74 .
  47. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 127-130 .
  48. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 33-35 .
  49. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 36 .
  50. ↑ a b Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 139 .
  51. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 144 .
  52. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 76 f .
  53. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 130 .
  54. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 137-139 .
  55. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 104 .
  56. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 110 f .
  57. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 114 .
  58. ↑ Pascal Cziborra: Gundelsdorf Concentration Camp - Fischer's List (=  The satellite camps of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp . Volume 6 ). S. 115 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 17 ′ 5.1 ″  N , 11 ° 18 ′ 6.2 ″  E