Husum-Schwesing subcamp

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The Husum-Schwesing satellite camp , located in the Schwesing district of Engelsburg, about five kilometers northeast of Husum , was occupied with prisoners on September 26, 1944 as a satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp in connection with the construction of the so-called Friesenwall . 2,500 people from 14 countries were trapped here in autumn 1944; 297 detainees died as a result of forced labor , malnutrition and abuse. The camp was closed on December 29, 1944.

Geographical location

The area is located a few kilometers northeast of Husum in the district of North Friesland between the main road Husum-Flensburg (now B200) and the now no longer existing railway line to Flensburg. The field name for this area was already Castel Sant'Angelo at that time , which is why the name Engelsburg concentration camp is sometimes used.

Use as a construction labor camp

In 1938/39 the Husum-Schwesing airfield was laid out. A Reich labor camp was set up for the workers near the village of Schwesing . The capacity of the camp was set at 250 men. The Air Force stationed in Husum during the Second World War, but only aircraft dummies to the einfliegenden from the North allied to irritate bombers. After the labor service had withdrawn, the camp temporarily served as a collection point for Wehrmacht soldiers who were to return from vacation trips to their units in Scandinavia . A temporary vacancy followed.

Concentration camp subcamps

Warehouse construction

In September 1944, citizens of Husum were ordered to Schwesing to pull a double barbed wire around the camp and erect high watchtowers at the four corners.

The camp consisted of nine barracks, eight of which were used as inmate quarters and one as an infirmary. In addition, there were two larger buildings on the 3000 m² site, which housed the camp kitchen, storage magazines, a tailor's shop and a shoemaker's shop, as well as four temporary latrines.

Prisoners

On September 25th, around 1,500 prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp were transported to Husum-Schwesing in cattle wagons of the Reichsbahn . On October 20, another 1000 prisoners from Neuengamme followed. Most of the prisoners were of Dutch, French, Danish and Polish nationality. Other prisoners came and a. from the Soviet Union and Germany. The camp elder was the Reich German political prisoner Heinrich Neufeldt.

Everyday warehouse life

In the heavy marshland, the prisoners only had to dig a four to five meter wide and three meter deep anti-tank trench with a shovel and spade and build battle positions and shelters. Sometimes they stood in cold water and mud all day. In doing so, they were exposed to the beatings of the kapos , who were supposed to drive people to work, but often terrorized at random. Older marines “unfit for field service” guarded the prisoners at work and the often kilometer-long way there.

The operation of the camp took place under the eyes of the population: On the way to the Siegfried Line, the prisoners were driven through the streets of Husum in the morning and in the evening. Husum residents had to bring the corpses to the cemetery in their cart. The sight of the prisoners through the camp fence and at work is also reported.

In December 1944 the Friesenwall had become completely pointless due to the changed military situation. The camp in Husum-Schwesing was closed and the surviving prisoners were brought back to Neuengamme.

Camp management

Hans Hermann Griem

From September 1944, the Husum-Schwesing satellite camp was headed by SS Untersturmführer Hans Hermann Griem , who also took over the management of the Ladelund satellite camp in November 1944 . He constantly withheld food, enjoyed sadistic torture, shot several inmates himself and was often drunk. After the camps were dissolved, Griem was commandant in the Dalum subcamp (Emslandlager Dalum) until March 1945 .

After 1945

After the war ended, most of the dead were returned to their homeland. At times the site served as a refugee camp.

Only in 1963 did the public prosecutor's office in Flensburg resume the investigation against Griem, but did not make any progress. In 1965 the whereabouts of Griem could be determined. He had settled in Hamburg-Bergedorf . Then the case was handed over to the Hamburg public prosecutor in 1966. This began with systematic investigations and aimed at a lawsuit against Griem. On January 16, 1969, the Hamburg Regional Court opened the preliminary judicial investigation against Griem. Shortly before the actual trial began, Griem died on June 25, 1971.

Concentration camp memorial

Former storage area with 300 iron steles

In 1983 the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp work group published the history of the camp and on January 30, 1983, a memorial event attended by around a thousand people in Husum, at which former prisoners reported on their suffering in the camp. In 1985, the district of North Friesland was able to buy the eastern half of the former camp site and in 1994 further parts of the site, on which the remains of the foundations and the hydrant are located. In November 1987, a memorial designed by the sculptor Ulrich Lindow was inaugurated on the camp grounds. The camp site has been a listed building since 1995. A multilingual information board with information about the history and events in the camp was set up in 1998 next to the parking lot. Since 2001/2002, 300 steles have been commemorating those killed in the camp. The steles symbolize crouched people standing in humble posture and, in their scattered distribution, remind of the arbitrary violence against the prisoners. They are made of steel that rusts quickly, so that the names of the deceased are difficult to decipher - as an indication that the memory of the time and the crimes of National Socialism is difficult to maintain.

In 2017 the “House of the Present” was built. In addition, the old information board was replaced by new, more detailed boards and a camp tour was set up with the help of an audio guide.

Outdoor exhibition

As part of the redesign of the memorial in 2017, a new outdoor exhibition was opened. Next to the Haus der Gegenwart, five panels provide information about various aspects of the camp during and after the Nazi era. The outdoor exhibition is in German, English and Danish; these and three other languages ​​(Polish, French, Dutch) can also be heard via the audio guide.

guides

Since 2017, tours of the memorial have been offered by volunteer guides. During the approximately one-hour tour of the site of the former satellite camp, information on the history of the camp and the development of the memorial is provided. Between Easter and the day of national mourning, open tours take place on Sundays at 3 p.m., outside these times groups can register and are then guided through the memorial.

Audio guide

The tour with the aid of the audio guide comprises ten stations. It is available in German, English, Danish, French, Dutch and Polish. The audio guide can be heard on the one hand via devices that can be borrowed from Haus der Gegenwart. On the other hand, it is available online and can be heard on site via mobile devices.

House of the present

In 2017 the House of the Present was opened on the grounds of the Husum-Schwesing Concentration Camp Memorial . It has a small seminar room and toilets.

The concept of the house is to link past and present in an opinion and question-oriented manner. In this way, discussions are to be encouraged and impulses, critical approaches and discussions are made possible.

The key question is:

"How should one deal with serious violations of human rights - judicially, in memory and with a view to similar current cases?"

Following on from this, the basic theme emerges: "National Socialism, Husum-Schwesing Concentration Camp Memorial ... You can't do anything from this story, you have to learn something!"

Three themed panels address different aspects and address different questions:

  1. Prosecution of (war) crimes
  2. Living on with history
  3. Room for maneuver

circle of friends

In 2014 the “Friends of the Husum-Schwesing Concentration Camp Memorial” was founded. He works to ensure that the memorial site is taken up again and that the plans for appropriate structural equipment on the site are implemented. Further tasks of the association are the promotion of research and communication of the history of the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp in the context of the historical development of the 20th century.

  • Entrance area of ​​the Husum-Schwesing Concentration Camp Memorial (until 2017)

  • Memorial building of the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp memorial

  • Information board at the memorial building (until 2017)

  • Information board - general plan (until 2017)

  • Information board - description of the plan (until 2017)

  • Information board - information text (until 2017)

  • Information stele on the field of stelae (excerpts with the texts)

  • Remains of the foundations of the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp (the field of stelae in the background)

  • Hydrant of the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp (the field of stelae in the background)

  • Site of the former Husum-Schwesing concentration camp

literature

  • Klaus Bästlein et al. (Ed.): The Husum-Schwesing concentration camp, external command of the Neuengamme concentration camp. January 30th - 50 years of "seizure of power". Materials on a dark chapter in North Frisian history (= Nordfriisk Instituut. No. 73). Nordfriisk Instituut, Bredstedt / Bräist 1983, ISBN 3-88007-118-7 .
  • Wolfgang Benz , Barbara Distel (ed.): The place of terror . History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. Volume 5: Hinzert, Auschwitz, Neuengamme. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-52965-8 .
  • Fiete Pingel and Thomas Steensen: The Husum-Schwesing and Ladelund satellite camps. In: Uwe Danker , Nils Köhler, Eva Nowottny, Michael Ruck (eds.): Forced laborers in the district of North Friesland 1939–1945 (= IZRG series of publications. Vol. 12). Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2004, pp. 271–293, ISBN 3-89534-552-0 .
  • Olde Lorenzen: "Power without morality". From the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp to the memorial for the victims. Westholsteinische Verlags-Anstalt Boyens, Heide 1994, ISBN 3-80420-685-9 .
  • Ulrike Puvogel, Martin Stankowski : Memorials for the Victims of National Socialism. A documentation. Volume 1: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Federal Agency for Political Education, Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-89331-208-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Marc Buggeln: Husum-Schweswig . In: The Place of Terror. History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. Volume 5, Hinzert, Auschwitz, Neuengamme. Munich 2007, p. 457ff.
  2. ↑ [1] .
  3. ^ Foundation North Friesland: Husum-Schwesig Concentration Camp Memorial. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .


Coordinates: 54 ° 30 '35.8 "  N , 9 ° 7' 5.2"  E