Close subcamp camp
The Schlieben subcamp was a subcamp of the Buchenwald main camp (at least from September 1, 1944 until the end of the war). It was built in 1938 on the outskirts of the village of Schlieben in the Berga district and served the armaments company "Hasag Hugo Schneider AG" as a supplier of prisoners for forced labor . In a concentration camp , the SS (WVHA) was able to “rent” the prisoners to companies on a daily basis for a flat fee.
Since April 30, 2011 a memorial has been commemorating the warehouse at the HASAG factory.
Emergence
The third largest German armaments company, Hasag Hugo Schneider AG (HASAG), established an armaments factory in Schlieben in 1938. This was used to manufacture ammunition. In addition, by order of the Army High Command, a shooting range for ammunition tests was set up. The area covered approx. 390 hectares.
In order to accelerate the development of the bazooka , HASAG was granted the special power of attorney "run-up bazooka". The company was mandated to produce 1.5 million bazookas a month. HASAG used Jewish as well as Sinti and Roma slave laborers to achieve these goals .
998 female forced laborers reached the camp on July 19, 1944. These were Sintizze from the Ravensbrück concentration camp . Schlieben was originally planned as a branch of Ravensbrück, but was then assigned to the Buchenwald concentration camp. On August 14, 1944, an additional 1,387 Jewish male forced laborers arrived from the Buchenwald concentration camp. After the men arrived, all the women except 250 female forced laborers were transferred to the HASAG plant in Altenburg . The remaining were Sintizas from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and other European countries occupied by German troops.
The camp was classified as a "mixed camp" in the SS statistics. In their terminology and perspective, this means that both “ Aryan ” and non- Aryan prisoners were held.
Storage situation
In order to be able to manufacture the required 1.5 million bazookas per month, the company demanded an extreme piecework system from the forced laborers. Bonuses were paid to civilian masters when the norm was exceeded. The prisoners were viewed as a pure production factor, and abuse of the slave laborers was common. Hunger, illness and accidents at work claimed countless victims. Kapos and SS men murdered workers. Anyone who no longer seemed suitable for the work was sent back to the Buchenwald concentration camp and replaced by other forced laborers. Sintizas were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp .
On October 12, 1944, there was an explosion at the plant. According to documents from the Buchenwald concentration camp, 96 Jewish prisoners died. It could not be clarified whether it was sabotage or the result of an air attack. In order to quickly be able to produce the weapons necessary for the war again, additional prisoner contingents were requested. This enabled the plant to be rebuilt in a very short time. The grueling pace of work and increased abuse resulted in additional victims. The period between October 1944 and April 1945, when the camp was dissolved, was described by many survivors as the "Hell of Schlieben".
In April 1945, shortly before the conquest by Red Army troops, two prisoner transports left the camp for the Theresienstadt concentration camp .
Documents show that around 5,000 prisoners were used as slave labor in Schlieben, 217 lost their lives there and 130 were liberated by the Red Army on April 21, 1945.
post war period
After the war ended, the remaining barracks were used as apartments for refugees from the former German eastern regions . The National People's Army and later the Bundeswehr used the area of the former Hasag as a fuel depot. In addition, an industrial area was created here. A remaining wooden barracks served as a dance hall for a long time and later as a gym. Today only ruins of the former bazooka production site and remains of bunkers remain.
The painter, author and patron of the arts Aga Gräfin vom Hagen from Möckern was imprisoned in the camp from 1946 to 1949, was forbidden to return home and died here.
In 1963 a small memorial was built next to the former SS guest house . This was renovated in 2007 on a private initiative after it had previously been forgotten.
The remains of prisoners who had previously been buried in the prisoner cemetery and in a mass grave were buried in the Schlieben cemetery. A small memorial with the inscription "ODF 1933 - 1945" commemorates the victims of fascism . Two plaques with the names of Jewish victims were placed there.
Since April 2011 a memorial in Schlieben-Berga has been commemorating the camp with a permanent exhibition.
literature
- Walter Strand: The Schlieben subcamp . Books Chamber, Herzberg 2005.
- UFZ Environmental Research Center Leipzig-Halle GmbH: Leipzig Permoserstraße On the history of an industrial and scientific location , 2001, ISBN 3-932900-61-8
- Uwe Schwarz: From Wilna to Schlieben . Books Chamber, Herzberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-940635-47-1
media
The German-Israeli documentary film Yesterday's Snow from 2013 deals with the fate of the victims of the satellite camp.
Web links
- Schlieben subcamp memorial
- Uwe Schwarz: Hasag Schlieben - The forgotten camp on shoa.de
- List of concentration camps and their external commandos in accordance with Section 42 (2) BEG
Coordinates: 51 ° 44 ′ 0 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 0 ″ E