Bretstein concentration camp subcamp

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The concentration camp subcamp Bretstein at Bretstein ( murtal district ) in Styria was one of the satellite camps of Mauthausen concentration camp . It was related to the SS- owned business enterprise, the German Research Institute for Nutrition and Catering , which was breeding sheep and horses on three mountain farms in the local area as early as 1939. The central intention in this regard was to test agricultural work opportunities for so-called military farms , which - according to the German " General Plan East " - were to be used for " Germanization ".

In June 1941 the actual camp finally began to operate, in which a total of at least 170 prisoners were interned. It comprised two prisoner barracks surrounded by fences and watchtowers as well as a kitchen barrack and a barrack for the guards. The guard was carried out by up to 50 members of the 2nd company of the " SS-Totenkopfsturmbanns Mauthausen". The prisoners in the Bretstein sub-camp were mainly Republican Spaniards and German Jehovah's Witnesses , who were mainly forced to work in road construction and agriculture.

The intolerable situation of the prisoners led to several attempts to escape. The remains of seven former inmates of the camp can still be found in the local cemetery in Bretstein.

The Bretstein subcamp was closed on June 25, 1943.

In April 2003 a memorial was opened on the camp grounds.

literature

  • Hans Maršálek : The history of the Mauthausen concentration camp. Documentation . 4th edition. Mauthausen Committee Austria, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-902605-06-5 , ( Edition Mauthausen ).
  • Bertrand Perz : The Bretstein subcamp . In: Heimo Halbrainer, Michael Schiestl ( eds .): “Adolfburg instead of Judenburg”. Nazi rule: persecution and resistance in the Aichfeld-Murboden region , Graz 2011, 111–119

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Directory of the concentration camps and their external commandos in accordance with Section 42 (2) BEG Ser. No. 191, Bretstein, Judenburg district.

Coordinates: 47 ° 21 ′ 47.9 "  N , 14 ° 21 ′ 32"  E