Subcamp St. Aegyd am Neuwalde

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The concentration camp subcamp St. Aegyd am Neuwalde , a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp , existed from November 2, 1944 (arrival of the first prisoners) to April 1, 1945 (evacuation of the camp and transport of prisoners towards Mauthausen) in St. Aegyd am Neuwalde in Lower Austria. In total there were 497 prisoners in the camp. Of the 300 prisoners who came on the first transport, 33 men died in just two months, and 160 men had to be declared incapable of work. The maximum prisoner number of 303 men was only reached for a short time, which is why the inhumane conditions and treatment and the associated high losses caused a permanent “labor shortage”.

Establishment

The camp was built by the "Kraftfahrtechnischen Lehranstalt der Waffen-SS " (KTL-Vienna, headed by Sturmbannführer Dr. Schröder). For this purpose around 42,000 m² of land from the Roman Catholic parish of St. Aegyd was confiscated in August 1944. Furthermore, on October 19, 1944, pastor Franz Kaubeck reported to the episcopal ordinariate that today's elementary school and the Caritas house were being confiscated. Why St. Aegyd was chosen as the location cannot be proven, but the fact that St. Aegyd could only be reached through a relatively narrow valley and thus easily defended, as well as the connection to the railway, played a major role.

Storage area

Protective detention camp

The protective custody camp area , also known as the barbed wire area, was around 4,000 m² and was located at the eastern end of the camp (today the eastern end of the parish settlement). There were two residential barracks for 150 prisoners each, in which 18 prisoners had to share 18 m². The roll call area was between the two barracks . There was also a wash barrack and latrines . The prisoners were guarded by four watchtowers, on which the SS guards armed with machine guns were on duty. It cannot be said with certainty whether the barbed wire fence was electrically charged, although it is likely.

Outside storage area

The barracks of the camp guard and that of the camp leader Willi Auerswald and the report leader Anton Perschl were in the outer camp area . There were also barracks for the SS camp administration, prisoners' kitchens and a food store. Around 800 m west of the barbed wire area there were ten smaller barracks in which the " Black Sea Germans " lived. There was also a barrack for the “technical office”. The quarters of the off-duty SS guards were on the other side of the railway tracks in what is now the elementary school. The SS kitchen and another food store were also housed there. There was also a joinery and the “construction management d. Waffen SS u. Pole."

Warehouse construction

Since the camp was evidently not set up by the prisoners themselves, but rather previously, it is not possible to say exactly when and by whom it was set up. There are reports from contemporary witnesses that the Waffen-SS came to St. Aegyd as early as 1943, which is also mentioned in Heppner's St. Aegyd home chronicle, or there are lists of names of " Eastern workers " who were born in 1944 in the municipality's archive St. Aegyd worked.

Function of the camp

The purpose for which the external concentration camp was established is not clear. However, it has been proven that it was connected to the "Kraftfahrtechnischen Lehranstalt der Waffen-SS Wien" ("KTL-Wien"). The "Experimental Buildings Group of the Waffen-SS" (code name "Alfred"), which belonged to the "KTL-Vienna" and was mainly concerned with the development of an engine armored vehicle, is mentioned in documents of the diocese of St. Pölten in connection with the confiscation of the property in St. Aegyd mentioned. At the end of August 1944, a secret development conference was held in St. Aegyd under the direction of SS Brigadefuehrer Walter Neblich, commander of the Waffen-SS Automotive Training Institute (KTL) in Vienna. The aim of the conference was the development of a gas-steam engine to drive tanks. The testing and testing department (Pruva) of the KTL Vienna was in charge of this development and set up the "Experimental Construction Group" for this purpose. At the beginning of 1945 the "Kraftfahrtechnische Lehranstalt der Waffen-SS (KTL)" relocated some of its course participants on the "Führer SS" to the area of ​​the satellite camp in St. Aegyd due to the air raids on Vienna. The camp in St. Aegyd is listed either under the "Kraftfahrtechnische Versuchsanstalt der Waffen-SS" or later also under "KTL St. Aegyd".

There are reports from former prisoners and contemporary witnesses who say that a tunnel was built behind today's secondary school, which was to serve either as a fuel store or a refinery and was filled in again immediately after the war. Some also believe they can remember that an ammunition factory or a factory for retaliatory weapons should be built. It is most likely that parts of the armored engine of the "Experimental Building Group" were to be tested here. However, there is no written evidence for any of these theories. Since the warehouse could never be completed due to a permanent shortage of labor, it probably never fulfilled its intended purpose.

The prisoners

A total of 497 prisoners were in the St. Aegyd subcamp. There were two large prisoner transports from Mauthausen to St. Aegyd and, associated with this, two return transports of the disabled prisoners to Mauthausen and, on April 1, 1945, the return transport of the prisoners who had remained until then.

On November 2, 1944, the first transport with 300 prisoners (all men) from Mauthausen arrived. Due to the extremely bad conditions in the camp, bad clothing, winter cold and the abuse by the SS and the Kapos , 29 prisoners had died by December 27, 1944 and the one from the Wr. SS doctor Richard Plättig, who was called in by Neudorf , found 160 inmates to be unable to work.

As a result, 91 prisoners were transported back to Mauthausen on January 8, 1945, most of whom were taken to the "medical camp" there. Since on February 20, 1945, of the 170 men who had remained until then, only 120 were still operational and the 50 incapacitated prisoners were sent back to Mauthausen, new prisoners were requested. On February 21, 1945 185 new prisoners came to St. Aegyd.

On April 1, 1945, the camp was closed because the front was advancing and the remaining prisoners were brought back to Mauthausen.

Origin of the inmates

The majority of the prisoners (more than half) on the first transport came from Poland (157), followed by Yugoslavs (66), the Soviet (33) and German (31) prisoners. The rest came from Italy, France, Latvia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Albania.

Reason for imprisonment

The largest group here was that of the protective prisoners with 246 of the first 300 men, followed by the Russian civil workers (RZA), the "BV-ern" ( professional criminals) with eight men, seven of whom were deployed as Kapo. The Roma were sometimes led under different names, either as AZR prisoners, BV prisoners or as "Gypsies". It was not until February that Jews made up a larger proportion of the prisoners and at the time of the closure it was 6.4 percent.

Fatalities

The exact number of fatalities can no longer be determined, at least 46 prisoners (verifiable and known by name) perished in the St. Aegyd satellite camp. Since in the death register only very imprecise information such as “general weakness” etc. can be found as the cause of death, one can assume that a considerable part died as a result of the hard work and the abuse of the SS and Kapos.

Warehouse management

Camp leader was Willi Auerswald , the report leader was Anton Perschl . The camp guard consisted of 36 to 60 SS men. Investigations into acts of killing took place against these between 1970 and 1975, but these were discontinued.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christian Rabl: The subcamp St. Aegyd am Neuwalde . Mauthausen Studies Volume 6, Federal Ministry of the Interior , Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502183-9-8 , pp. 17, 24. partly online at google books
  2. ↑ Andreas Haka: Social networks in mechanical engineering at German university and non-university research institutions 1920-1970. Logos, Berlin 2014 ISBN 978-3-8325-3695-4 , pp. 148-164.
  3. ↑ Andreas Haka: Social networks in mechanical engineering at German university and non-university research institutions 1920-1970. Logos, Berlin 2014 ISBN 978-3-8325-3695-4 , p. 163

literature

Web links


Coordinates: 47 ° 51 ′ 7.5 ″  N , 15 ° 33 ′ 59.9 ″  E