Breitenau concentration camp

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The monastery became a workhouse and concentration camp.

The Breitenau concentration camp in the Breitenau , a part of Guxhagen about 15 km south of Kassel , was one of the early concentration camps , later a labor education camp .

The history of the Breitenau camp during the Nazi era is divided into two sections: the years 1933 to 1934 and the period from 1940 to the end of the war in 1945. The Breitenau camp was never an extermination camp . The former Breitenau monastery forms the core of the concentration camp .

prehistory

The former monastery buildings from the 12th century form the center of the Breitenau camp . Founded in 1113, the monastery was dissolved again in 1528 during the Reformation in Hesse. From now on, the church building served as a granary and horse stable, and false ceilings were inserted in the nave. During the Thirty Years War , the monastery complex was badly destroyed and looted. The former monastery church was restored, and in some cases the Hessian landgraves had plans to convert it into a pleasure palace. But these were never implemented. The rest of the former monastery largely fell into disrepair.

In 1874 a “ correctional and rural poor institute ” for beggars, vagabonds, prostitutes and “neglected” young people was set up, later called the “ Landesarbeitsanstalt und Landesführsorgeheim Breitenau”. In 1911 a cell was added, which was mainly used for prisoners from the Kassel prison in Wehlheiden . The prison was later named and given the task of "Landesarbeitsanstalt und Landesfürsorgeheim Breitenau".

Breitenau concentration camp 1933–1934

After the National Socialists came to power in January 1933, the SS and SA began to arrest political opponents. Tens of thousands of Social Democrats , Communists and trade unionists were arrested within a few months . These arrests were made without a court order or trial, solely on the basis of a “protective custody warrant” . The detainees were locked up in prisons and temporary detention centers, where they were also ill-treated and tortured. One speaks of "early concentration camps". From June 1933 to March 1934, a total of 470 political prisoners from 139 Hessian communities were imprisoned in the Breitenau concentration camp. Among the prisoners was the Social Democrat Ludwig Pappenheim .

The local press reported about the concentration camp: “Of course, the concentration camps shouldn't be permanent. Their only purpose is to render the unclean elements harmless and, if necessary, the aim must be to make them citizens who willingly join the new form of the national community. ”In March 1934 the concentration camp was dissolved.

In June 1933, the Hersfelder Zeitung reported , among other things, on the alleged quality and palatability of the food and the prisoners' washing facilities.

Breitenau labor education camp 1940–1945

From the summer of 1940 until the end of the war in 1945, a labor education camp was set up in the former Breitenau concentration camp , which was subordinate to the Kassel Gestapo . A total of about 8,500 prisoners were held there, most of them for a period of about 8 weeks. The majority of these prisoners were foreign forced laborers who had been arrested by the Gestapo for violating the conditions of the forced labor imposed in some way.

In the labor education camp , the prisoners should be made clear what 'blooms' for them if they do not show the desired behavior at work. The working and living conditions were comparable to those in concentration camps. The stay was limited to about 8 weeks in order to be able to put the prisoners back into production after the " discipline ". In addition to the foreign prisoners, Germans were also imprisoned in Breitenau: critical workers, opposition " enemies of the people " and Jews ; The Jewish doctor Lilli Jahn also had to do forced labor here before she was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. - In addition to its function as a labor education camp, the Breitenau camp was also a concentration assembly camp. During the detention period, a decision was made as to whether a prisoner should be released to work or deported. From the end of 1941, Jewish prisoners were usually taken to “the East” on the next collective transport, where most of them were murdered. About one in five prisoners was deported from the Breitenau camp to a concentration camp .

Breitenau memorial

Today the "Breitenau Memorial" reminds of the former camp. It is located in the former tithe barn of the monastery on the site of today's psychiatric hospital.

What is particularly noteworthy about the remains of this concentration and work education camp is the fact that many original documents were preserved on site, despite the partial destruction of files by the SS at the end of the war, including the main admission book of the state labor institute from 1895 to 1945, which enable further research.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ One hour among prisoners. Visit to the Breitenau concentration camp. In: Kasseler Post from June 23, 1933.

Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 11 "  N , 9 ° 28 ′ 32"  E