Pommersche Industriewerke Barth

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The Pomeranian Industriewerke Barth was an armaments factory near Barth , which was established from 1939 and until 1945 also produced for the Wehrmacht using concentration camp prisoners and forced laborers .

history

On behalf of Hagenuk GmbH in Kiel, a large armaments factory was established in the city forest near Barth in Pomerania from 1939 , which bore the innocuous name "Pommersche Industriewerke". The facility was designed by the architect Ernst Neufert . For camouflage reasons, the work was created in the forest. The outline of the site was in the shape of an isosceles triangle, with the base nearly 1200 meters long. In the triangle stood a square hall complex and at regular intervals other halls standing at right angles on the base. Almost 75 years later, the outlines of the factory premises and the halls can be easily recognized in the satellite image. The plant was primarily used to manufacture smoke candles , smoke grenades and incendiary bombs . Among other things, 100,000 to 200,000 fog hand grenades were filled each month . The turnover in 1942/43 was 17.9 million RM . The plant produced unmolested by air raids until April 30, 1945. After the factory management moved away, the population plundered the halls before the plant was secured by the Red Army . After the facilities had been dismantled, the buildings were blown up.

Employees

For August 30, 1943, 3685 employees are given. Of these, around 2,700 were forced laborers and workers from the East who lived in the Barth-Holz camp. With the establishment of the Barth concentration camp in November 1943, however, more and more prisoners came to the Pomeranian industrial plants, which they had rented from the SS. They were taken to the plant on foot in prison clothing and wooden clogs, where they had to work 12-hour shifts when they were inadequate. Malnutrition , the cold, tuberculosis and abuse resulted in a death toll that is still unknown. The Barth-Stein (later Tannenheim) residential camp with semi-detached houses to accommodate around 2,000 employees was built for the employees who are compulsory. There was also an apprentice dormitory.

Works railway

The plant had a works railway , which was used for passenger and freight traffic. The private siding, which branched off from the Barth-Prerow line at Tannenheim station , had a length of 3.2 km. While operations began with rental locomotives, the railway acquired two decommissioned tender locomotives from the Ostbahn in 1944 . A motor locomotive was maneuvering in potentially explosive areas. Compartment cars of the Berlin S-Bahn were used for passenger transport. Passenger trains went to Barth and Prerow . When the plant was dismantled, vehicles and railway systems were also brought to the Soviet Union .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Gerd Garber: The Pomeranian Industrial Works Barth 1939 to 1945 and the effects of the armaments industry on the city. In: City of Barth 1255-2005. Helms, Schwerin 2005, ISBN 3-935749-48-1 , pp. 217-230.
  2. ↑ Elke Engelmann, Helga Radau: Behind barbed wire. In: City of Barth 1255-2005. Helms, Schwerin 2005, ISBN 3-935749-48-1 , pp. 143-150.
  3. ↑ Joachim Braun: In the fog of the past. The works railway of the Pomeranian Industrial Works Barth. In: EisenbahnGeschichte. Issue 30, 2008, pp. 24-27.

Coordinates: 54 ° 20 ′ 55.2 ″  N , 12 ° 38 ′ 3.9 ″  E