REIMAHG

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Remains of the outdoor facilities of the underground REIMAHG plant in Walpersberg near Kahla

The REIMAHG (abbreviation of Rei chs Ma rschall H ermann G Öring ) in the years 1944/1945 an underground arms plants in Walpersberg in Kahla in Thuringia . The Messerschmitt Me 262 , the first mass-produced jet fighter, was to be produced here. The name of the commander-in-chief of the German Air Force was chosen by Fritz Sauckel , the Gauleiter of Thuringia and at the same time Reich plenipotentiary for labor, in order to improve himself in the struggle for competencies in the National Socialist German Reich .

Emergence

Sauckel wanted to establish what he called the Schutz- und Trutzgau in the Gau Thuringia for the Führer . After a possible short-term peace agreement on the German side, this should form the center of the reconstruction for the “ Fourth Reich ”. So he increasingly took care of relocating prestige objects of retaliatory weapons production to Thuringia. For this reason, in addition to the REIMAHG, many other underground projects were also implemented in Thuringia.

In 1943 geologists, technicians and politicians inspected the area in and around Kahla. The Walpersberg, with its extensive tunnel system, which was created by the underground sand mining of the nearby porcelain industry , was of particular interest. On March 1, 1944, the decision was made: an aircraft factory was to be built in the 20 kilometer long tunnel system. The new staff founded on this day by the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production was henceforth called " Jägerstab " and was intended to secure the air force production in order to create the basis for regaining air sovereignty. The Schlempp construction staff was subordinated to the "Jägerstab". He was supposed to ensure the supply of labor, ie the construction of labor camps . The “hunter's staff” should be given all means to achieve its goals.

On March 8, 1944, Hermann Göring received a letter from Sauckel, who in this letter referred to himself as " Reich Defense Commissioner for the Reich Defense District of Thuringia". Göring, who had previously only heard of the establishment of the “Jägerstab”, was now interested in the staff's proposal.

“As part of the hunter-building program, in my capacity as the head of the Gustloff-Werke foundation, I commissioned them to immediately start production under this program with the greatest intensity. Production can begin near the town of Kahla (Saale Valley) in the corridors of the china factory's kaolin tunnels. The existing tunnels are on average 3 - 3½ m wide and 3 m high and can be expanded and increased accordingly. The total usable area is around 10,000 m². The corridors are absolutely dry and can be made dust-free with relatively little effort. The overlying mountain has on average about 35-50 m of grown soil. I ask for your consent to let the Gustloff-Werke start this company immediately and to want to specify the production of a certain type or of parts, engines, etc. Workers for this purpose will be mobilized by me as quickly as possible and some of the regular and skilled workers of the Gustloff works will be arranged. "

- Fritz Sauckel

Goering agreed to these plans. Sauckel had made himself the most important man in the REIMAHG affair, without paying attention to the hierarchy of the “Jägerstab” ordered by Field Marshal Erhard Milch , whose leader was actually Albert Speer .

Production target

The Messerschmitt Me 262 , the first series-produced jet fighter, was to be produced . According to propaganda, 1200 pieces a month were to leave the mountain from the runway laid out on the ridge, but only 17-27 units were produced, depending on the source.

Works

In addition to the REIMAHG main plant A near Großeutersdorf (code name "Lachs") there was also Plant E ("Snow Hare") near Kamsdorf and Plant F ("Pikrit") in Krölpa . All plants were located at a distance of approx. 30 km so that short transport routes were guaranteed.

Plant A "Salmon"

Underground production of the Me 262 in Kahla

The underground production facility near Großeutersdorf was the main plant of REIMAHG GmbH. With around 250,000 m² it was also one of the largest underground facilities in the German Empire at the time. The Messerschmitt 262 was to be assembled in this factory . Around 15,000 workers were deployed and around 10 different bunkers were created in addition to the tunnel system.

Plant E "Snow Hare"

During the Second World War , the mine works in the Großkamsdorf mining area were taken over by REIMAHG GmbH in order to build an underground factory in the Ernstschacht mine field. It should BMW 003 -Strahltriebwerke be built for Me 262nd Due to delivery bottlenecks, it was necessary to switch to the somewhat less powerful Jumo 004 engines. The start of production planned for November 1, 1944 was delayed until the end of the war. In the very extensive underground network of cavities with a total length of approx. 100 km, extensive narrow-gauge tracks with a gauge of 90 cm were laid for the U-relocations, which led directly to the outside through a newly constructed railway tunnel. This ensured that the finished products were quickly transported away and that raw products were delivered. Various finds of some engine parts allow the assumption that the production in the underground relocation "Snow Hare" had already started, at least a partial production.

When the Americans marched in on April 12, 1945, (partial) production was shut down by them and the workers were freed. On August 17, 1946, dismantling work began on the facilities and some time later the Soviet Army was supposed to blow up the tunnel facility. It was planned to blast large parts of the pit system, but this was not done, as was the case with Kahla, and only a few tunnels collapsed. Around the middle of the 1970s, part of the former REIMAHG facility was expanded for civil defense in the GDR.

Plant F "Pikrit" - Krölpa

This system was completely reopened in 1944. It was an approx. 50 m long tunnel and an approx. 50 m long blind tunnel , which branches off to the left after 60 m from the main tunnel. Small aircraft parts were to be produced in Krölpa. However, this was never recorded.

Forced labor on Walpersberg

Remains of the REIMAHG building warehouse 5 in Leubengrund

In the “Third Reich” workers were assigned to different categories. These categories included European foreign and forced laborers, conscripted Germans and specialist staff. These groups were also used in the "REIMAHG" armaments plant.

The foreign workers were mainly workers from abroad who came to Germany and were paid for their work. These workers were even recruited initially. With the propaganda magazine Europa works in Germany , which was published in different languages, potential workers were to be mobilized in the occupied areas by assuring the volunteers that they would earn a good income. The living conditions in the war zones were marked by hunger and misery, so that this offer offered a possibility for many to ensure the survival for themselves and their families. However, reality quickly caught up with them. Long working days, little food and the increasing bombing by the Allies meant that many wanted to leave Germany again.

As a result, more and more foreign workers were obliged to do forced labor .

Forced laborers were deported from many European countries. Fritz Sauckel was also the Reich plenipotentiary for the deployment of foreign workers. This gave him the opportunity to have the workers deported directly to Kahla. Since the camps in Kahla and the surrounding area were not concentration camps , no Jewish prisoners were used to build these underground facilities, as was the case in Dora-Mittelbau near Nordhausen .

A total of around 12,000 to 15,000 forced laborers were used to build the REIMAHG. On April 11, 1944, the first 500 Italians came to Kahla. They were housed in the Rosengarten camp and were primarily supposed to develop the infrastructure for the subsequent transports. In the months that followed, up to March 1945, the number of incoming transports rose steadily.

The forced laborers were housed in a total of 21 camps, which were set up at the same time as the plant and, in the short space of time, only barely met the requirements for hygiene and the necessary living conditions. By the end of the war these living conditions deteriorated for all workers. The forced laborers in particular suffered from the adverse working and living conditions. Many of them never saw their homeland again. A report from "PB":

“On August 9th we arrived at Kahla train station, a previously unknown place to us. Everyone had to leave the train and we marched two hours to Eichenberg . On arrival in Eichenberg, everyone received a large spoonful of milk from a farmer from Eichenberg. Camp E was to be built on the meadow where we stood. When we arrived there was nothing at all and for the first few days we slept under a clear sky. Although it was already cold at night, the weather wasn't bad. "

Most of the slave laborers had a twelve-hour working day. The other hours were divided as follows:

5½ hours of rest, which however also had to be used for daily hygiene, and about two hours of walking from the camp to the workplaces and back. However, this varied with the distance between the camps and the deployment site. The workers who were housed in the Leubengrund had less time for personal matters due to the distance they had to walk, as the working time remained 12 hours. They had three hours to eat. In addition, depending on the size of the warehouse, the queue in front of the food distribution points was correspondingly long. The remaining two hours were filled with appeals. The food situation also became increasingly tense in the last years of the war. Everything was rationed, even the stipulations for the minimum ration were mostly no longer complied with because there was no food. In this situation there were also those who, because of their position, enriched themselves with the sale of stored food. PB for the food situation:

“We got almost nothing to eat (¾ liter of turnip soup and 150 grams of bread with a spoon of fat or jam a day). The barracks were almost uninhabitable ... there was hardly any possibility to wash, there were lice everywhere. The winter of 1944–1945 was very cold. Bad clothing and malnutrition killed many ... Diarrhea and typhoid, TB and dysentery and starvation were the leading causes of death. Days and months went by like this. Many comrades in the barracks died a lousy death. The malnutrition and diseases gnawed at our emaciated bodies and still the work went on. "

How many deaths there were among the workers has not yet been clarified. The numbers fluctuate between the documented number of 991 dead and 6000 dead. The most likely is an estimate that assumes around 2000 deaths.

Many of the conscripted Germans were housed in a few private quarters, but mostly in camps A - D. They were all skilled workers and deployed in administration, mining and handicrafts, but especially in "position 0". This was the first underground area to be used for production. The Hitler Youth came to these workers . It was used for the construction and expansion of the runway and its clearance in winter, but also for preparatory work in building construction. This again clearly underlines the " total war effort ".

Despite this considerable amount of work, the REIMAHG armaments plant was never fully completed.

Remember the victims

Memorial (from 1974) for forced laborers in Leubengrund

The victim is thought of in different ways:

  • Annually, commemorations of the surrounding communities take place on a weekend around May 8th. For many years it has been a tradition that former REIMAHG forced laborers from abroad attend these ceremonies.
  • Since 1974, near the village in Leubengrund ( Lage → ), a monumental memorial has been commemorating the 6,000 victims of forced labor for the armaments production of the REIMAHG who were deported to Germany.
  • A boulder in Koenitz with the inscription "Die Victims warn" commemorates 33 victims of forced labor . In 1989, Italy had another memorial stone set for its perished compatriots.
  • On the foundation of the kitchen building of the former camp 2, a memorial plaque commemorates the 27 forced laborers from Poland who were buried in the Großeutersdorfer forest in the direction of Dienstädt .
  • A memorial stone in the Kaulsdorf cemetery has been commemorating 25 victims of forced labor since 1970 , which hundreds of people from Eastern Europe had to do to build REIMAHG armaments facilities.
  • A memorial stone placed in the forest in the direction of Orlamünde in 1974 commemorates the perished " Eastern workers " in Camp 3.
  • The city of Lünen named a street in honor of Günter Boas , a survivor of the REIMAHG.
  • Stumbling blocks were laid in Emilia-Romagna in 2016 and 2017 for the victims Inello Bezzi, Anselmo Guidi, Renato Guidi, Pierino Ruffini, Francesco Toschi and Ermete Zuccolini (all from Castelnovo ne 'Monti ) and Roberto Carlini (from Gombio) . The mayor of Kahla arrived for the relocation in January 2017 . The installations were organized by ISTORECO and carried out personally by the artist Gunter Demnig .
  • Memorial for the 175 forced and foreign workers of REIMAHG who died in the Hummelshain Hummelshain military hospital in the Hummelshain Castle Park

literature

  • Klaus W. Müller, Willy Schilling: alias salmon. The history of the underground production of the Me 262 in Walpersberg near Kahla 1944/45. 2. revised Ed. Jung, Zella-Mehlis et al. 1995, ISBN 3-930588-30-7 .
  • Ursula Krause-Schmitt: Local history guide to sites of resistance and persecution 1933–1945. Volume 8: Thuringia. Published by the study group for the research and communication of the history of the German resistance 1933–1945. With a foreword by Frank Spieth . Extended revision. VAS, Frankfurt / Main 2003, ISBN 3-88864-343-0 .
  • Markus Gleichmann, Karl-Heinz, Bock: Jet fighters over the Walpersberg. The history of the underground aircraft factory "REIMAHG" near Kahla, Thuringia. (A book on the history of the Free State of Thuringia and the Second World War). Heinrich-Jung-Verlags-Gesellschaft, Zella-Mehlis et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-930588-82-4 , content .
  • Patrick Brion: REIMAHG, History in Pictures - REIMAHG - A pictorial History. Eigen Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-90-813548-1-3 .
  • Marc Bartuschka: "With all possible reservations aside ..." The Nazi operating group "Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring" (REIMAHG) and the use of forced labor in 1944/45. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8353-0928-9 .
  • Markus Gleichmann et al .: REIMAHG-Werk "Salmon". Heinrich-Jung-Verlags-Gesellschaft, 2013, ISBN 978-3-943552-05-8 . (Photo book in German, Russian, Italian, Dutch and English.)

Web links

Commons : REIMAHG  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ U-relocation Schneehase (accessed on March 23, 2018)
  2. ↑ Thuringian Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime - Association of Antifascists and Study Group of German Resistance 1933–1945 (Ed.): Local history guide to sites of resistance and persecution 1933–1945. Volume 8: Thuringia. VAS - Verlag für Akademische Schriften, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-88864-343-0 , p. 235.
  3. ↑ Thuringian Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime - Association of Antifascists and Study Group of German Resistance 1933–1945 (Ed.): Local history guide to sites of resistance and persecution 1933–1945. Volume 8: Thuringia. VAS - Verlag für Akademische Schriften, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-88864-343-0 , p. 211.
  4. ↑ Thüringische Landeszeitung (Weimar): Italy trip because of stumbling blocks , January 14, 2017, accessed on May 9, 2017

Coordinates: 50 ° 48 '  N , 11 ° 33'  E