Sola hut

Sola hut before 1945, on the bank of the Międzybrodzier reservoir

View of the Sola reservoir

The Solahütte was near the town of Międzybrodzie Bialskie in Zywiec (Polish: Zywiec) (30 kilometers south of Auschwitz Polish (: Oswiecim)) located convalescent / casino that during the period of National Socialism by members of the SS -Bewachung the concentration camps in the region was used (also referred to as: SS hut Porombka, SS hut Soletal, Solehütte, Soletal ).

This "vacation home" was expanded in 1942 by a prisoner detachment from the Auschwitz concentration camp under the direction of the later protective custody camp leader Franz Hößler . It was in operation from autumn (October / November) 1940 to January 1945; some female concentration camp inmates were also used there for forced labor (work detachment).

The building complex, located about three kilometers northeast of the reservoir, provided a breathtaking view of the Solatal and the dam.

This place became known to the public in 2007 after an “ Auschwitz album ”, known as the “ Höcker album” after its owner . It contains, among other things, photographs from 1944 showing the perpetrators from Auschwitz-Birkenau in their free time in the Solahütte. In addition to Karl-Friedrich Höcker himself, these people included a. a. the concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele , the commanders of the Auschwitz concentration camp Rudolf Höß and Josef Kramer .

literature

Stefan Hördler, Christoph Kreutzmüller, Tal Bruttmann: Auschwitz in pictures. For a critical analysis of the Auschwitz albums. In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft 63/2015, H. 7/8, pp. 609–632

Christophe Busch (Ed.): Das Höcker-Album: Auschwitz through the lens of the SS. Verlag Philipp von Zabern 2016, ISBN 978-3805349581 .

Web links

Uwe Schmitt and Sven Felix Kellerhoff : “ The relaxed leisure time of mass murderers ”, in Welt Online , September 20, 2007.
Photos from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington
Jordan Mejias: How to Relax from Mass Murder , in FAZ.NET , September 21, 2007.
Polish topographic map Rybnik - Fryštát - Pszczyna with later printed German place names (around 1940) - the area of the reservoir is located at the bottom right. (File size approx. 40 MB)

Footnotes

↑ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2011). Img_53 (USHMM # 34749) (view of the buildings at Solahütte with period caption "SS-Hütte Soletal") . Seen on Nov 28, 2011.
↑ For comparison: today's viewing situation from a nearby vantage point.
↑ with contributions by Sara J. Bloomfield, Judith Cohen, Rebecca Erbelding, Sarah M. Cushman, Piotr Setkiewisc (contribution yur Solahüte pp. 160–171), Tilman Taube, Christophe Busch, Robert Jan van Pelt, Stefan Hördler and Peter Oliver Loew .

49.779444444444 19.189166666667Coordinates: 49 ° 46 ′ 46 ″ N , 19 ° 11 ′ 21 ″ E

[1] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2011). Img_53 (USHMM # 34749) (view of the buildings at Solahütte with period caption "SS-Hütte Soletal") . Seen on Nov 28, 2011.

[2] For comparison: today's viewing situation from a nearby vantage point.

[3] with contributions by Sara J. Bloomfield, Judith Cohen, Rebecca Erbelding, Sarah M. Cushman, Piotr Setkiewisc (contribution yur Solahüte pp. 160–171), Tilman Taube, Christophe Busch, Robert Jan van Pelt, Stefan Hördler and Peter Oliver Loew .