Voith settlement
The Voithsiedlung is a settlement in the city of Heidenheim an der Brenz .
It comprises the residential area north of Giengener Straße between Friedrich-Voith-Schule and the confluence with Walther-Wolf-Straße . In the west, north and east it is limited by the foot of the Siechenberg.
Voith family
Friedrich Voith was born on July 3, 1840 and died on May 17, 1913. He was the owner of the Voith company . His first marriage was to Adelheid Hartmann. She brought a piece of land in the area of today's Voith settlement in Heidenheim into the marriage. She died in 1868. Friedrich Voith married a second time. His second wife was Helene Crusius (born July 19, 1848, † April 10, 1932). After the death of her husband, she and her children were the donors of 30,000 marks for the construction of the Voith estate on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Voith company.
Creation of the Voith settlement
In 1918, Lord Mayor Jaekle announced in the local council that the Helene Voith Foundation for the lasting memory of Friedrich von Voith should be used to build healthy small apartments, primarily for those involved in the war and large families. In 1919 a number of houses were built as the start of the Voith settlement. At that time the area was called “Behind the Stone”. Architect Werner introduced the development plan for a residential complex to be created with the Voith Foundation to the local council and then approved it. Approx. 1 month later the decision to build the first 7 houses was made. In the meantime, more roads have been laid. In 1926 a church was built. The settlement grew steadily. It was z. B. also built and furnished a retirement home, as well as a children's playground in 1938 (today Friedrich-Voith-Schule). Every year more and more houses and apartments were built for the settlers and attention was also paid to living comfort. Many houses were built within a few years and the settlers and workers of the Voith company were able to live in them. The construction of this settlement was completed in 1933 and originally comprised 211 houses for the employees of the Voith company.
Confiscation of the Voith settlement
During the Second World War, many prisoners of war, slave labor and foreign workers worked in industry and agriculture. In the western occupation zone, it was assumed that around 5,846,000 prisoners of war, forced laborers and foreign workers were liberated by the western allies . In 1945, 4,622,000 of the people affected were repatriated . In the winter of 1945/1946 the repatriation of the people to the east stalled. There remained 1.2 million, and most of them did not even want to return to their home countries. 66 percent of the remaining prisoners, slave laborers and foreign workers were of Polish origin. Most of the Ukrainians did not want to go back either. They feared that the Red Army would create new social conditions in their home countries. This consideration made the return no longer appear attractive to the people and they preferred to stay in Germany. They were also housed in the Allied camps, where they were provided with food. In the fall of 1945, the Americans decided that the prisoners should be placed in permanent houses. This order came from the UNRRA - united nations relief and rehabilitation administration. The UNRRA was an organization of 54 states that was founded on November 9, 1943 and was responsible for the repatriation of so-called displaced persons from Germany. This order led to the seizure of the Voith settlement on October 12, 1945. The International Tracing Service lists January 24, 1946 as the opening date of this camp and another source mentions August 1946 as the opening date for the 'Voith Settlement'.
1,300 people were made homeless as a result of the confiscation. 90 percent of those affected were workers. About half of the people found accommodation with friends and relatives. Approx. 130 complete apartments, 50 partial apartments and 270 single rooms were withdrawn from the housing office to accommodate the Voith settlers. The workers' settlement has now become DP Camp 321 .
The residents of the settlement learned about the confiscation through posters. On them the immediate evacuation of the settlement was demanded. Sick people were not allowed to stay behind either. It was only allowed to take two suitcases per person with personal items. The houses had to be completely furnished and left ready for use. 1,500 Polish Jews were to move into the settlement within 48 hours. The settlement was completely separated from the rest of the city of Heidenheim.
The German police were also no longer allowed to enter the settlement. Thus it came about that the Poles z. B. sold or destroyed the furniture or other items that were available to them in the apartments, although the items and furniture belonged to the owners of the houses. There was also poultry theft. In 1949 the settlement was returned to its former owners.
Urban development social city
At the beginning of the 2000s, deficits in the social infrastructure and deficiencies in many streets and buildings were recognized in the Voith estate . Funds from the from Bund and countries supported program Districts with Special Development Needs - Social City were therefore financed 2005-2013 numerous modernization measures and carried out. In addition to the redesign of the Friedrich-Voith-Schule's schoolyard and the square of the same name, the investments also included the establishment of a children's home and a supervised youth club.
literature
- Holger Köhn: Heidenheim. The Voithsiedlung camp . In: Ders .: The location of the camps. Displaced Persons camp in the American zone of occupation in Germany . Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8375-0199-5 , pp. 204-224 (also dissertation, University of Essen 2012).
Web links
- Photo of the entrance to the DP camp on the website of the Nuremberg Institute for Nazi Research and Jewish History of the 20th Century
Individual evidence
- ↑ Search in the DP camp directory of the International Tracing Service (ITS) from December 3, 2017
- ^ Heidenheim - Jewish DP camp documented by the Nuremberg Institute for Nazi Research and Jewish History of the 20th Century. V.
- ↑ DP stands for "displaced persons" and means displaced persons.
- ^ Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Baden-Württemberg Heidenheim an der Brenz: Social City Voithsiedlung ( Memento from April 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on April 14, 2016
Coordinates: 48 ° 40 ′ 3.7 ″ N , 10 ° 10 ′ 0 ″ E