Forced labor in the Hermann Göring works

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The forced labor in the Hermann Goring Works (HGW) is the history of forced labor in the Third Reich centrally. The procurement of labor was one of the war aims of the Third Reich. In the HGW, all forms of forced labor were used in maximum numbers on the basis of an excessive storage and administration system. When it comes to forced labor in the Third Reich, the HGW is therefore of its own importance.

history

Salzgitter-Drütte Memorial

The agricultural region of Salzgitter experienced a structural change in 1942, as the Reichswerke Hermann Göring was founded and built due to the need for ammunition.

At the beginning of the war, the Hermann-Göring-Werke made a rough estimate of the manpower required. In total, around 16,000 workers were required to continue the planned construction work in the Braunschweig / Salzgitter region. Given that the number of workers required was set so high, it was unclear how this need would be met. Whenever possible, attempts were made to convince the authorities to assign more forced laborers from the occupied territories. If this failed, parts of construction sites should be less staffed or some construction sections should be completely shut down.

The HGW reckoned with an approximate workforce allocation of no more than 8,000-9,000 men. These should consist of around 4,000 Italians, 800 Dutch and Belgians, as well as 100 French, 1,000–2,000 military prisoners and 2,000 Jews. Since the Reichswerke were owned by the Nazi state, they were one of the first companies to be assigned slave labor. Polish civil workers as well as Belgian and French prisoners of war had been employed in the Hermann Göring works since the spring of 1940. The forced laborers were mostly assigned at the imperial border. The subsequent transport to the camps turned out to be torture for them. On arrival at the camps, the camp rules were passed on and the workers were registered by the camp staff delegation. In addition, the inmates had to undergo medical examinations and be chemically deloused.

The bad situation of the civilian slave laborers in the Hermann Göring works was evident from the severely worn, scanty clothes and shoes. The food situation was also poor. This malnutrition prevented the workers from performing at their best. After complaints from the district leader of the NSDAP about this problem, the grievances were partially remedied.

Concept of inmate labor

In May 1944 there was a contractual agreement for the Drütte concentration camp, in which payment for the prisoners was agreed. Prisoners should also be used to build the HGW. In September 1942, Himmler approved Paul Pleiger, the general director of the HGW, for the use of concentration camp prisoners. From November 1942 to May 1943 there were monthly transports of prisoners, but it was not until the spring of 1944 that the occupancy rate of 2,600 prisoners was reached.

At the HGW there was no uniform concept in prisoner work, in some cases there were joint company foundings with the SS without or with profit sharing, but also profit sharing without business start-ups.

The HGW had to pay 4–6 RM to the SS for the prisoners, depending on their qualifications. In addition, electricity, water, heating and work clothes had to be provided free of charge. However, the issue of working clothes was skipped, the inmates had to take care of protective clothing themselves. The SS, which was responsible for catering, fell short of the prescribed minimum amount of food.

Salzgitter-Drütte concentration camp

The Salzgitter-Drütte satellite camp was built on the factory premises as one of the 74 satellite camps of the Neuengamme concentration camp , in which around 3,000 male prisoners (military prisoners and Jewish forced laborers who made up a third of the workforce) were supposed to work in "Aktion 88".

Action 88

At that time, the production halls for Aktion 88 were also completed, in which the prisoners had to manufacture HE shells with a diameter of 8.8 cm. The plan was to produce 500,000 shells a month. Other tasks included the production of hollow bodies for grenades with a diameter of 7.5 cm and 10.5 cm and working on presses that crushed glowing steel blocks (block breaker and block cleaner command).

Work was carried out in a twelve-hour two-shift system or an eight-hour three-shift system.

Accommodation and guarding of the prisoners

The prisoners were housed in washrooms, which actually only offered space for 1000 people, but served as accommodation without any expansion. These washrooms were under the curve of the elevated road and could only be entered in one direction; towards the inside of the curve. There was also the roll call area, which, due to its location, had no blind spots and was therefore ideally suited for monitoring the prisoners. The roll call area was secured from the outside by an electric wire fence and four watchtowers. It was almost impossible to escape on the way to the workplaces, as this was a tunnel under the rolling mill hall.

The Kaposystem

The kapo system was used for prisoner work , in which the SS gave the kapos , prisoners who passed the orders of the management on to the other prisoners, a certain position of power. Hoping to survive longer, the Kapos brutally attacked other inmates and urged them to work.

Living conditions of the prisoners

On the condition that the prisoners' accommodation was to be expanded, Hitler approved an increase in occupancy to 3,150 prisoners. However, since 600 beds were already missing and the conditions were not met, living conditions continued to deteriorate. 600–800 men slept in three-story bunks; Due to the shift work, the resulting restlessness when changing shifts and the outside noises from overhead roads and work, sleep was hardly to be thought of. The average age of the inmates was 25 years.

The motto of the concentration camp prisoner work was "annihilation through work", so the prisoner work was also not economically sensible. The inmates lived in constant fear of dying, and brutal abuse and poor care reduced work performance.

Due to the poor living conditions, the heavy physical work and the poor care, an average of 10% of the prisoners were unable to work. The number of beds in the infirmary had to be increased from 60 to 190, although the inmates even shared the beds.

The camp doctor was responsible for the medical care, but since there was a lack of equipment and material and the sick were not isolated, it was accordingly poor. It is proven that 682 prisoners died from illness, accidents and execution.

Reichswerke warehouse in the Salzgitter area

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Elke Zacharias: Salzgitter-Drütte . In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): The Place of Terror, History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps . tape 5 : Hinzert, Auschwitz, Neuengamme . Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-52965-8 , pp. 505-514 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Gerd Wysocki: Work for the war, labor, social policy and state police repression at the Reichswerke "Hermann Göring" in the Salzgitter area 1937/38 to 1945 . Steinweg, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-925151-51-6 , p. 136-148 .
  3. ^ Hermann Kaienburg: The economy of the SS . Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-936411-04-2 , pp. 435 .
  4. ^ Nils Köhler: Forced labor in the Lüneburg Heath . Organization and everyday life of the “foreign deployment” 1939–1945. Bielefeld 2003, ISBN 3-89534-517-2 , p. 131 .