Forgotten Horrors: The Nazi sub-camp system

  A working group (commando) of about 100 prisoners, consisting of 60 Germans, 3 Jews and a number of Kapos, used for bomb clearance near a refinery. The camp was in existence for only around 10 days between 20 th August and early September and was located in buildings of a former brewery. It was commanded by SS-Oberscharführer Wilhelm Edmund Claussen and guarded by a number of SS men. However, after three days, most of the SS men were replaced by  members of the Schupo, gendarmerie, and casual Bahnschutze and industrial guards from the refinery, with only four SS men remaining. In early September 1944, the prisoners were sent back to Auschwitz. Former brewery office building used as a camp office and accommodation for the SS guards

  Trzebinia subcamp was established in early August 1944 at the Erdöl Rafinerie Trzebinia GmbH, replacing a POW camp for British soldiers, who had just been moved to Lamsdorf POW camp. 300 prisoners were initially moved into the barracks vacated by the British, followed by another 300 prisoners a fortnight later and a final 200 in mid-September. The subcamp consisted of six barracks, four of them made of corrugated metal sheeting, and an electric barbed wire fence supported by wooden posts. The camp was commanded by SS-Unterscharführer Wilhelm Kowol and guarded by a garrison of 60-70 SS guards from the Wachkompanie Monowitz, assisted by Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe men from the 8 th Sentry Company Auschwitz. The prisoners were mostly Hungarian and Polish Jews. They were put to work expanding the refinery, including the digging of ditches, excavation of foundations, pipe laying, sewer installation and construction of railway tracks and air-raid shelters. Following an air raid by America

  This subcamp was located at the Donnersmarck mill in Zabrze, which was owned by Vereinigte Oberschlesische Hüttenwerke AG. In August 1944, around 350 female prisoners, most of them Polish Jews, arrived at the site and were accommodated in wooden barracks surrounded by an electric barbed wire fence. This was supplemented by four guard towers. A later arrival, of around 70 Czech Jewish men, occurred in October. These prisoners were held in separate barracks. The camp was commanded by Unterscharführer Adolf Taube and garrisoned by SS guards assisted by around a dozen Wehrmacht soldiers. The female prisoners were put to work producing ammunition, while the men worked as janitors. In January 1945, the camp was evacuated, the women being taken to Gross-Rosen and the men to Buchenwald. Entrance gate to the subcamp Barrack hut Another barrack hut Fence posts marking the perimeter The perimeter fence Former Concordia mine

  Gleiwitz III was located at an old mill owned by Vereinigte Oberschlesische Hüttenwerke AG. Part of the mill was leased to Zieleniewski Maschinen und Waggonbau GmbH, formerly a Polish firm that had subsequently been taken over by a German trust and moved to the site from Cracow. The first prisoners arrived at the site in late July 1944. They were held in a factory building and were initially put to work restoring the site. This included the erection of a barbed wire fence and unloading and installing machinery. Production commenced later in 1944 of wheels for railway carriages, chassis for flak guns, components for naval mines and artillery shells. The camp was commanded by SS-Hauptscharführer Karl Spiker and was guarded by a number of SS men. There were around 600 prisoners in the camp by October 1944. These prisoners were evacuated from the camp in January 1945 on foot and taken to Blechhammer sub-camp. Some of the prisoners then set out on a march to Gross-Rosen, but those who cou

  Sosnowitz II was established at a rolling mill operated by Oberschlesiesche Maschinen u. Waggonfabrik in Sosnowiec. Initially there were 200 prisoners, the vast majority of whom were Jews, who arrived in May 1944 and held at a former camp for foreign conscript workers. The numbers of prisoners increased to 600 later in the year and to 900 by the end of the year. They were held in three wooden barracks surrounded by an electrified barbed wire fence and overlooked by seven guard towers. Other buildings at the site consisted of a kitchen, washroom, store and latrine. The camp was commanded by SS-Hauptscharführer Albin Vaupel. Prisoners were put to work manufacturing weapon parts, such as gun barrels and ammunition. The prisoners were evacuated in January 1945 when they were taken on foot to Opava in Bohemia and then transported by train to Mauthausen. View of the site from across the railway tracks, with site of steelworks behind the camera Site of former steelworks Rubble from demolish

  Sosnowitz I was established in late August 1943 in order to remodel a building at Targowa Street 12 which had previously served as the office for the Central Jewish Council of Elders. Around 100 prisoners, most of whom were Polish, were held in a room on the ground floor of the building where they had to sleep on straw laid directly on the floor. The windows were covered by metal grilles and 15 SS men were deployed to guard them. The subcamp was commanded initially by SS-Rottenführer Lehmann followed by SS-Unterscharführer Horst Czerwiński. After completion of the work, the prisoners were returned to Auschwitz in two groups, the first returning in December 1943 and the second in mid-February 1944.

  Bobrek was a subcamp of Monowitz concentration camp located in or near Bobrek, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, and was part of the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. It was built by Siemens-Schuckert and held approximately 250-300 prisoners including 50 women who were used as slave labor to produce electrical parts for aircraft and U-boat submarines. The commandant of the camp was SS-Scharführer Hermann Buch. Bobrek subcamp was evacuated along with the other camps in the Auschwitz complex on January 18, 1945. The prisoners were sent on a death march to a concentration camp in Gleiwitz, Poland. Many were then transported by rail to Buchenwald concentration camp. While in Buchenwald, the former Bobrek workers were sought out by Siemens-Schuckert executives, who had them transported to the Siemens-Schuckert factory in Siemensstadt, a suburb of Berlin. A sub-camp located 3 km north of Oświęcim in fertilizer-factory buildings in Bobrek that belonged before the war to Anna Kuppe

Blechhammer was the second largest subcamp of Auschwitz and was located, along with several other camps, in the Blechhammer industrial area. The camp was established on 1st April 1944, utilising an existing forced labour camp that was transferred to the Monowitz concentration camp administration. The camp initially held around 3,000 male and 200 female prisoners in 25 barracks covering 10 acres. It was surrounded by a 4 metre (13 ft) high concrete wall. Around 4,500 prisoners passed through the camp during the course of its existence.  The work carried out by the prisoners consisted mostly of construction, excavation and hauling wagons. Some prisoners were forced to remove unexploded bombs following the air raid at the nearby Hydrierwerke plant. The prisoners were occasionally subjected to selections by the SS guards, in which those considered unfit for work were removed to Birkenau where many of them were executed. Another 250 prisoners were killed at Blechhammer itself and their bodi

The area of the Laura steelworks. The subcamp was located in the area in the upper part of this image, north of the road. Laurahutte was established inside the steelworks in Siemianowice Śląskie, owned by the massive company Rheinmetall Borsig AG, based in Dusseldorf. It opened in early 1944 with an initial transport of 200 prisoners to the site, the majority of whom were French and Dutch Jews. However, more prisoners arrived at the site over the course of subsequent months, rising to 550 by summer 1944 and 937 by the time of the sub-camp's evacuation.  The prisoners were held inside the factory grounds, sleeping on three-tier bunks with access to a kitchen barracks, an infirmary and a storehouse. The sub-camp was surrounded by a three-metre high wall with barbed wire along the top and guard towers at the corners. It was commanded by SS-Oberscharfuhrer Walter Quakernack. The guards consisted of a small number of SS men with the majority being coastal artillery soldiers commanded by

  Main area of the factory and subcamp Subcamp area Gleiwitz II was established in May 1944 following the takeover of an existing labour camp for Jews. It was located at the  Deutsche Gasrusswerke GmbH lampblack factory and initially held around 250 women and 260 men. However, by the end of that same year this number had increased to over a thousand  prisoners of whom 700 were men. Accommodation for the prisoners consisted of seven wooden barracks, three of which were allocated to women, fenced off from the other barracks. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire fencing with six guard towers. The camp was commanded by  SS-Oberscharführer Becker, followed by Konrad Friedrichsen and finally SS-Hauptscharführer Bernhard Rackers. There were 70 SS guards. While the male prisoners helped to expand the factory and repair machinery, the female prisoners worked at lampblacking, exposed to fumes from hot oil, and also had to carry away boiling waste to a vat. Severe burns from this task were comm

  Location of Gleiwitz wagon works and camp Subcamp area - the subcamp itself was situated at lower centre of the picture, in or around the greenspace next to the smaller road running diagonally through the centre of the picture Gleiwitz I was established in March 1944 in the Polish city of Gliwice, at a steelworks that was used for repair railway rolling stock and tanks.  The first group of prisoners on the site were put to work building seven barracks, a kitchen, a medical centre, storage area and a number of workshops. The camp was surrounded by a wall consisting of concrete slabs, on the top of which was barbed wire. There was an additional barrier inside this one consisting of a barbed wire fence supported by concrete posts. Along the course of this fence were constructed eight wooden guard towers. The camp was commanded by SS-Hauptscharfuhrer Otto Moll. However, in May 1944, he was posted temporarily to Birkenau to oversee the mass execution of Hungarian Jews. In his absence, the

Location of the initial camp, Lager Heimat Gunthergrube was established in February 1944 next to the  Günther coal mine, south of  Lędziny, operated by  Fürstlich Plessische Bergwerks AG. Gunther, now Ziemowit, coal mine There was a second mine, the  Piastschachte mine, which was still being constructed a t the time the camp was established .  Location of former Piast coal mine Surviving Piast coal mine building The camp itself changed location on several occasions, the 300 inmates initially being held in an existing facility that had previously been a camp for compulsory labourers. This was located in a school on the road to the Gunther mine called Lager Heimat (see top image above). The accommodation consisted of two barracks, supported by a kitchen, bathhouse and latrine. The site was surrounded by a barbed wire fence. In June 1944, the inmates were moved to a larger camp surrounded by a high brick wall, guarded by eight guard towers (Lager Gunthergrube III).  Gunthergrube III Most