Trzebinia

 



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 8th 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 American B17s in August, the prisoners were also put to work repairing damage and ridding the site of unexploded bombs. The work was hard and exhausting, driven by repeated demands for improved efficiency, and some prisoners were beaten. There was a high death rate and this motivated the SS to build a crematorium. The camp was evacuated in January 1945, prisoners marching on foot to Rybnik from where they were transported by rail to Sachsenhausen and Bergen-Belsen.


Trzebinia refinery

Barracks near Trzebinia railway station









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