Bismarckhutte

Bismarckhutte (Chorzow)

Bismarckhutte was established in September 1944 on a site near the Bismarck steel mill in Chorzow, Poland. The mill was owned by the Berghütte company. The subcamp contained around 200 prisoners, most of them from France, Belgium and Bohemia, living in in barracks made of sawdust-cement panels. There was also a kitchen, infirmary and storeroom. An electrified barbed wire fence surrounded the camp in addition to a high screen running alongside the road to hide the camp from public view. The work undertaken by the prisoners consisted of unloading trains, expanding the camp, digging ditches and transporting material. Some prisoners produced gun barrels and armoured plates for flak guns. The camp was commanded by SS-Oberscharführer Hermann Kleeman. In January 1945, the prisoners were evacuated on foot to Gliwice and then by rail to Nordhausen-Dora.


 


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