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 Ame...

  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...

  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 demo...

  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 K...