Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp
The inmates at Dora-Mittelbau were treated in a brutal and inhumane manner, working 14-hour days and being denied access to basic hygiene, beds, and adequate rations.In early summer 1943, mass production of the A4 (later better known as V-2, V standing for Vergeltung or retribution) ballistic rocket started at the Heeresanstalt Peenemünde on the Baltic island of Usedom as well as at the Raxwerke in Wiener Neustadt, Austria and at the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance.[1] On 18 August 1943, a bombing raid by the Royal Air Force on Peenemünde ("Operation Hydra") seriously damaged the facilities and ended construction of V-2s there.[1] On 22 August 1943, Adolf Hitler ordered SS leader Heinrich Himmler to use concentration camp workers in future A4/V-2 production.[1] To oversee the creation and operation of the new construction facility, Albert Speer, Himmler and Karl Saur agreed on the foundation of Mittelwerk GmbH [de] (the name referring to the works' location in Mitteldeutschland).To actually run the plant, Albin Sawatzki [de], who had earlier been in charge of producing the "Tiger I" tank at Henschel, was appointed.[4] Only ten days after the raid on Peenemünde, on 28 August 1943, the first 107 concentration camp inmates from Buchenwald arrived with their SS guards at the Kohnstein.On 10 December, Albert Speer and his staff visited the tunnels, observing the terrible conditions and finding them littered with corpses.A week later, Speer wrote to Kammler, congratulating him on his success "in transforming the underground installation ... from its raw condition two months ago into a factory, which has no equal in Europe and which is unsurpassed even when measured against American standards.With the dissolution of the so-called Zigeuner-Familienlager (Gypsy family camp) at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the SS transported many Roma and Sinti to Mittelbau between April and August 1944.[10] The rate of executions notably accelerated after the personnel from Auschwitz arrived: in February and March 1945, the SS on some days hanged 30, on one occasion even 50 prisoners.From March 1944, the others were moved to newly created subcamps in the area around Nordhausen where they continued to be used for digging new tunnels or working at construction sites above ground.[3]: 623 Wernher von Braun visited the Nordhausen plant on 25 January 1944 and again on 6 May 1944,[5] when he met Walter Dornberger, Arthur Rudolph and Albin Sawatzki, discussing the need to enslave another 1,800 skilled French workers.In addition, after the creation of the Geilenbergstab (named after Edmund Geilenberg), over the summer of 1944 more underground construction was requested for the German petroleum industry.Demand for workers for these projects was satisfied with concentration camp prisoners, but also with foreign forced labourers, POWs and drafted Germans.With the subcamps overcrowded and the weather turning colder, conditions in all camps deteriorated and the death rate rose significantly.[11] On 3 and 4 April 1945, Nordhausen was attacked in two waves by several hundred Lancasters and Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command.Several thousand men were housed in the so-called Kasernenlager around 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) north of the main camp, which was already overflowing with prisoners.[6] Immediately after taking control of the area, US specialists began to inspect the rocket works and seized materials, parts and documents.[25] Apart from Rickhey, Rudolph, and von Braun, several dozen former Mittelwerk engineers and scientists quickly hired on with the US government.[25] After liberation, the US forces and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) turned Dora and Harzungen camps into accommodations for displaced persons (DPs).In mid-May 1945, there were around 14,000 people living at Dora, several hundred liberated concentration camp inmates and many POWs as well as foreign civilian forced labourers.In 1964, the local district SED created the Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Dora and had a sculpture by the artist Jürgen von Woyski erected in front of the crematorium.[29] By contrast with Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück, the communist government of the GDR never raised Dora to the status of Nationale Mahn- und Gedenkstätte (national memorial).In the early 1970s, the local authorities turned the completely overgrown muster ground into an Ehrenplatz der Nationen with a rostrum, flag poles and an eternal fire.Since 2000, the Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora runs the memorial, financed by the Thuringian state and the federal government.
Concentration campCoordinatesNordhausenOtto FörschnerRichard BaerJean AméryHeinz GalinskiNazi concentration campThuringiaBuchenwald concentration campKohnsteinV-2 rocketV-1 flying bombsubcampsHeeresanstalt PeenemündeBalticUsedomRaxwerkeWiener NeustadtZeppelin worksFriedrichshafenLake ConstanceRoyal Air ForceOperation HydraAdolf HitlerHeinrich HimmlerWirtschaftliche Forschungsgesellschaft (WIFO)WehrmachtAlbert SpeerKarl SaurMittelwerk GmbHHans KammlerCommerzbankTiger IHenschelSS-OberstürmbannfuhrerHelmut BischoffGestapoLublin-MajdanekBergen-BelsenAuschwitz-Birkenausummary executionsWernher von BraunWalter DornbergerArthur RudolphLager EllrichHerzberg am HarzJägerstabJunkersEdmund GeilenbergGross-RosenRed ArmyBoelckeFranz HösslerEduard WirthsLancastersMosquitosSachsenhausenRavensbrückGardelegen massacreNeuengammeVolkssturm3rd Armored Division104th Infantry Division9th Infantry DivisionBelsen trialLüneburgDora TrialFedden MissionDachau camp trialGeorg RickheyOperation PaperclipUnited Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administrationdisplaced personsGermans expelled from CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyBuchenwaldThe subcamps of Konzentrationslager MittelbauErna PetermannThe Good GermanPatrick HicksColette (2020 film)Garliński, JózefMakos, AdamSpearheadBallantine Booksarchive.todayYouTubeNazi Germanyconcentration campsArbeitsdorfAuschwitzDachauFlossenbürgHerzogenbuschHinzertKaiserwaldKraków-PłaszówMajdanekMauthausenNatzweiler-StruthofNiederhagenStutthofVaivaraWarsawConcentration Camps InspectorateSS Main Economic and Administrative OfficeGerman Earth and Stone WorksDeutsche WirtschaftsbetriebeSS-TotenkopfverbändeAppellplatzSanitätswesenSubcampSS construction brigadeCamp brothelsPolitische AbteilungRevierStrafkompanieAction 14f13Early campsForced laborIdentification of inmatesBadgesPurpleYellowLanguage