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Kaufering concentration camp complex
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Kaufering concentration camp complex
Kaufering (German pronunciation: [ˈkaʊfəʁɪŋ]) was a system of eleven subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp which operated between 18 June 1944 and 27 April 1945 and which were located around the towns of Landsberg am Lech and Kaufering in Bavaria.
Previously, Nazi Germany had deported all Jews from the Reich, but having exhausted other sources of labor, Jews were deported to Kaufering to create three massive underground bunkers, Weingut II, Diana II, and Walnuss II, which would not be vulnerable to the Allied bombing which had devastated German aircraft factories. The bunkers were intended for the production of Messerschmitt Me 262 aircraft, but none were produced at the camps before the United States Army captured the area.
Kaufering was the largest of the Dachau subcamps and also the one with the worst conditions; about half of the 30,000 prisoners died from hunger, disease, executions, or during the death marches. Most of the sites were not preserved and have been repurposed for other uses.
In early 1944, Allied bombing raids had reduced the fighter aircraft production of German factories by as much as two-thirds. In order to reduce the effectiveness of Allied bombing, the Jägerstab, a task force of the Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production for increasing fighter production, planned to move production underground. Existing underground areas, such as caves and mines, were not suited to factory production, so new concrete bunkers were to be built, using concentration camp prisoners for labor. The area around Landsberg am Lech in Bavaria, where the Kaufering subcamps were established, was selected for this project due to its favorable geology; there was a layer of gravel up to 10 metres (33 ft) thick, and the water table was below 13 metres (43 ft). Out of six planned bunkers, three began construction at Kaufering and another at nearby Mühldorf concentration camp.
Previously, Nazi Germany had attempted to make the Reich Judenrein ("cleansed of Jews") by deporting all Jews to eastern areas. However, they had exhausted other sources of forced labor, so Jews were deported to the Reich to work on the new project. Kaufering I, later redesignated Kaufering III, was established by a transport of 1,000 Hungarian Jewish men from Auschwitz concentration camp that arrived in Kaufering, Bavaria, on 18 June 1944. Prisoner functionaries were brought from Dachau to manage the new camp.
Unusually, the construction of the camps, as well as providing food and medical care, was the responsibility of the Organization Todt (OT), not the SS, which sought to extract the maximum labor for the minimum expense. The prisoners deported to each camp had to construct the accommodation themselves. The resulting huts, partially buried for camouflage from aerial reconnaissance, were completely inadequate for the weather conditions. Rain and snow leaked through the earthen roofs, and vermin infested the huts. Prisoners had to sleep in straw spread on the floor. Of Dachau's subcamps, Kaufering had the worst conditions.
Most prisoners were forced to work building railway embankments and hauling bags of cement for the bunker-building projects, codenamed Weingut II, Diana II and Walnuss II. Weingut II was 400 metres (1,300 ft) long and 28.4 metres (93 ft) high (more than five stories), with a concrete roof 3 metres (9.8 ft) thick. The roof had been planned to be 5 metres (16 ft) thick, but that was pared down due to lack of materials. The total floor area would be 95,000 square metres (1,020,000 sq ft); the Augsburg factory that it intended to replace had only 12,700 square metres (137,000 sq ft) of floor area in three dispersal locations. For protection from air raids, 40% of the bunker was underground and its roof was covered with dirt for camouflage. At least 10,000 Jewish prisoners worked on the bunker at some point.
The bunkers were to be used for producing different components of the Messerschmitt Me 262A aircraft, the first operational jet aircraft, which the Germans hoped would turn the tide of war against the Allies. Messerschmitt AG hoped to produce 900 Me 262 aircraft and additional Me 163B rocket-powered aircraft at Kaufering, by employing 10,000 workers per shift in each bunker, 90,000 in all, of whom one-third were to be concentration camp prisoners. However, the construction of Diana II and Walnuss II was not finished due to the lack of concrete and steel. When the United States liberated the area in April 1945, the excavation of Weingut II was not complete, but already production machines had been set up. However, not a single aircraft was produced before liberation.
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Kaufering concentration camp complex
Kaufering (German pronunciation: [ˈkaʊfəʁɪŋ]) was a system of eleven subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp which operated between 18 June 1944 and 27 April 1945 and which were located around the towns of Landsberg am Lech and Kaufering in Bavaria.
Previously, Nazi Germany had deported all Jews from the Reich, but having exhausted other sources of labor, Jews were deported to Kaufering to create three massive underground bunkers, Weingut II, Diana II, and Walnuss II, which would not be vulnerable to the Allied bombing which had devastated German aircraft factories. The bunkers were intended for the production of Messerschmitt Me 262 aircraft, but none were produced at the camps before the United States Army captured the area.
Kaufering was the largest of the Dachau subcamps and also the one with the worst conditions; about half of the 30,000 prisoners died from hunger, disease, executions, or during the death marches. Most of the sites were not preserved and have been repurposed for other uses.
In early 1944, Allied bombing raids had reduced the fighter aircraft production of German factories by as much as two-thirds. In order to reduce the effectiveness of Allied bombing, the Jägerstab, a task force of the Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production for increasing fighter production, planned to move production underground. Existing underground areas, such as caves and mines, were not suited to factory production, so new concrete bunkers were to be built, using concentration camp prisoners for labor. The area around Landsberg am Lech in Bavaria, where the Kaufering subcamps were established, was selected for this project due to its favorable geology; there was a layer of gravel up to 10 metres (33 ft) thick, and the water table was below 13 metres (43 ft). Out of six planned bunkers, three began construction at Kaufering and another at nearby Mühldorf concentration camp.
Previously, Nazi Germany had attempted to make the Reich Judenrein ("cleansed of Jews") by deporting all Jews to eastern areas. However, they had exhausted other sources of forced labor, so Jews were deported to the Reich to work on the new project. Kaufering I, later redesignated Kaufering III, was established by a transport of 1,000 Hungarian Jewish men from Auschwitz concentration camp that arrived in Kaufering, Bavaria, on 18 June 1944. Prisoner functionaries were brought from Dachau to manage the new camp.
Unusually, the construction of the camps, as well as providing food and medical care, was the responsibility of the Organization Todt (OT), not the SS, which sought to extract the maximum labor for the minimum expense. The prisoners deported to each camp had to construct the accommodation themselves. The resulting huts, partially buried for camouflage from aerial reconnaissance, were completely inadequate for the weather conditions. Rain and snow leaked through the earthen roofs, and vermin infested the huts. Prisoners had to sleep in straw spread on the floor. Of Dachau's subcamps, Kaufering had the worst conditions.
Most prisoners were forced to work building railway embankments and hauling bags of cement for the bunker-building projects, codenamed Weingut II, Diana II and Walnuss II. Weingut II was 400 metres (1,300 ft) long and 28.4 metres (93 ft) high (more than five stories), with a concrete roof 3 metres (9.8 ft) thick. The roof had been planned to be 5 metres (16 ft) thick, but that was pared down due to lack of materials. The total floor area would be 95,000 square metres (1,020,000 sq ft); the Augsburg factory that it intended to replace had only 12,700 square metres (137,000 sq ft) of floor area in three dispersal locations. For protection from air raids, 40% of the bunker was underground and its roof was covered with dirt for camouflage. At least 10,000 Jewish prisoners worked on the bunker at some point.
The bunkers were to be used for producing different components of the Messerschmitt Me 262A aircraft, the first operational jet aircraft, which the Germans hoped would turn the tide of war against the Allies. Messerschmitt AG hoped to produce 900 Me 262 aircraft and additional Me 163B rocket-powered aircraft at Kaufering, by employing 10,000 workers per shift in each bunker, 90,000 in all, of whom one-third were to be concentration camp prisoners. However, the construction of Diana II and Walnuss II was not finished due to the lack of concrete and steel. When the United States liberated the area in April 1945, the excavation of Weingut II was not complete, but already production machines had been set up. However, not a single aircraft was produced before liberation.
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