Camps
A brief description of the camps of the Third Reich and Fascist Italy where prisoners from Magnesia were held between 1941 and 1945, and for which information has been found. The camps are divided into four categories:
- Prisoner-of-war camps
- Concentration/labor camps
- Concentration and extermination camps
- Camps in fascist Italy
D
Dachau
Category: Concentration/labour camp
The first concentration camp established in 1933 by the Nazis for political prisoners who opposed Nazism. Until 1940, it functioned primarily as a “re-education camp” for dissidents, but also for other social groups deemed “undesirable” by the Nazis (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, homosexuals, etc.). Starting in 1940, Polish, Russian and Yugoslav prisoners began to be deported there. The extermination of Dachau prisoners by gas began in 1941, initially at the Hartheim Euthanasia Institute in Austria, while others were killed within the camp itself via lethal injections. In 1943, a new crematorium with four ovens was built. In the last two years of the war, the number of satellite camps more than doubled, reaching 170, primarily for forced-labour in the war industry. A total of 206,000 prisoners passed through Dachau. 15,000 died of typhus shortly before liberation. According to one source, 1,080 Greeks passed through Dachau, of whom only 660 survived.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I A (2009), 442–447.
The first concentration camp established in 1933 by the Nazis for political prisoners who opposed Nazism. Until 1940, it functioned primarily as a “re-education camp” for dissidents, but also for other social groups deemed “undesirable” by the Nazis (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, homosexuals, etc.). Starting in 1940, Polish, Russian and Yugoslav prisoners began to be deported there. The extermination of Dachau prisoners by gas began in 1941, initially at the Hartheim Euthanasia Institute in Austria, while others were killed within the camp itself via lethal injections. In 1943, a new crematorium with four ovens was built. In the last two years of the war, the number of satellite camps more than doubled, reaching 170, primarily for forced-labour in the war industry. A total of 206,000 prisoners passed through Dachau. 15,000 died of typhus shortly before liberation. According to one source, 1,080 Greeks passed through Dachau, of whom only 660 survived.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I A (2009), 442–447.
Dora Mittelbau
Subcamp of: Buchenwald
Category: Concentration/labour camp
This was originally a subcamp of Buchenwald, which was established on August 28, 1943, as an underground factory to produce V-2 rockets. In October 1944, it became an independent camp known as Mittelbau (Dora), with 40 subcamps and 40,000 prisoners. Working conditions in the underground tunnels were grueling, and the mortality rate was particularly high.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I B (2009), 966–1002.
Category: Concentration/labour camp
This was originally a subcamp of Buchenwald, which was established on August 28, 1943, as an underground factory to produce V-2 rockets. In October 1944, it became an independent camp known as Mittelbau (Dora), with 40 subcamps and 40,000 prisoners. Working conditions in the underground tunnels were grueling, and the mortality rate was particularly high.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I B (2009), 966–1002.
Dresden Universelle
Subcamp of: Flossenbürg
Category: Concentration/labour camp
Established in October 1944 to house female forced labourers to work for the Universelle Machine Factory, which manufactured aircraft parts. On January 19, 1945, a group of 200 women was transferred there from Ravensbrück. Among them was a Greek woman. She was most likely Afroditi Koutrouli (née Kalatzis) from Volos. During the Allied bombing on February 13, 1945, which razed the city to the ground, the factory was hit, and many female prisoners escaped or hid in nearby villages where they worked on farms. Those who were caught were transferred to another nearby subcamp of Flossenbürg, near the town of Pirna.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I A (2009), 582–584. Interview with Afroditi Koutrouli-Kalatzis.
Category: Concentration/labour camp
Established in October 1944 to house female forced labourers to work for the Universelle Machine Factory, which manufactured aircraft parts. On January 19, 1945, a group of 200 women was transferred there from Ravensbrück. Among them was a Greek woman. She was most likely Afroditi Koutrouli (née Kalatzis) from Volos. During the Allied bombing on February 13, 1945, which razed the city to the ground, the factory was hit, and many female prisoners escaped or hid in nearby villages where they worked on farms. Those who were caught were transferred to another nearby subcamp of Flossenbürg, near the town of Pirna.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I A (2009), 582–584. Interview with Afroditi Koutrouli-Kalatzis.