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
E
Ebensee
Subcamp of: Mauthausen
Category: Concentration/labour camp
The camp was built in the fall of 1943 as an underground complex of war industry factories, its main purpose being the production of V-2 rockets. In January 1945, the number of prisoners rose sharply to 18,500 due to the evacuation of other camps in the east. Due to inhumane living conditions and overcrowding, over 8,000 died at Ebensee. On the final day, the guards intended to kill all the prisoners in the underground tunnels, but the prisoners refused to leave the roll-call area and thus saved their lives. The next day, on May 6, 1945, they were liberated by the Americans.
USHM Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I B (2009), 911–913.
Category: Concentration/labour camp
The camp was built in the fall of 1943 as an underground complex of war industry factories, its main purpose being the production of V-2 rockets. In January 1945, the number of prisoners rose sharply to 18,500 due to the evacuation of other camps in the east. Due to inhumane living conditions and overcrowding, over 8,000 died at Ebensee. On the final day, the guards intended to kill all the prisoners in the underground tunnels, but the prisoners refused to leave the roll-call area and thus saved their lives. The next day, on May 6, 1945, they were liberated by the Americans.
USHM Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I B (2009), 911–913.
Eisenertz
Subcamp of: Mauthausen
Category: Concentration/labour camp
A small subcamp of Mauthausen set up for iron mining at Mount Erzberg. It was located in the town of the same name, 85 kilometers northwest of Graz. The camp opened on June 15, 1943, and the number of prisoners never exceeded 500. Working conditions were extremely harsh, and those who could not endure them were sent back to Mauthausen, where they would be put to death. The camp was dissolved in March 1945.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I Β (2009), 914.
Category: Concentration/labour camp
A small subcamp of Mauthausen set up for iron mining at Mount Erzberg. It was located in the town of the same name, 85 kilometers northwest of Graz. The camp opened on June 15, 1943, and the number of prisoners never exceeded 500. Working conditions were extremely harsh, and those who could not endure them were sent back to Mauthausen, where they would be put to death. The camp was dissolved in March 1945.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I Β (2009), 914.
Essen or Essen Steele
Subcamp of: Buchenwald
Category: Concentration/labour camp
The camp operated from February 1944 to March 1945 in an industrial suburb of the city of Essen. It was set up on initiative of the municipalities of Essen and Düsseldorf, with the primary goal of recycling the rubble left behind by Allied bombings into building materials. The project was contracted to the company Deutsche Erd-und-Steinwerke (German Earth and Stone Works), which exploited the labour of the camp’s prisoners. Among them were many deportees from Magnesia. A steel mill was also operating in the same city, where 50 Jewish women from Hungary had been working since August 1944.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I A (2009), 341-345.
Category: Concentration/labour camp
The camp operated from February 1944 to March 1945 in an industrial suburb of the city of Essen. It was set up on initiative of the municipalities of Essen and Düsseldorf, with the primary goal of recycling the rubble left behind by Allied bombings into building materials. The project was contracted to the company Deutsche Erd-und-Steinwerke (German Earth and Stone Works), which exploited the labour of the camp’s prisoners. Among them were many deportees from Magnesia. A steel mill was also operating in the same city, where 50 Jewish women from Hungary had been working since August 1944.
USHMΜ, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, vol. I A (2009), 341-345.