Entrance to Trzebinia, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp, 1945

The Auschwitz concentration camp complex was a system of concentration camps (German: Konzentrationslager, abbreviated as either KL or KZ)[lower-alpha 1] run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1940 to 1945. The main camp (German: Stammlager) was Auschwitz I. Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, was a concentration and extermination camp, and became the most notorious of the camps. Auschwitz III, or Monowitz, was a labour camp.

In addition to the three largest camps, Auschwitz consisted of several subcamps. The satellite camps were named Aussenlager (external camp), Nebenlager (extension or subcamp), and Arbeitslager (labour camp). Several lay within 10 km (6.2 mi) of the main camp, with prisoner populations ranging from dozens to several thousand.[3]

KL Auschwitz

Administration

As the size and purpose of Auschwitz changed during World War II, its structure and chain of command changed too. From 1940 to late 1943, Auschwitz I was the Stammlager and the other camps were subordinate to it. In November 1943 Birkenau and Monowitz became independent camps with their own commandants, although the commandant of Auschwitz I remained the senior officer. Auschwitz I and Birkenau were placed back under one command in November 1944, and Auschwitz III was named Monowitz.[4]

Commandants

Subcamps

The known subcamps of the Auschwitz complex included:[5]

# Name of the subcamp Location Life time Number of prisoners Tenant
Sub-camps at livestock farms
1. Harmense (Geflügelfarm) Harmęże Dec 1941 – Jan 1945 About 150 prisoners For purposes of KL
2. Budy (Wirtschaftshof) Brzeszcze Apr 1942 – Jan 1945 700-800 prisoners For purposes of KL
3. Babitz (Wirtschaftshof) Babice near Oświęcim Mar 1943 – Jan 1945 About 340 prisoners For purposes of KL
4. Birkenau (Wirtschaftshof) Brzezinka near Oświęcim 1943 – Jan 1945 More than 200 prisoners For purposes of KL
5. Raisko (Gärtnerei) Rajsko Jun 1944 – Jan 1945 About 300 female prisoners For purposes of KL and SS research
6. Plawy (Wirtschaftshof) Pławy Dec 1944 – Jan 1945 About 200 prisoners For purposes of KL
Sub-camps at industrial plants
7. Golleschau Goleszów Jul 1942 – Jan 1945 About 1,000 prisoners Ostdeutsche Baustoffwerke GmbH
8. Jawischowitz Jawiszowice Aug 1942 – Jan 1945 More than 2,500 prisoners Reichswerke Hermann Göring
9. Chelmek (Aussenkommando) Chełmek Oct 1942 – Dec 1942 About 150 prisoners Ota Schlesische Schuhwerke ("Bata Shoes")
10. Monowitz Buna-Werke[6] Monowice near Oświęcim Oct 1942 – Jan 1945 10,223 prisoners in three IG Farben locations as of 17 January 1945.[3] –
11. Eintrachthütte Eintrachthütte concentration camp in Świętochłowice May 1943 – Jan 1945 1,374 prisoners Berghütte
12. Neu-Dachs Jaworzno Jun 1943 – Jan 1945 More than 3,500 prisoners Energieversorgung Oberschlesien Aktiengesellschaft (EVO)
13. Fürstengrube Wesoła near Mysłowice Sep 1943 – Jan 1945 700–1,200 prisoners IG Farben
14. Janinagrube (Gute Hoffnung) Libiąż[7] Sep 1943 – Jan 1945 877 prisoners IG Farben
15. Lagischa Łagisza, now Będzin Sep 1943 – Sep 1944 About 1,000 prisoners Energie-Versorgung Oberschlesien AG
16. Günthergrube Lędziny Feb 1944 – Jan 1945 300-600 prisoners IG Farben
17. Gleiwitz I Gliwice Mar 1944 – Jan 1945 About 1,300 prisoners Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk
18. Laurahütte Siemianowice Śląskie Mar/Apr 1944 – Jan 1945 1,000 prisoners Rhinemetall Borsig AG
19. Blechhammer Blechhammer concentration camp near Sławięcice Apr 1944 – Jan 1945 609 prisoners O/S Hydrierwerke AG
20. Bobrek Bobrek concentration camp near Oświęcim May 1944 – Jan 1945 About 50–213 prisoners and about 50 female prisoners Siemens-Schuckert
21. Gleiwitz II Gliwice May 1944 – Jan 1945 More than 1,000 prisoners Deutsche Gasrusswerke
22. Sosnowitz II Sosnowiec[8] May 1944 – Jan 1945 About 900 prisoners Ost Maschinenbau GmbH (Berghüte)
23. Gleiwitz III Gliwice Jul 1944 – Jan 1945 450–600 prisoners Zieleniewski - Maschinen und Waggonbau GmbH - Krakau
24. Hindenburg Zabrze Aug 1944 – Jan 1945 About 400-500 female prisoners and about 70 prisoners Vereinigte Oberschlesische Hüttenwerke AG (Oberhütten)
25. Trzebinia Trzebionka near Trzebinia Aug 1944 – Jan 1945 600-800 prisoners Erdölraffinerie Trzebinia GmbH
26. Tschechowitz I Bombensucherkommando[9] Czechowice-Dziedzice Aug 1944 – Sep 1944 About 100 prisoners Reichsbahn
27. Althammer Stara Kuźnia near Halemby, now Ruda Śląska Sep 1944 – Jan 1945 About 500 prisoners
28. Bismarckhütte Chorzów Sep 1944 – Jan 1945 About 200 prisoners Berghütte (for its Bismarck steel mill at Chorzów Batory)[10]
29. Charlottengrube Rydułtowy Sep 1944 – Jan 1945 About 1,000 prisoners Reichswerke Hermann Göring
30. Neustadt Prudnik Sep 1944 – Jan 1945 About 400 female prisoners Schlesische Feinweberei AG
31. Tschechowitz II Vacuum Czechowice-Dziedzice Sep 1944 – Jan 1945 About 600 prisoners
32. Hubertshütte Łagiewniki, now Bytom Dec 1944 – Jan 1945 200 prisoners Berghütte-Königs und Birmarckhütte AG
33. Freudenthal Bruntal 1944 – Jan 1945 About 300 female prisoners Emmerich Machold
34. Lichtewerden Světlá (now Czech Republic) Nov 1944 – Jan 1945 About 300 female prisoners G.A. Buhl und Sohn
Sub-camps with various functions
35. Sosnitz Sośnica near Gliwice Jul 1940 – Aug 1940 About 30 prisoners For purposes of KL
36. Porombka (SS-Hütte, Solahütte) Międzybrodzie Bialskie Oct/Nov 1940 – Jan 1945 About 50 prisoners and about 10 female prisoners For purposes of SS
37. Altdorf Stara Wieś near Pszczyna Oct 1942 – 1943 About 20 prisoners Oberforstamt Pless (Pszczyna forestry authority)
38. Radostowitz Radostowice near Pszczyna 1942 – 1943 About 20 prisoners Oberforstamt Pless
39. Kobier (Aussenkommando) Kobiór 1942 – Sep 1943 About 150 prisoners Oberforstamt Pless
40. Brünn Brno Oct 1943 – Apr 1945 250–150 prisoners For purposes of SS
41. Sosnowitz (I) Sosnowiec Aug 1943 – Feb 1944 About 100 prisoners
42. Gleiwitz IV Gliwice Jun 1944 – Jan 1945 About 500 prisoners For purposes of SS
43. Kattowitz (Sonderkommando) Katowice Jan 1944 – Jan 1945 10 prisoners Gestapo
44. Bauzug (2 SS) Karlsruhe, after Stuttgart Sep 1944 – Oct 1944 About 500 prisoners living in a train SS-WVHA

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Nikolaus Wachsmann (KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps, 2015): "The term "KL" remained the main SS abbreviation for concentration camps throughout the Third Reich. For popular references to "KL", see The Times, January 24, 1935, NCC, doc. 277. Prisoners also applied the term, though they more commonly used the harsher sounding "KZ", which became the standard abbreviaton in postwar Germany."[1]
    The Times (24 January 1935): "Permits to visit are no longer obtainable, and everyone knows that the threat of "K.L."—the popular contraction for Konzentrationslager—is meant to be a very unpleasant one."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015). KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 635, note 9. ISBN 978-0-374-11825-9.
  2. ↑ "The German Camps". The Times, 24 January 1935, issue 46970, p. 13.
  3. 1 2 "Podobozy / Historia / Auschwitz-Birkenau". auschwitz.org. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  4. ↑ "Administration of the Auschwitz Camp Complex". encyclopedia.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
  5. ↑ J Mayer (20 Feb 2011). "Subcamps from KL Auschwitz". Der Ort des Terrors - Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager. Band 5. Axis History. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  6. ↑ John F. Ptak (September 23, 2008), Distinguishing Oświęcim (town), Auschwitz I, II, & III, and the Buna Werke. From the "Pamphlet Collection" of the Library of Congress.
  7. ↑ Artur Hojan & Cameron Munro (2017), Camp: Janinagrube / Gute Hoffnung; Obieżowa Colony, Libiąż.
  8. ↑ Prof. Stuart Stein: "Affidavit of Dieter Wisliceny", from Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume VIII. USGPO, Washington, 1946, pages 606–619. Note: SS-Hauptsturmführer Dieter Wisliceny in his testimony given before the International Military Tribunal at Nurnberg, 3 January 1946, erroneously identifies the Auschwitz concentration camp complex as the concentration area Sosnowitz (which was one of its dozens of subcamps).
  9. ↑ Marek Szafranski (Februar 2, 2018), Unique pictures of Auschwitz prisoners went to the Bielsko-Biała historian Jacek Proszyk. Tschechowitz I Bombensucherkommando. dzieje.pl
  10. ↑ "Bismarckhütte". Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

Further reading

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