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Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse converted the monastery to an estate in 1527. The prisoners assigned to build the camp survived on the average two weeks. It was founded in June 1933 as an addition to the Breitenau Labor and Welfare House, less than six months after the Nazis had seized power in Germany. The largest of these subcamps, Monowitz, also known as Auschwitz III, began operating in 1942 and housed some 10,000 prisoners. The community of Guxhagen had already previously, in 1987, dedicated a monument to the forced labourers who were shot on March 30, 1945, on the banks of the Fulda river. Instead, he became convinced that his Jewish problem would be solved only with the elimination of every Jew in his domain, along with artists, educators, Romas, communists, homosexuals, the mentally and physically handicapped and others deemed unfit for survival in Nazi Germany. In the nine months of its existence, about 470 men passed through the Breitenau early concentration camp. (ein nationalsozialistisches Konzentrations- und Arbeitserziehungslager) found: Verzeichnis der Haftsttten unter dem Reichsfhrer-SS (1933-1945), 1979: p. 2 (Breitenau) For instance, in the prison in Minsk all the Jews had their gold bridgework, crowns and fillings pulled or broken out. No SS officer would ever be seen playing a musical instrument in public. (Later on Hoess reduced that number to 1,135,000.) For the vast majority of those employed at the facility, they eluded justice. More than 40 smaller facilities, called subcamps, dotted the landscape and served as slave-labor camps. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Breitenau concentration camp was one of the first concentration camps established by the Nazis. Breitenau concentration camp was one of the first concentration camps established by the Nazis. How many of these prisoners died after being transferred to other concentration camps is unknown. Since 1984, an permanent exhibit is held in one of the monastery buildings to remembrance the Nazi period. According to SS reports, there were more than 700,000 prisoners registered in the concentration camps in January 1945. From March 1934 on, the monastery was used as a correctional facility again. Breitenau As A Concentration Camp Do you want to create your own battlefield tour to sights of wars from the past? Authority over the Breitenau concentration camp was gradually ceded to the SS. Expansion at the Outbreak of World War II. As for Birkenau today, it is now a museum, open to the public. In March 1934, the decision came to close KZ Breitenau. The women are SS auxiliaries. They and the rest of the transport were considered enemies of the Reich for whom there would be no mercy. How were millions of people so vulnerable to fascism? 1. When the Soviet army entered Auschwitz on January 27, they found approximately 7,600 sick or emaciated detainees who had been left behind barbed wire. In 1940, Breitenau was reopened, but this time as a concentration camp, with an estimated population of 8,500 prisoners, including some of those who were originally placed in the camp during the early 1930s. Breitenau Concentration Camp Memorial Timing: 01:00 pm - 05:00 pm. The Breitenau concentration camp was set up in June 1933. Oranienburg Concentration Camp was established in Oranienburg, Germany (actually Prussia). By the end of 1933, 11,000 people were held and placed in concentration camps. Publication | Library Call Number: D805.5.B75 R528 2009 Series Nationalsozialismus in Nordhessen ; Bd. (In some locations, the Jews were robbed of their gold teeth before they were killed. (source: Bing.com), Below: SS officers at Birkenau. Officially Birkenau was part of the Auschwitz complex. Of the 8.500 internees, 1.800 were deported to other concentration camps. [1][2], In 1940, the camp reopened and served as a forced labor camp until 1945. In the scholarly discipline of history, the camp is therefore considered one of the so-called early concentration camps, whose administration and surveillance is characterized by a certain juxtaposition of players that were often in competition with one another. Nazi Camps | Holocaust Encyclopedia Breitenau concentration camp Below: Blueprint for the Prisoner of War Camp Auschwitz (source: Bing.com), Below: Layout of Birkenau affixed on a map. Out of the approximately 6,500 members of the SS who worked at Auschwitz approximately 750 were punished. From Political Prisons to Concentration Camps. A newly arrived transport, ca. [4] Compensation became available to survivors of the Breitenau concentration camp in 2000 with the memorial helping them apply for compensation. Breitenau concentration camp was one of the first concentration camps established by the Nazis. The first concentration camps in Germany were established soon after Adolf Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933. Nazi concentration and death camps in Eastern Europe. Upon arriving at the camp, detainees were examined by Nazi doctors. Breitnau; This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. In 1942, three more death camps were built (Treblinka,Sobibor, and Belzec) and used solely for mass murder. Get HISTORYs most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week. It was founded in June 1933 as an addition to the Breitenau Labor and Welfare House, less than six months after the Nazis by a democratic election in Germany became the majority party in the German parliament. This labor force was provided by the German army. [1][2] It closed in March 1934 and reopened in 1940 where it remained in operation until the end of World War II. Between 1933 and 1934, the population increased to 125. All were apprehended and killed. Rosenberg, Jennifer. Below: map of Poland showing the location of Auschwitz (a.k.a. They are divided into two groups: women and children (left) and men (right). The legal basis for imprisonment was provided by the ordinance to protect the people and state (Verordnung zum Schutz von Volk und Staat) of 28February 1933. The Nazis later decided to close it down in 1934. The first 200 prisoners along with 60 SA auxiliary police came on 3 April 1933 from the Berlin Police Presidium. A Map of Concentration and Death Camps in WWII. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/concentration-and-death-camps-map-1779690. Breitenau - Wikiwand All Rights Reserved. Buildings were torn down, blown up or set on fire, and records were destroyed. Some Auschwitz prisoners were subjected to inhumane medical experimentation. Do you have more information about this location? The Breitenau concentration camp was set up in June 1933. What was known as the Reichstag fire ordinance (Reichstagsbrandverordnung) declared a state of emergency and thus transferred far-reaching powers to the National Socialists. Most of the concentration camp prisoners were released after four to eight weeks. According to some estimates, between 1.1 million to 1.5 million people, the vast majority of them Jews, died at Auschwitz during its years of operation. A total of 8,304 prisoners were detained there until the camp was dissolved in March 1945. The men in uniform are SS officers, probably medical officers. (source: Bing.com). Concentration Camp Breitenau Second World War (1939-1945) Brckenstrae 12, 34302 Guxhagen +49 (0)5665/3533 gedenkstaette-breitenau @ t-online.de gedenkstaette-breitenau.de Germany Hessen Guxhagen In June 1932, the national-socialists first established a correctional facility in the Benedictine monastery of Gluxhagen. Conditions were abominable. Later, on the order of the head of the Prussian Gestapo, prisoners were deported from the penal institution of Gollnow in Pomerania to Sonnenburg, bringing the number of inmates to 1,000. "A Map of Concentration and Death Camps in WWII." Camps Victims Responsibility Breitenau was a Nazi education and labor camp established in June 1933 in Germany. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its allies established more than 44,000 camps and other incarceration sites (including ghettos). Below: map of Poland showing the location of Auschwitz (a.k.a. In late April, the Berlin SA men were replaced by others from Frankfurt/Oder. Gradually, most of these early camps were disbanded and replaced by centrally organized concentration camps under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SS (Schutzstaffel; the elite guard of the Nazi state). Sonnenburg concentration camp was officially closed on 23 April 1934, although in practice it remained open. Several of the political prisoners were severely abused by the guards. We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. Mass arrests followed, in which people were initially detained in prisons and temporarily established "detention centres" (Schutzhaftstellen). Nazi concentration and death camps in Eastern Europe. Das Arbeitserziehungslager Breitenau (1940-1945) : ein Beitrag zum nationalsozialistischen Lagersystem : Straflager, Haftsttte und KZ-Durchgangslager der Gestapostelle Kassel fr Gefangene aus Hessen und Thringen / Gunnar Richter. Breitenau, Germany, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; Breitenau, a part of Bad Gottleuba-Berggiehbel in Saxony, Germany; . List of concentration and internment camps, "Breitenau: Research in Local History | learning-from-history.de", "From monastery to workhouse - Gedenksttte Breitenau", "History of the memorial - Gedenksttte Breitenau", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Breitenau_concentration_camp&oldid=1107414740, Articles with dead external links from December 2016, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with German-language sources (de), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 19331945, vol. However, from October 1933, a quarter of the prisoners were transferred to larger state concentration camps such as Brgermoor, Esterwegen, Lichtenburg or Sonnenburg, according to Ernst Lohagen (Communist Party of Germany) and Ludwig Pappenheim (Social Democratic Party of Germany). During World War II, the Kassel Gestapo used the site as a labor "education" camp. What conditions, ideologies, and ideas made the Holocaust possible? They were placed in the men's house of the facility, in the central nave of the former monastery church. Jews selected as unfit for labor were murdered at Lublin-Majdanek either by shooting or in the camp's gas chambers. We strive for accuracy and fairness. In October 1944, a group of Auschwitz "Sonderkommando," young Jewish males responsible for removing corpses from crematoriums and gas chambers, staged a revolt. In 1933, an early concentration camp was added to the complex. The chief of police in Kassel ordered to prepare the complex for admitting new prisoners; it had previously been used as a correctional facility.