Neuengamme

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Neuengamme is a district in Hamburg. Before and during World War II a concentration camp was established by SS. Since this concentration camp was located in the district Neuengamme, the name of the concentration camp became KZ Neuengamme (KZ = Konzentrationslager = concentration camp). [1].

Reconstructed railway wagon at the Neuengamme memorial in which prisoners were transported

The memorial tower at the former concentration camp Neuengamme

The site is one of the few concentration camps in Germany where most of the buildings have been conserved and serves as a memorial today. It is situated 15 km southeast of the centre of Hamburg at Jean-Dolidier-Weg in the Vierlande area.

1 History
2 Inmates census
3 Wellknown inmates
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The camp existed from December 13, 1938 through May 4, 1945 and had a total of 106,000 inmates during this time. These were spread over the main camp (213,000 m²) and 96 outposts across the north German area. Inmates were from 28 nationalities [Russians (34,350), Poles (16,900), Frenchmen (11,500), Germans (9,200), Dutchmen (6,950), Belgians (4,800), Danes (4,800), ...] and also from the local Jewish community, but also included communists, homosexuals, prostitutes, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, prisoners of war and many other groups. 55,000 succumbed to the subhuman conditions in the camp consisting of hard manual work with insufficient nutrition, very unhygienic conditions and violence from the guards.

Work at the mother camp was centered on the production of bricks. This included the construction of a canal to transport the bricks to and from the site. Inmates had to excavate the heavy, peaty soil with inadequate tools and regardless of weather conditions or their health state.

Several original buildings of the camp continued to serve as a prison (for example Building Number 9). There is a good museum located at the south end of the site.

In late 1943, most likely November, Neuengamme recorded its first female prisoners according to camp records. In the summer of 1944, Neuengamme received many women prisoners from Auschwitz, as well other camps in the East. All of the women were eventually shipped out to one of its twenty-four female subcamps. Female guards were trained at Neuengamme and assigned to one of its female subcamps also. There were no SS women stationed at Neuengamme permanently. Many of these women are known by name, including Kaethe Becker, Erna Dickmann, Johanna Freund, Angelika Grass, Kommandoführerin Loni Gutzeit (who also served at Hamburg-Wandsbek and was nicknamed "The Dragon of Wandsbek" by the prisoners), Gertrud Heise, Frieda Ignatowitz, Gertrud Moeller, who also served at Boizenburg subcamp, Lotte Johanna Radtke, chief wardress Annemie von der Huelst, Inge Marga Marggot Weber. Many of the women were later dispersed to female subcamps throughout northern Germany. Today it is known that female guards staffed the subcamps of Neuengamme at Boizenburg, Braunschweig SS-Reitschule, Hamburg Sasel, Hamburg Wandsbek, Helmstedt-Beendorf, Langenhorn, Neugraben, Obernheide, Salzwedel, and Unterluss (Vuterluss). Only a few have been tried for war crimes, such as Anneliese Kohlmann, who served as one of only six woman guards at Neugraben.

Three of the camp's outposts also serve as public memorials. These are located at Bullenhuser Damm, Kritenbarg 8 and Suhrenkamp 98. The first of these is a memorial to the murder of 20 children from Auschwitz concentration camp that had been taken to Hamburg and abused for medical experiments. On April 20, 1945, only weeks before the war was over, they were killed to cover up that crime. The second is an outpost of Neuengamme concentration camp where Jewish women from the Łódź Ghetto in Poland were forced to do construction work. The third one is located inside the gatehouse of the Fuhlsbüttel penitentiary. Parts of this complex served as concentration camp for communists, opponents of the regime and many other groups. About 450 inmates were murdered here during the Nazi reign.

On April 26, 1945, the SS Cap Arcona was loaded with prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp, together with Thielbek and Athen, was brought into the Bay of Lübeck.

On May 3, 1945, the Cap Arcona, the Thielbek, and the passenger liner Deutschland were sunk in four separate attacks by RAF planes.

[edit] Inmates census


Country	Men	Women	Overall
Soviet Union	28 450	5 900	34 350
Poland	13 000	3 900	16 900
France	11 000	500	11 500
Germany	8 800	400	9 200
Netherlands	6 650	300	6 950
Belgium	4 500	300	4 800
Denmark	4 800	-	4 800
Hungary	1400	1 200	2 600
Norway	2 200	-	2 200
Yugoslavia	1 400	100	1 500
Czechoslovakia	800	580	1 380
Greece	1 250	-	1 250
Italy	850	-	850
Spain	750	-	750
Austria	300	20	320
Luxembourg	50	-	50
Other countries	1 300	300	1 600
Overall	87 500	13 500	101 000
not officially on the lists	-	-	5 000
Global overall	-	-	106 000
Dead in deportation	-	-	55 000