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Freiberg was a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp located in Freiberg, Saxony. == History of the camp == In Freiberg in December 1943, preparations began for a subcamp of KZ Flossenbürg to house an outside detail at the Arado Flugzeugwerke (Arado Aircraft Factory). The planning and construction of this housing subcamp is a clear example of the collaboration between the armaments industry, the SS, and the Ministry of Armaments. The SS approved the application for the allocation of a prisoner work-detail that Arado had submitted within the context of the Jaegerstab's (Fighter Staff's) measures. In its building application, Arado was represented by a building commissioner of the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production (RMfRuK) based in Dresden. The Reich Industry Group (the lobbying organization for the armaments industry) for the Land of Saxony, Regional Office Dresden, undertook the planning of the subcamp. Bureaucratic hurdles delayed the construction of the subcamp. When the first transport arrived on August 31, 1944, the barracks were not yet complete and the prisoners had to be lodged in the empty halls of a former porcelain factory. According to concurring reports from many of the prisoners, they were personally selected at Auschwitz by Dr. Josef Mengele for deportation to Freiberg. He decided who went on the transport, who stayed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, and who was to be murdered immediately. When the female prisoners were transferred to the still unfinished barracks in December 1944, they faced considerably worse living conditions. With bare feet and inadequate clothing, they were forced daily to walk half an hour in deep snow to the factory. Some also had to go to the Hildebrand munitions factory. The cold and wet concrete barracks, the brutality of the SS female guards, the physically draining work, and malnourishment soon claimed the lives of a number of prisoners. Though only five deaths were recorded in SS documents, the actual number may be higher. Women who arrived at Freiberg pregnant and whose condition became apparent once they were there suffered especially. Priska Loewenbein (Lomova), a Slovak prisoner, gave birth to her daughter Hana on April 12, 1945, two days before Freiberg was evacuated. Other women gave birth during the evacuation transport or shortly after arriving at Mauthausen. In addition to Hana, at least two more babies were born during the transport to Mauthausen. The three survived, much later learned of each other, and met at a 65th anniversary memorial at Mauthausen. If there were other babies, their fate is unknown at this time. While all three mothers survived to old age. Only one is still (as of early 2012) living in England at age 95, frail but with a clear, lively mind. None of the three fathers survived the war. Of the approximately one thousand women who began in Freiberg, about one hundred twenty five were definitely accounted for as having survived to leave Mauthausen alive and their subsequent whereabouts known. Possibly double that number actually survived, but starvation, disease and cold conditions claimed the majority. The American soldiers (Most from Patton's 3rd Army, mainly of the 11th Armored Division (Thunderbolts)) who liberated Mauthausen on October 5, 1945 were unprepared for what they found, but they quickly moved to help the sick and wounded. One young medic, Leroy Petersohn,age 22, a newspaper employee back home in Aurora Illinois, not only provided medical help and supplies, but some exceptional documentation. Within a week of arriving at mauthausen he got use of a typewriter and extensively wrote his observations. He also took numerous pictures and later gathered documents and artefacts. He gave valuable eyewitness testimony for people who had doubts about the facts of the concentration camps. Mr. Petersohn, members of his family and numerous members of the "Thunderbolts" befriended survivors of Mauthausen and formed a special lifelong bond. Mr. Petersohn died in 2010, but he has touched many lives in a quiet, heroic way. His writings and memorabilia are some of the clearest eyewitness reports touching on the above subjects. There were many thousands of prisoners at the Mauthausen liberation. This is just about the women transported from Freiberg. Female SS guards, some of whom were recruited from the Freiberg area and some of whom came with the prisoners from Auschwitz, supervised the women. SS Unterscharfuehrer Richard Beck was in command at the camp and oversaw 27 SS Unterfuehrer and SS men, in addition to the females guards. After work was halted on March 31, 1945, the prisoners at Freiberg were left on their own in the barracks. Food rations were reduced. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Freiberg subcamp」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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