Kaufering () was a system of eleven subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp which operated between 18 June 1944 and 27 April 1945 and which were located around the towns of Landsberg am Lech and Kaufering in Bavaria.
Previously, Nazi Germany had deported all Jews from the Reich, but having exhausted other sources of labor, Jews were deported to Kaufering to create three massive underground bunkers, Weingut II, Diana II, and Walnuss II, which would not be vulnerable to the Allied bombing which had devastated German aircraft factories. The bunkers were intended for the production of Messerschmitt Me 262 aircraft, but none were produced at the camps before the United States Army captured the area.
Kaufering was the largest of the Dachau subcamps and also the one with the worst conditions; about half of the 30,000 prisoners died from hunger, disease, executions, or during the death marches. Most of the sites were not preserved and have been repurposed for other uses.
Establishment
In early 1944, Allied bombing raids had reduced the fighter aircraft production of German factories by as much as two-thirds. In order to reduce the effectiveness of Allied bombing, the Jägerstab, a task force of the Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production for increasing fighter production, planned to move production underground. Existing underground areas, such as caves and mines, were not suited to factory production, so new concrete bunkers were to be built, using concentration camp prisoners for labor. The area around Landsberg am Lech in Bavaria, where the Kaufering subcamps were established, was selected for this project due to its favorable geology; there was a layer of gravel up to thick, and the water table was below . Out of six planned bunkers, three began construction at Kaufering and another at nearby Mühldorf concentration camp.
Previously, Nazi Germany had attempted to make the Reich Judenrein ("cleansed of Jews") by deporting all Jews to eastern areas. However, they had exhausted other sources of forced labor, so Jews were deported to the Reich to work on the new project. Kaufering I, later redesignated Kaufering III, was established by a transport of 1,000 Hungarian Jewish men from Auschwitz concentration camp that arrived in Kaufering, Bavaria, on 18 June 1944. Prisoner functionaries were brought from Dachau to manage the new camp.
Forced labor
Unusually, the construction of the camps, as well as providing food and medical care, was the responsibility of the Organization Todt (OT), not the SS, which sought to extract the maximum labor for the minimum expense. The prisoners deported to each camp had to construct the accommodation themselves. The resulting huts, partially buried for camouflage from aerial reconnaissance, were completely inadequate for the weather conditions. Rain and snow leaked through the earthen roofs, and vermin infested the huts. Prisoners had to sleep in straw spread on the floor. Of Dachau's subcamps, Kaufering had the worst conditions.
Most prisoners were forced to work building railway embankments and hauling bags of cement for the bunker-building projects, codenamed Weingut II, Diana II and Walnuss II. Weingut II was long and high (more than five stories), with a concrete roof thick. The roof had been planned to be thick, but that was pared down due to lack of materials. The total floor area would be ; the Augsburg factory that it intended to replace had only of floor area in three dispersal locations. For protection from air raids, 40% of the bunker was underground and its roof was covered with dirt for camouflage. At least 10,000 Jewish prisoners worked on the bunker at some point.
The bunkers were to be used for producing different components of the Messerschmitt Me 262A aircraft, the first operational jet aircraft, which the Germans hoped would turn the tide of war against the Allies. Messerschmitt AG hoped to produce 900 Me 262 aircraft and additional Me 163B rocket-powered aircraft at Kaufering, by employing 10,000 workers per shift in each bunker, 90,000 in all, of whom one-third were to be concentration camp prisoners. However, the construction of Diana II and Walnuss II was not finished due to the lack of concrete and steel. When the United States liberated the area in April 1945, the excavation of Weingut II was not complete, but already production machines had been set up. However, not a single aircraft was produced before liberation.
The murderous conditions meant that most prisoners were incapacitated in a short time, and OT and construction workers brutally beat victims in order to extract labor. Most prisoners were forced to work building railway embankments and hauling bags of cement for the bunker-building projects. OT workers complained that, due to severe vermin infestation, prisoners spent time attempting to rid themselves of fleas when they were supposed to be working. In December 1944, an OT staff member observed that of 17,600 prisoners, only 8,319 were capable of work, including those only capable of light work. Because the companies that hired the workers complained that they had to pay for the labor of prisoners unable to work, transports totaling 1,322 or 1,451 people were dispatched to Auschwitz in September and October 1944, where the victims were gassed.
Command and organization The SS hierarchy at Kaufering had mostly served at eastern death camps, such as Majdanek and Auschwitz, which had been liberated by the Red Army. The first commandant, Heinrich Forster, had previously worked at Sachsenhausen, Dachau, and Kovno concentration camps. Forster was replaced in December 1944 by Hans Aumeier, former deputy commandant of Auschwitz and commandant of Vaivara concentration camp. In February 1945, Otto Förschner, former commandant of Mittelbau-Dora, took over command of Kaufering. The camp doctor was , who had worked at multiple concentration camps. Architect Hermann Giesler, a close associate of Adolf Hitler, was in charge of the bunker construction.
Consisting of eleven subcamps, Kaufering was the largest of the Dachau subcamp systems, and probably the largest Jewish subcamp system in the Reich.
List of Kaufering subcamps
Overview – Kaufering concentration camp complexManfred Deiler: Die Lager des KZ-Lagerkomplexes Kaufering (aerial views Luftbilder and some coordinates, not all up to date and exact), landsberger-zeitgeschichte.de. Retrieved 14 September 2021.ElevensubcampsPeriod, scope, use, conditions, specialsPlaceaddress Kaufering I – Landsberg SS headquartercamp complex Kaufering I–XI (before late September, designated Kaufering III) was opened on 22 June 1944 and served as the headquarters of the Kaufering command from September. Located near Landsberg am Lech, the main purpose of this camp was the construction of bunker Weingut II. Between 2000 and 5000 men lived there; in February 1945, 200 women also arrived there. Because of overcrowding, Kaufering XI was established and some prisoners moved. A group of seven Hungarian Jewish women, known as the "Schwangerenkommando" (pregnancy unit), who had conceived before their deportation to Auschwitz, was allowed to remain alive and bear their children. Landsberg am Lech nahe Iglinger Straße Kaufering II – Igling Established on 24 August. Its prisoners, about 1200 men and women, mostly worked at the "Diana II" construction site. The camp existed at two locations, a summer camp built with plywood and a later camp, occupied during the winter months, which offered slightly better protection against the winter weather. Igling Kaufering III – Kaufering(first "I", later "III") (designated Kaufering I until September) was the original Kaufering camp, located near Kaufering and established by 1000 Hungarian Jewish men from Auschwitz on 18 June. These prisoners were forced to build their own accommodation. Later, prisoners were forced to work on the Weingut II bunker as well as the construction of Kaufering I and II. It served as the SS headquarters of the Kaufering complex until this was moved to Kaufering I in September 1944. The average population was 2000 men and 339 women. The senior prisoner was Victor Nečas, an Austrian political prisoner who communicated with the prisoners mostly in Hungarian. Kaufering Kaufering IV – Hurlach [de, he, pl], located between Kaufering and Hurlach, was established in September 1944 for 500 prisoners; the population later grew to 3000. Prisoners were forced to work at the Lagerlechfeld airfield, in road construction, and on the bunker Walnuss II until Kaufering IV was converted into a "sick camp", where prisoners were sent to die after they could no longer work. A typhus epidemic broke out, and Dr. Blancke and the SS guards would not enter the barracks to avoid infection. Prisoner doctors could do little, as they had no medicine or equipment. The Kaufering IV camp was liberated by the American Army in April 1945, when the SS began to prepare the surviving prisoners for the death march towards KL Dachau. A few days before the liberation, the SS crew killed hundreds of sick, wounded and incapacitated prisoners, which brought the number of soldiers who survived the camp to several hundred. It is estimated that there were 3,000 prisoners in the camp. Kolonie Hurlach Kaufering V – Utting Near Utting, has an unclear history due to inconsistent testimony from survivors. It is possible that it was only a subarea of Kaufering X, such as the kitchen, rather than a separate subcamp. Utting am Ammersee Gegend Kaufering VI – Türkheim [de] Was established in October 1944 at Türkheim, and housed between 1000 and 2500 prisoners, who were forced to work clearing nearby forests, in agriculture, and in construction. Many of the prisoners were later transported to other Kaufering subcamps to work on the bunkers. Türkheim Kaufering VII – Erpfting Was established on 11 November 1944 near the offices of Held & Francke. Between 2000 and 3000 men and 118 to 272 women were forced to live in huts and clay bunkers and work on prefabricated parts for "Diana II". After a typhus epidemic, sick prisoners were taken to Kaufering IV. Erpfting Kaufering VIII – Seestall At , was likely established as a mistake on the Germans' part, because the local soil was not suitable for the construction of bunkers. It was smaller than the other camps, and prisoners were forced to work on agriculture and gravel extraction. Fuchstal/ Kaufering IX – Obermeitingen Was a men's camp that existed from 14 October 1944 in Obermeitingen. Its prisoners were forced to work on Walnuss II. Obermeitingen Kaufering X – Utting Established on Holzhauser Street in Utting on 26 September, housed 200 to 400 men forced to produce prefabricated components for the Dyckerhoff & Widmann firm. Because the prisoners worked indoors, their chances of survival were higher than at other subcamps. Utting am Ammersee Kaufering XI – Stadtwaldhof/Landsberg From late October, was established on Mühlweg Street in Landsberg to house surplus prisoners from Kaufering I. It consisted of barracks, clay bunkers, earthen huts, and a delousing center. Landsberg am Lech
Prisoners