Polish Forced Labour (Zwangsarbeiter/Fremdarbeiter) collection

[Adrian Stevenson]

... and we often forget that Germany's one-time ally Stalin also had deported millions more men, women and children to slave labour camps and work settlements across USSR.

Indeed, sadly another overlooked and now almost forgotten fact.

Cheers, Ade.

[panzerjaeger44]

let alone the 25 million estimated ot have died during the purges etc its amazing how history is so easy to ignore the truths on the winning side

[Laffinbuda]

Hello all Been a while since I popped in here....

My father collected a pension from Germany up until his death in the late 90's. He lost his left hand during the war, but he was always vague on how he lost it. Some accounts, he stated that he lost it while he was working in some sort of a "boiler room". My sister was told something entirely different, so it was always a mystery how he lost it.

I asked him if he was ever in the military or army, and all he ever responded with was an affirmative nod. But he never elaborated. I remember my mother travelling to Poland quite often to find out the fate of her family members. My father always refused to go with her. For some reason, he was afraid that if he returned to Poland, he'd "get in trouble". I remember my mother having arguments with him saying how silly he was, and how he was just being paranoid (my father was a bit neurotic, yes)... - but it made me wonder why he felt that way. I have blatantly asked him if he ever killed anyone - and he always said no - so none of us could understand his fear.

I don't have much information on my father. I know he was a POW, and more than likely deported to Germany for forced labor, but I have no details. This is where I am hoping that ITS, USHMM and Red Cross can help me. The waiting game is painful.

However -- I am considering contacting the German Government to see if I can get some sort of information on his pension and the real reason he lost his hand. It's been a lot of years since his death and I am not even sure where to start with this. Has anyone gone through this process before, and if so, where you successful in getting information from them?

[Laffinbuda]

I've finally scanned my mother's arbeitskarte. (Of course I removed her last name).

I don't understand why it says her "hometown" is Kronhof.

When going through my parents papers, I've discovered my father was in Blechammer from 1942-1943. In fact, my father left behind a handwritten trail of his whereabouts during the war - including some of the companies he worked for.

Being able to finally make sense of that paper after all these years was priceless.

[Laffinbuda]

This is my dad's ID for Blechammer.
The type is fading away, so it's hard to read - the scan is actually in better shape than the card.

[Laffinbuda]

Wasn't sure if anyone else might find this useful, but this information (as far as I know) is not published anywhere on the internet (until now). I've contacted the archives in Altena for information on the civilian work camps in Eveking (Werdohl) that were operated by VDM. They provided me with a spreadsheet containing an incomplete list of civilian forced labor camps - but hey, it's a start. I thought I would pass this information on, hoping it may be useful to those interested or conducting research. (English translation at bottom of post).

All of the mentioned camps were more or less associated with VDM Halbzeugwerke Eveking. It is unpossible to say how many workers of Eveking were in each camp, because they only have part of this information.


This was provided by:
Märkischer Kreis
Fachdienst Kultur
Kreisarchiv und Landeskundliche Bibliothek
Bismarckstr. 15
58762 Altena
Tel.: 02352/966-7051
eMail: g.aschoewer@maerkischer-kreis.de


Camp name
Nationality of the inhabitants
Company - Date

Betriebslager VDM Werdohl Eveking Heimstraße 14 (Deckname: Kattensiepen)
Franzosen, Belgier, Ukrainer, Holländer, Polen, Italiener, Polen, "Ostarbeiterinnen"
VDM Eveking 1943 - 1944

Betriebslager VDM Werdohl Bärenstein ("Birke") Wohnhaus
Russen, Ukrainer
VDM Werdohl Bärenstein 1943 - 1944

Betriebslager Firma Colsmann & Co, Werdohl-Kleinhammer (Wohnsaal)
Russen, Ukrainer
Colsmann & Co. Werdohl-Kleinhammer 1944

Betriebslager Nr. 2415 Mark Elverlingsen
Polen (1940 - 1942 ?), Russen, Ukrainer, Arbeiter aus dem Westen (1943)
Kraftwerk "Mark" Werdohl-Elverlingsen" 1940 - 1944

Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 2404 Plettenbergerstraße
Franzosen
Werdohler Firmen 1944

Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 2430 Plettenbergerstraße
Franzosen
Stahlwerk Brünninghaus, Werdohl 1944

Betriebslager VDM Werdohl, Plettenbergerstraße 8 Kantine, Fabrikbüro
Westarbeiter
VDM Werdohl 1943

Gemeinschaftslager Neuenrade Baracke
Russen Ukrainer Polen
Julius Klicke, Neuenrade Pickhardt & Gerlach (Werdohl) Abteilung Neuenrade August Geck 1942

Ostarbeiterlager Drahtwerk Elisental Werdohler Str. 40
Russen Polen
Drahtwerk Elisental 1944

Lager Lennestein Werdohler Str. 15
Ostarbeiter (?) und eventuell russische Kriegsgefangene der Firma VDM Schwarzenstein (Werdohl A 1109, Schreiben vom 09.06.1944)
Firmen Innenstadt, sowie Rahmede und Nette - Ohne Datum

Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 2450 Bahnhofstraße
Russen
Stadtverwaltung Werdohl 1944

Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 2415 Mark Elverlingsen
Franzosen
Kraftwerk "Mark" Werdohl-Elverlingsen 1944

Arbeitsgemeinschaftslager Werdohl Schützenplatz
Franzosen, Belgier, Holländer, Tschechen, Kroaten, Serben, Westurkainer, Italiener, "Ostarbeiter"
Werdohler Firmen: Friedr. Thomée AG Rötelmann & Co KG Schmiedag AG Otto Honsel 1943 - 1944


English Translation:
(via Google Translate)

Camp name
Nationality of the inhabitants
Company - Date


Operation storage VDM Werdohl Eveking Home Street 14 (code name: Katte Siepen)
French, Belgian, Ukrainian, Dutch, Poles, Italians, Poles, "Eastern workers"
VDM Eveking 1943 - 1944

Operation storage VDM Werdohl Bärenstein ("Birch") House
Russians, Ukrainians
VDM Werdohl Bärenstein 1943 - 1944

Operation storage company Colsmann & Co, Werdohl Small Hammer (living room)
Russians, Ukrainians
Colsmann & Co. Werdohl Small Hammer 1944

Operating Camp No. 2415 Mark Elverlingsen
Poland (1940 - 1942), Russians, Ukrainians, workers from the West (1943)
Kraftwerk "Mark" Werdohl-Elverlingsen "1940 - 1944

POW Camp No. 2404 Plett Straße
French
Werdohler Companies 1944

POW Camp No. 2430 Plett Straße
French
Steel Brünninghausen, Werdohl 1944

Operation storage VDM Werdohl, Plett Strasse 8 canteen, factory office
Western workers
VDM Werdohl 1943

Communal barracks Neuenrade
Russians, Ukrainians, Poles
Julius Click Neuenrade Pickhardt & Gerlach (Werdohl) Geck Division Neuenrade August 1942

Camp for easterners Drahtwerk Elisental Werdohler Strasse 40
Russian Poland
Drahtwerk Elisental 1944

Lenne stone bearing Werdohler St. 15
Eastern workers (?) And possibly Russian prisoners of war the company VDM Schwarz Stein (Werdohl A 1109 letter of 09/06/1944)
Business center, and Rahmedestraße and Nice - No Date

POW Camp No. 2450 Station Road
Russians
Government Werdohl 1944

POW Camp No. 2415 Mark Elverlingsen
French
Kraftwerk "Mark" Werdohl-Elverlingsen 1944

Association stock Werdohl Schützenplatz
French, Belgian, Dutch, Czechs, Croats, Serbs, Westurkainer, Italians, "Eastern workers"
Werdohler companies: Friedr. Thomée Rötelmann AG & Co KG Otto Honsel Schmiedag AG 1943 - 1944

[lew07]

Hi it is with some hesitation that I suggest this to you as it is far from my intentions to cause you any upset. Your Father seems a remarkable man and has endured such hardships that we could only imagine.Would he mind if you recorded some of his conversations with you?I say this as sadly both my Grandads and my Father are no longer alive.I have wonderful memories of them but would give anything to hear my Dads voice recounting some of his experiences and Im sure there are other forum members who can relate to my feelings.

[StefanM]

Many thanks for posting the VDM data. All such information will be invaluable to others also researching forced labour

[Laffinbuda]

lew07
Re: Polish Forced Labour collection

Hi it is with some hesitation that I suggest this to you as it is far from my intentions to cause you any upset. Your Father seems a remarkable man and has endured such hardships that we could only imagine.Would he mind if you recorded some of his conversations with you?I say this as sadly both my Grandads and my Father are no longer alive. I have wonderful memories of them but would give anything to hear my Dads voice recounting some of his experiences and Im sure there are other forum members who can relate to my feelings.

Hi Lew

I am not sure if you were directing this post to me directly, but I'll answer it anyway. Unfortunately, my father rarely ever spoke about his experiences during the war, in fact, he was very resistant to it. He would share bits and pieces, but that's basically all. He died in 1995, so I'll never know his side of the story. All I have is the research I am doing and the occasional story my sister shares - when she remembers them.

Alas - I did publish a blog if you are interested in checking it out:
polishholocaust.wordpress.com - It's basically a summary of what I have found out so far -- and is updated as I receive new information.

Hope you have a great rest of the day.

[Mariusz]

Hi what do you think is it from 1920s or 1940s? It is in 3 languages and have 80 pages. What is the Ksiazeczka robotnicza fore?