Außenlager Ganacker

[CARL]

AUßENLAGER GANACKER

One of numerous Flossenbürg sub-camps hastily established toward the end of the war, Außenlager Ganacker was founded near Wallersdorf, north of the Munich-Plattling railway line and 10km southwest of Deggendorf.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CAMP:

Ganacker was established toward the end of February 1945.

PRISONERS:

Some 500 male prisoners were incarcerated at AL-Ganacker. Jews from Poland, Hungary, France and Greece comprised the largest share of the inmates, with non-Jews from Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, France and Germany also being among the prisoners. In all, seventeen different nationalities were represented within the camp.

WORK:

Prisoners worked on the expansion and maintenance of the airbase located at Landau Ganacker, where a concrete runway was required for the fighter squadron's new Me262 aircraft. Most of the Kommando (work group) were forced to perform arduous leveling work, in addition to the runway construction, wagon unloading and gravel mining. Travel to work was a task in itself, with the accommodation site - from March onward, being several kilometres away from the work site.

ACCOMMODATION:

Initially, the prisoners were held within a hall with boarded windows and a former sheep pen, located near the airbase. In March 1945, the inmates constructed "Finnenzelte" ("Finn tents"), large holes dug in the ground and covered with straw and a tented roof. Conditions in the camp were utterly deplorable. Ex-inmate Israel Offmann, who barely survived the ordeal having earlier been incarcerated at KL-Auschwitz, later recalled how "Auschwitz was a five star hotel, but Ganacker was hell!".

STAFF:

Kommandoführer Donath led a staff of approximately 50 members of the SS.

CASUALTIES:

A minimum of 138 prisoners died at AL-Ganacker. Most were hastily buried in the nearby wooded areas.

EVACUATION:

On 24th April 1945, with the advancing allied forces approaching steadily, the SS attempted to vacate the camp. Many prisoners, unable to walk, were shot or died at the camp before allied forces arrived on the 29th April. Those who succumbed having been left at the camp mostly died of disease and malnutrition. More died during the "death march".

THE SITE TODAY:

Two memorials commemorate those who died or suffered at Außenlager Ganacker. One stands at the former site and the other is located at the nearby cemetery.

IMAGES:

1. Commemorative stone.

2. The former site.

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi Carl,i'm always amazed how "green and full of life" some of the former camp sites look.It's just as well old mother time is not in charge of keeping the memory of the past alive, otherwise we would never know about the atrocities that you so perfectly and respectfully bring to the fore! Leon.

[CARL]

Hi Carl,i'm always amazed how "green and full of life" some of the former camp sites look.It's just as well old mother time is not in charge of keeping the memory of the past alive, otherwise we would never know about the atrocities that you so perfectly and respectfully bring to the fore! Leon.

Thank you Leon. Indeed, many of the former Konzentrationslager sites are located in fine areas of beautiful country. This was part of the SS thought process when searching for a potential KL site, as generally, marshy or wooded areas were chosen. Seclusion was sought, as was access to urban areas too - for reasons such as supply and profit.

[Wagriff]

Sadly to say, many of these verdant green former camp sites are green precisely for the very reason that they Were former camp sites. A tactful way to put it, is that in many cases the land was "well fertilized".... Treblinka is a good example of this.

[StefanM]

Sadly to say, many of these verdant green former camp sites are green precisely for the very reason that they Were former camp sites. A tactful way to put it, is that in many cases the land was "well fertilized".... Treblinka is a good example of this.

Sorry no offence intended but this is simply myth making!

For example, below is sat image of the site of former Treblinka with its sandy soils.

Early post-war much of the surrounding Treblinka camp environs were extensively "dynamited" and "dug" by Soviets (and allegedly local Poles) who were looking for hidden loot from those buried victims of the camp.


Also attached a photo of one of the "exposed" burial pits at Treblinka taken 1945 which I speculate is probably the result of the nefarious activities of the "treasure seekers" previously mentioned.

[Wagriff]

Of course, not all green grass on the site of a former camp signifies a burial pit. Whether the camp was an extermination camp or a normal military camp, regardless you will still get large amounts of fertilizer-both organic and trash disposal- generated by the inhabitants over the years of occupation and thus generally, find abnormally green grass where the camp site was. The famous "black soil" of the Amazon is from this action, and always signifies human occupation of a site.

[StefanM]

"...The universally accepted measurement of grass quantity is kilograms of dry matter per ha (KG DM/ha). Dry matter is the total yield of grass minus the water content. Daily grass growth rates vary from 5-15 KG DM/ha in February/March to 60-100 KG DM/ha in May/June."

Multiply this sort of entirely natural grass growth rates by 70 years and the explanation to the "greeness" of these former camp sites is self-evident and logical, IMHO.

Grass growth rate formula is from Department of Agriculture in Great Britian which could be applied to the former camp sites in Europe, although the climate in Britain is more temperate than in mainland Europe the calculation given will certainly be of similar range.

Carl, please feel free to delete if this is getting too far off topic.

[CARL]

In addition to the accommodation huts, or "Finns" as these improvised earth tents were known, one such hut was regarded as the camp infirmary. Three prisoner functionaries, one each from Germany, Czechoslovakia and Belgium, served as medical staff. At least 34 inmates perished during March 1945 alone, when an outbreak of diphtheria broke out. Following its relocation to a forest clearing nearby, one of the boundaries of the camp was a ditch filled with water. Also used as the prisoner's water supply, this source inevitably caused further health issues for the inmates.

POST WAR PROSECUTIONS

A former Kapo named Eisbusch, who later became Revierkapo at Ganacker, was sentenced to death during the Flossenbürg trials held at Dachau in 1946-47. Walter Neye, Blockältester (Block leader) at Ganacker, received a 15 year sentence. The kitchen Kapo Johann Nowak was later accused of mistreating prisoners though it is not clear whether or not he was punished.