Kaufering 7 Dachau sub camp

**matty01** · 11-23-2013, 10:24 AM

Whilst driving through Germany we stubbled across this sub camp of Dachau near landsberg.
Im hoping somebody can tell me more about it as sadly I don't know much about the camp to tell you all apart from it was a womens camp.
There are no boards up explaining anything, but there was a memorial wording "kaufering 7" with the jewish star?
Theres allot of maintenance work going on to support the three remaining hovels, so Im wondering if the plan is to open it up to the public?
It definitely would be worth visiting as from what I now know it is the only Dachau sub camp with any hovels remaining.

All the best to you all, matty

**Adrian Stevenson** · 11-23-2013, 11:28 AM

Hi Matty, thanks for the pics.

Kaufering had 11 sub camps for Dachau.

Cheers, Ade.

**CARL** · 11-23-2013, 12:37 PM

Matty,

The Kaufering network consisted of a group of 11 camps, some of which held thousands of prisoners. The camps, like many other satellite camps, were established to aid the arms production industry, which was gradually being moved underground due to the increase in Allied air activity. Among the 140 or so sub-camps of KZ-Dachau, two large systems were founded in Bavaria - at Kaufering and Mühldorf.

The camps were established in June 1944, surviving until they were liberated by US forces in spring the following year - as dramatised in the acclaimed "Band Of Brothers" TV series. Earthen huts were utilised to house the inmates, with the poor conditions adding to the dangerous circumstances during their incarceration. The prisoners, many of whom had been transferred to Kaufering from the Auschwitz camp complex, typically worked in 12 hour shifts - mostly constructing the underground bunkers in preparation for aircraft production. They received very little medical care and insufficient rations - consisting of water soup and a slice of bread that was thickened using sawdust. The total number of victims is not known, earlier study suggested as many as over 15,000 had perished but in recent years, that figure has been also been reduced by some to around half that amount. Approximately 30,000 passed through the camps at Mühldorf and Kaufering.

Today, there are memorials, commemorative markers and information points at Kaufering sites such as at the former Kaufering-VII camp locale, found on the southern outskirts of Landsberg. An exhibition was present at the city museum although I am not sure if it is permanent.

Below is a link to witness accounts - WARNING, CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES!!!

Landsberg im 20. Jahrhundert: Contemporary witnesses describe the hell of Kaufering

**CARL** · 11-23-2013, 01:17 PM

by mattty01

Theres allot of maintenance work going on to support the three remaining hovels, so Im wondering if the plan is to open it up to the public?
It definitely would be worth visiting as from what I now know it is the only Dachau sub camp with any hovels remaining.

Fortunately, there are indeed plans. Following many years of campaigning, the site will be preserved and elevated to memorial status. This is indeed wonderful news as very few Aussenlagers are remembered in such a manner. Only earlier this year the decision was made to grant the conservation project possible - thanks to the work of Manfred Deiler of the European Holocaust Memorial Foundation, among others.

**matty01** · 11-23-2013, 01:21 PM

Good morning carl, im glad you commented. Yes I remember watching the final episodes of the band of brothers for the first time and seeing the camp.. It was very chilling to say the least. I hadn't at the time read the book so it came as a shock at the time to say the least!

What do you think they are doing at kaufering VII (or 7). Ive been told an 8 ft fence has been erected around the site so it cannot be entered. With the work being carried out to the hovels it leads me to think they must be doing something with it.
Im sure there would be added interest in this camp because of 'the band of brothers' series, seeing a kaufering camp would mean a great deal to many.
Just seems a shame theres no information available regarding this particular camp.

I hope im wrong, but ive enclosed a picture of an entrance to a gravel pit of which I was told was the 'band of brothers' camp.

**Gunny Hartmann** · 11-23-2013, 01:29 PM

Thank you for starting the thread Matty and a thank you to Carl for his information!....

**CARL** · 11-23-2013, 01:40 PM

Hello Matty,

As the agreement was only made in spring, a period of time for development must be expected. I do know that a substantial budget is available - which together with the right planning, will surely make for a fitting tribute to those who suffered there.

Regards,

Carl

p.s. The image that you posted as the approach to a gravel pit may well have been utilised in such a manner. There are other images on the Internet that are labelled as Kaufering pits - one must remember that there were many such places, so your image could well be of another site.

**matty01** · 11-23-2013, 03:57 PM

Hi Carl, that really is fantastic news to here that a kaufering camp will be here for future generations to see!

The location of the band of brothers camp (is it kaufering 4?) seemed to be right looking at a map I found on the internet. You really cant go wrong as its opposite a solar farm.
Heres another picture of it from the other side of the pit. Note the platform you see in the picture is for watching wildlife not a watchtower as it looks - sadly.

Best matty

**StefanM** · 11-23-2013, 04:10 PM

Thanks for link Carl, the page regarding the German war criminals I found especially interesting:

Landsberg im 20. Jahrhundert: The Landsberg prison for war criminals

".....As early as 1951 by the state government of Bavaria when it passed a resolution declaring that the inmates of the military prisons at Landsberg, Werl, and Wittlich should be recognized as prisoners of war and that the federal law guaranteeing financial assistance to prisoners of war should be applied to them."

and:

"...By the middle of the fifties, these inmates began to be seen not as war criminals but as political prisoners or prisoners of war. For instance, in1955, the city council of Landsberg asked their mayor "to work for the overdue release of the political prisoners" in the Landsberg prison."

and:

"...According to estimates of the Freiburg military historian Gerhard Schreiber, 5,000 German war criminals have received additional pensions as prisoners of war."