Post by 𝝥𝝰𝘇𝗴𝝻𝝸 on Oct 6, 2022 19:57:53 GMT
Skarzysko-Kamienna
Pronounciation Skarzysko-Kamienna
Skarżysko-Kamienna pronounced is a city in northern Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in south-central Poland by Kamienna river, to the north of Świętokrzyskie Mountains; one of the voivodship's major cities. Following the September 1939 invasion of Poland by Germany, which started World War II, Skarżysko-Kamienna was under German occupation until liberated by the Soviet army in January 1945.
The Germans controlled the ammunition factory to support their own war effort, and from 1940 it was controlled by the company Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft (HASAG), which ran it as a subcontractor for the Wehrmacht. In 1940, the Germans carried out mass executions of Poles (360 people executed in February and 760 in June).[3] The Polish underground resistance organization Orzeł Biały ("White Eagle") was organized in the town. Among its members were local monks, and a weapons depot used by Polish partisans was located in the local monastery. Several monks were arrested and executed by the Germans in the massacre committed in February 1940, while one managed to escape arrest.
The ghetto for the town's Jewish population was established by the Germans in April or May 1941. Between August 1942 and summer of 1943 Jews from the Radom district were brought to three camps near the munitions factory to work the factory. According to German records, of the total 17,210 brought in with 58 transports, 6,408 managed to survive long enough to be evacuated to other camps when the Germans closed the factory in 1944. In the major monograph on the subject estimated that despite the incompleteness of German records which likely underestimate the number of inmates, about 25,000 Jewish inmates were brought to the camp and 7,000 were evacuated from it.wiki
The Germans controlled the ammunition factory to support their own war effort, and from 1940 it was controlled by the company Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft (HASAG), which ran it as a subcontractor for the Wehrmacht. In 1940, the Germans carried out mass executions of Poles (360 people executed in February and 760 in June).[3] The Polish underground resistance organization Orzeł Biały ("White Eagle") was organized in the town. Among its members were local monks, and a weapons depot used by Polish partisans was located in the local monastery. Several monks were arrested and executed by the Germans in the massacre committed in February 1940, while one managed to escape arrest.
The ghetto for the town's Jewish population was established by the Germans in April or May 1941. Between August 1942 and summer of 1943 Jews from the Radom district were brought to three camps near the munitions factory to work the factory. According to German records, of the total 17,210 brought in with 58 transports, 6,408 managed to survive long enough to be evacuated to other camps when the Germans closed the factory in 1944. In the major monograph on the subject estimated that despite the incompleteness of German records which likely underestimate the number of inmates, about 25,000 Jewish inmates were brought to the camp and 7,000 were evacuated from it.wiki
Another perspective
SKARZYSKO-KAMIENNA
On 6 September 1939, Nazis seized control of a major ammunitions factory located in the south-eastern Polish town of Skarzysko-Kamienna. Originally, ethnic Germans, Ukrainians, and Poles were employed to provide much-needed ammunition for the German army. By 1941, however, major labour shortages in the Reich led those running the camp increasingly to integrate Jewish slave labour. The number of Jewish workers grew rapidly, and in August 1942 the factory officially became a labour camp in order to cope with the influx. Assignment to Skarzysko-Kamienna was almost always a slow path to death, as labourers worked in extremely harsh conditions. As one of the Jewish survivors explained, he
had some very hard times during the war, but none left as deep an impression on me as my first moments at the Hasag plant [in Skarzysko-Kamienna] — enormous production halls, the ear-splitting noise of the presses and huge machines, red-hot shells caught in the air by the prisoners who looked like dwarves beside the gigantic furnaces.
Such were the miseries of the camp that several songs were created warning workers away from it. One began: 'Werk C — the worst of all! Thousands have already found their deaths here.' Another pleaded for mercy from God, working 'in Skarzysko camp, a bitter world, in Skarzysko camp'.
Both more frequent and more powerful for the prisoners, however, was the extensive underground cultural and musical world that thrived at Skarzysko-Kamienna. Unusually, religious activity was tolerated as long as it did not interfere with productivity. On the eve of the Sabbath, Orthodox Jews would gather at the barracks of Rabbi Yitzhak Finkler, who had arrived in March 1943, to listen to his stories and sing Sabbath hymns. Former prisoner Jeszajahu Rechter remembered the Passover seder of 1944, when
we baked matzos on the stove in the barracks … and used coffee for wine … potatoes and beets served in place of all the holiday dishes … thirty prisoners were seated around the table … there was utter silence and then my son got up and began to sing 'how is this night different from all other nights’ … we never heard the rest. After those words, everyone burst out crying. That was the haggadah we Jews recited at that Seder in the camp.
Inmates would sing folk songs together, usually in Yiddish but also in Polish. Occasionally in the women's barracks there would be solo performances, the singer rewarded with an extra potato or slice of bread. In addition, there was communal singing related to resistance movements and the Bund. A unique genre also developed in the camp of ‘couplets’, short verses that were set to familiar melodies. Often vulgar and pragmatic rather than poetic, they served as an important way of passing on gossip, current events and war news between prisoners, a sort of ‘daily newspaper’. The inmate Heisi Reisler was much loved as a composer of countless of these little couplets, writing funny and critical mini-songs about the guards, administration and other prisoners. In addition to these clandestine activities, the police barracks were known as the site of frequent parties and music-making, where camp musicians would be brought in to entertain the camp ‘elites’.
There was at least one attempt, in late autumn 1943, to organise a public concert for the prisoners. The show, planned by the underground rescue committee, was intended to raise extra food and clothing for the prisoners in particularly bad condition. It was not until the spring of 1944, however, that formal shows of this kind became a part of camp life. At that time, a large group of women arrived from Majdanek; among them were some performers who wanted to set up a performing troupe. They organised shows in the barracks, and also received permission to stage concerts on Sundays on a ‘stage’ constructed near the camp fence. They sang in Yiddish and Polish and performed recitations.
At the end of May 1944, the Nazis began slowly to liquidate the camp, cracking down on the underground and any ‘unnecessary’ Jews. Bodies were dragged to the forest and burned in mass graves. Amidst this carnage the camp commander ordered the construction of a dance area, where he ordered a band to play and the Jewish ‘elite’ to dance. The group was also forced to sing Hebrew and Yiddish songs.
In July 1944, large-scale selections began. A small group planned an escape, but hundreds of other prisoners saw the hole that they had cut in the camp fence and stormed it. The scene ended as a gruesome mass slaughter in the forest. The few survivors were deported to Buchenwald and several smaller camps. holocaust music.org
On 6 September 1939, Nazis seized control of a major ammunitions factory located in the south-eastern Polish town of Skarzysko-Kamienna. Originally, ethnic Germans, Ukrainians, and Poles were employed to provide much-needed ammunition for the German army. By 1941, however, major labour shortages in the Reich led those running the camp increasingly to integrate Jewish slave labour. The number of Jewish workers grew rapidly, and in August 1942 the factory officially became a labour camp in order to cope with the influx. Assignment to Skarzysko-Kamienna was almost always a slow path to death, as labourers worked in extremely harsh conditions. As one of the Jewish survivors explained, he
had some very hard times during the war, but none left as deep an impression on me as my first moments at the Hasag plant [in Skarzysko-Kamienna] — enormous production halls, the ear-splitting noise of the presses and huge machines, red-hot shells caught in the air by the prisoners who looked like dwarves beside the gigantic furnaces.
Such were the miseries of the camp that several songs were created warning workers away from it. One began: 'Werk C — the worst of all! Thousands have already found their deaths here.' Another pleaded for mercy from God, working 'in Skarzysko camp, a bitter world, in Skarzysko camp'.
Both more frequent and more powerful for the prisoners, however, was the extensive underground cultural and musical world that thrived at Skarzysko-Kamienna. Unusually, religious activity was tolerated as long as it did not interfere with productivity. On the eve of the Sabbath, Orthodox Jews would gather at the barracks of Rabbi Yitzhak Finkler, who had arrived in March 1943, to listen to his stories and sing Sabbath hymns. Former prisoner Jeszajahu Rechter remembered the Passover seder of 1944, when
we baked matzos on the stove in the barracks … and used coffee for wine … potatoes and beets served in place of all the holiday dishes … thirty prisoners were seated around the table … there was utter silence and then my son got up and began to sing 'how is this night different from all other nights’ … we never heard the rest. After those words, everyone burst out crying. That was the haggadah we Jews recited at that Seder in the camp.
Inmates would sing folk songs together, usually in Yiddish but also in Polish. Occasionally in the women's barracks there would be solo performances, the singer rewarded with an extra potato or slice of bread. In addition, there was communal singing related to resistance movements and the Bund. A unique genre also developed in the camp of ‘couplets’, short verses that were set to familiar melodies. Often vulgar and pragmatic rather than poetic, they served as an important way of passing on gossip, current events and war news between prisoners, a sort of ‘daily newspaper’. The inmate Heisi Reisler was much loved as a composer of countless of these little couplets, writing funny and critical mini-songs about the guards, administration and other prisoners. In addition to these clandestine activities, the police barracks were known as the site of frequent parties and music-making, where camp musicians would be brought in to entertain the camp ‘elites’.
There was at least one attempt, in late autumn 1943, to organise a public concert for the prisoners. The show, planned by the underground rescue committee, was intended to raise extra food and clothing for the prisoners in particularly bad condition. It was not until the spring of 1944, however, that formal shows of this kind became a part of camp life. At that time, a large group of women arrived from Majdanek; among them were some performers who wanted to set up a performing troupe. They organised shows in the barracks, and also received permission to stage concerts on Sundays on a ‘stage’ constructed near the camp fence. They sang in Yiddish and Polish and performed recitations.
At the end of May 1944, the Nazis began slowly to liquidate the camp, cracking down on the underground and any ‘unnecessary’ Jews. Bodies were dragged to the forest and burned in mass graves. Amidst this carnage the camp commander ordered the construction of a dance area, where he ordered a band to play and the Jewish ‘elite’ to dance. The group was also forced to sing Hebrew and Yiddish songs.
In July 1944, large-scale selections began. A small group planned an escape, but hundreds of other prisoners saw the hole that they had cut in the camp fence and stormed it. The scene ended as a gruesome mass slaughter in the forest. The few survivors were deported to Buchenwald and several smaller camps. holocaust music.org
Then Yad Vashem has an input
(K
amienna in German sources), forced labor camp for Jews, located in the
Polish town of Skarzysko-Kamienna. The camp belonged to the German
Hasag concern. It was established in August 1942 and was liquidated on
August 1, 1944. Altogether, 25,000--30,000 Jews were brought to SkarzyskoKamienna, and between 18,000--23,000 perished there.
The camp was divided into three separate factory camps, known as Werke
A, B, and C. The three camps were located next to the factories where the
prisoners worked, and were guarded by the Ukrainian factory police. Of the
three factory camps, Werk A was the largest. Werk B shared an
administration and security with Camp A, but had its own Council of Elders.
The prisoners of both Werke A and B worked at producing ammunition. Werk
C was attached to a filling plant, where underwater mines filled with picric acid
were produced. This was the worst of the three camps, because the acid
poisoned the prisoners there within three months. All of the factories had two
12-hour shifts. Men and women, working together, were obliged to fill quotas
they could not possibly fill. The sanitary conditions were unspeakable, and
there was not nearly enough food. Prisoners were left to wear the same
clothes for weeks. There were also terrible epidemics in the camps. Every
once in a while there were selections---those prisoners chosen to die were
killed by factory police. Only due to a great manpower shortage in the spring
of 1944 did the living conditions get a bit better.
Mass executions of prisoners from Gestapo jails took place in Camp C in
late 1943 and early 1944. Right before Skarzysko-Kamienna was to be
destroyed in the summer of 1944, the SS forced Jewish inmates to dig up the
bodies of those victims and cremate them, in order to conceal evidence of
mass murder. In late July many prisoners were massacred, and the 6,000 that
remained were sent to Buchenwald and other German camps.
Many of the German camp staff were tried in 1948; four were sentenced to
death, while the rest were put in prison with varying sentences.
Polish town of Skarzysko-Kamienna. The camp belonged to the German
Hasag concern. It was established in August 1942 and was liquidated on
August 1, 1944. Altogether, 25,000--30,000 Jews were brought to SkarzyskoKamienna, and between 18,000--23,000 perished there.
The camp was divided into three separate factory camps, known as Werke
A, B, and C. The three camps were located next to the factories where the
prisoners worked, and were guarded by the Ukrainian factory police. Of the
three factory camps, Werk A was the largest. Werk B shared an
administration and security with Camp A, but had its own Council of Elders.
The prisoners of both Werke A and B worked at producing ammunition. Werk
C was attached to a filling plant, where underwater mines filled with picric acid
were produced. This was the worst of the three camps, because the acid
poisoned the prisoners there within three months. All of the factories had two
12-hour shifts. Men and women, working together, were obliged to fill quotas
they could not possibly fill. The sanitary conditions were unspeakable, and
there was not nearly enough food. Prisoners were left to wear the same
clothes for weeks. There were also terrible epidemics in the camps. Every
once in a while there were selections---those prisoners chosen to die were
killed by factory police. Only due to a great manpower shortage in the spring
of 1944 did the living conditions get a bit better.
Mass executions of prisoners from Gestapo jails took place in Camp C in
late 1943 and early 1944. Right before Skarzysko-Kamienna was to be
destroyed in the summer of 1944, the SS forced Jewish inmates to dig up the
bodies of those victims and cremate them, in order to conceal evidence of
mass murder. In late July many prisoners were massacred, and the 6,000 that
remained were sent to Buchenwald and other German camps.
Many of the German camp staff were tried in 1948; four were sentenced to
death, while the rest were put in prison with varying sentences.
Yad Vashem
One might notice the Yad Vashem using three parts to this camp with the executions in area c, corpses dug up and cremated. Sounds very familiar.
Deutschland-ein-denkmal.de has this entry
Forced labor camp for Jews in the "General Government"
number 2967
location Skarżysko-Kamienna
designation
Area General Government, Radom District (1939-1945)
opening Men: January 1940 (first mention); Women: April 1940 (first mention)
closure October 1944 (last mentioned): The male prisoners were "evacuated" in June/August 1944 to the forced labor camp for Jews in Czestochowa and to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The female prisoners were "evacuated" in August 1944 to the Leipzig subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp./ The camp was "evacuated" in July 1944: 4,000 Jews were deported to the Hasag headquarters in Leipzig and about 3,000 to the Hasag works in Czestochowa [ LIT]
deportations In 1942 several transports with prisoners arrived at the camp, including about 2,000 Jews from Kielce and about 500 from Checiny, in March and November from Plaszów and then about 1,900 from Majdanek, in early March 1944 about 1,600 from the Lodz ghetto. Also in March, a transport from Plaszów with around 2,000 prisoners arrived at the camp. [LIT]
Prisoners At times there were 8,000 prisoners in the camp.
gender Men, women and children [LIT]
use of the prisoners HASAG (Hugo Schneider AG); Radom and Kielce District Electric Power Plants
type of work Men: work in the munitions factory, railway construction; Women: work in the munitions factory
Remarks In March 1944 all the children in the camp were murdered. [Golczewski 1996 points out that a "smaller killing plant" also existed in Skarzysko-Kamienna. According to a Polish estimate, around 35,000 Jews were killed there by truck exhaust and around 10,000 were shot.
number 2967
location Skarżysko-Kamienna
designation
Area General Government, Radom District (1939-1945)
opening Men: January 1940 (first mention); Women: April 1940 (first mention)
closure October 1944 (last mentioned): The male prisoners were "evacuated" in June/August 1944 to the forced labor camp for Jews in Czestochowa and to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The female prisoners were "evacuated" in August 1944 to the Leipzig subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp./ The camp was "evacuated" in July 1944: 4,000 Jews were deported to the Hasag headquarters in Leipzig and about 3,000 to the Hasag works in Czestochowa [ LIT]
deportations In 1942 several transports with prisoners arrived at the camp, including about 2,000 Jews from Kielce and about 500 from Checiny, in March and November from Plaszów and then about 1,900 from Majdanek, in early March 1944 about 1,600 from the Lodz ghetto. Also in March, a transport from Plaszów with around 2,000 prisoners arrived at the camp. [LIT]
Prisoners At times there were 8,000 prisoners in the camp.
gender Men, women and children [LIT]
use of the prisoners HASAG (Hugo Schneider AG); Radom and Kielce District Electric Power Plants
type of work Men: work in the munitions factory, railway construction; Women: work in the munitions factory
Remarks In March 1944 all the children in the camp were murdered. [Golczewski 1996 points out that a "smaller killing plant" also existed in Skarzysko-Kamienna. According to a Polish estimate, around 35,000 Jews were killed there by truck exhaust and around 10,000 were shot.
It appears that this camp C has all the hall marks of an AR extermination centre. The truth is this was a bomb filling plant. Picric acid is a high explosive known as Lyddite, Dunnite and Shellite. Most likely this acid was confused with TNT as the Germans did not use Picric acid during the second world war. TNT is a poison with handlers going a yellow colour. In the UK the girls going yellow using this compound were called "canaries".