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Berga an der Elster was a
subcamp Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...
of
Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
. The Berga forced labour camp was located on the outskirts of the village of
Schlieben Schlieben ( dsb, Sliwin) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north of Bad Liebenwerda. Schlieben was the site of a concentration camp during the Holocaust. History From 1815 to 1944, Schlie ...
. Workers were supplied by
Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
and from a
POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
camp, Stalag IX-B; the latter contravened the provisions of the
Third Geneva Convention The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was first adopted in 1929, but significantl ...
and the Hague Treaties. Many prisoners died as a result of
malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
, sickness (including
pulmonary disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bron ...
due to dust inhalation from tunnelling with explosives), and beatings, including 73 American POWs. The labor camp formed part of Germany's secret plan to use
hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a Catalysis, catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to redox, reduce or S ...
to transform
brown coal Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
into usable fuel for tanks, planes, and other military machinery. However, the camp's additional purpose was ''Vernichtung durch Arbeit'' (" annihilation through labor"), and prisoners were intentionally worked to death under inhumane working and living conditions, suffering from starvation as a result. This secondary purpose of extermination was carried out until the war's end, when the prisoners were subjected to a forced death march in order to keep ahead of the advancing Allied forces. POWs were put to work, together with concentration camp inmates, digging 17 tunnels for an underground ammunition factory, some of them 150 feet below ground. As a result of the appalling conditions, malnutrition and cold, as well as beatings, 47 prisoners died. The U.S. military authorities never acknowledged the incident. On 4 April, the 300 surviving American prisoners were marched out of the camp ahead of approaching American troops. After a 2½-week forced march they were finally liberated. During this march another 36 Americans died. During an air raid, while the camp lights were extinguished, Hans Kasten, Joe Littel and Ernst Sinner, escaped. They were later arrested and taken to
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
headquarters. After their identities as POWs were confirmed they were taken to Buchenwald and placed in detention cells. They were freed when ''KZ Buchenwald'' was liberated. Berga was run by a reserve army sergeant named Erwin Metz, who was ultimately responsible for the inhumane conditions, and gave the order to take the prisoners on the death march. When the allied forces closed in on the retreating Germans, Metz deserted his post and attempted to escape by bicycle, fearing the consequences of being captured in possession of the remaining Berga prisoners and having to answer for his war crimes. Still, he was captured days after the prisoners were liberated by American forces, and he was sentenced to death, because he had killed a US POW, Pvt Morton Goldstein (Battery C/590th Field Artillery/ 106 US Division) on March 14, 1945. However, because of the American political climate and the shifting priorities of the American
War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...
towards defending
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
against the
Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...
in the lead-up to the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, many German war criminals' sentences were commuted in exchange for intelligence that the Western allies believed could be used against the Soviets. Metz's was sentenced to 20 years, albeit he only served nine years before being released back into Germany as a free man.
Willy Hack Willy Hack (26 March 1912 – 26 July 1952) was a German SS officer and concentration camp official. He was born in the town of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, and trained as an engineer before joining the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in 1934. Following ...
, one of the other commandants of the Berga camp, was arrested in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
in 1947. In 1949, he was found guilty of his complicity in atrocities leading to the deaths of hundreds of people at the Mittelbau-Dora camp and the Berga camp, and sentenced to death. Hack's death sentence was upheld in 1951. He was executed in
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
in 1952.


References

{{Authority control Subcamps of Buchenwald