Bretstein was a subcamp of
Mauthausen concentration camp located in
Bretstein
Bretstein is a former municipality in the district of Murtal in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Pölstal.
Geography
Bretstein lies in the Niedere Tauern
The Lower T ...
(near
Judenburg
Judenburg ( bar, Judnbuag) is a historic town in Styria, Austria.
It is the administrative centre of the Murtal district, which was created on 1 January 2012 from the former Judenburg District and former Knittelfeld District. Until 31 December ...
, in the upper part of
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
) was associated with the
SS-owned operation ''Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Ernährung und Verpflegung GmbH'', which administrated three working farms in Bretstein since 1939. Concerning this regard it was the basic aim to investigate different methods of operations for agriculture, which should have been used for the purpose of the so-called ''Germanisierung'' in
Eastern Europe.
During June 1941 the camp was constructed by the first prisoners, who were sent from the concentration camp
Mauthausen. The concentration camp in Bretstein was an external camp of the concentration camp in
Mauthausen located in
Upper Austria, which directed about more than 50 external camps. In Bretstein, at least 170 prisoners were locked up in four barracks, which were surrounded by huge fences and some watchtowers. The prisoners, who were Republic Spaniards, Spanish and German members of
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
, have been guarded by up to 50 members of the
SS unit ''Totenkopfsturmbannes Mauthausen'', who treated them barbarously. They were forced for road works and functioning in the range of agriculture. As a result of the situation within the camp, many attempts to escape were arranged. The remains of seven former caged inmates can be found at the local cemetery in Bretstein.
The concentration camp in Bretstein was closed on 25 June 1943.
References
*Perz, Bertrand: Das KZ-Außenlager Bretstein. In: Heimo Halbrainer, Michael Schiestl (ed.): „Adolfburg statt Judenburg“. NS-Herrschaft: Verfolgung und Widerstand in der Region Aichfeld-Murboden. Graz 2011, 111–119
*
Maršálek, Hans: Die Geschichte des Konzentrationslagers Mauthausen. Hrsg.: Österr. Lagergemeinschaft Mauthausen. Wien 1995.
External links
*http://www.gedenkstaette-bretstein.at/
*http://www.mkoe.at/
*http://www.mkoe.at/lokalgruppen/steiermark
*https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192804/http://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/staff/feenstra/
{{DEFAULTSORT:KZ - Nebenlager Bretstein
Nazi concentration camps in Austria
The Holocaust in Austria