During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

staffed dozens of

concentration camps 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 posted its soldiers as guards at many others. Camps created for the exploitation of

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

for armaments production were often run by the branch of the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

'' that used the products. The ''Wehrmacht'' also posted about 10,000 soldiers to concentration camps because of a shortage of guards in mid-1944, including many from the Luftwaffe.

Camp operations

By the end of the war, 2,700

soldiers worked as guards at

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 sus ...

and its subcamps. The main camps of Flossenbürg Mittelbau-Dora, and Natzweiler had many Luftwaffe guards. In late 1943, a Luftwaffe salvage yard (german: Zerlegebetrieb) opened halfway between

Auschwitz II-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

and Auschwitz I. About 1,300 prisoners at a time were forced to work salvaging parts from Luftwaffe and Allied aircraft that had been damaged beyond repair. These prisoners were supervised by Luftwaffe personnel and guarded by the SS. Although many of the Luftwaffe personnel smuggled letters or provided food for the prisoners, their commanding officer, a Luftwaffe major, was known for beating prisoners with an aluminium pipe. The prisoners were housed at Birkenau and forced to march to the ''Zerlegebetrieb'' each morning; they were exempt from work if the temperature dropped below . Most were Polish or Soviet POWs; the latter were known for their frequent escape attempts. Because of the valuable items that could be found while dismantling the aircraft, prisoners frequently tried to smuggle them back to Birkenau to trade for necessities. The death rate was high because of the harsh working conditions and workplace accidents. A factory for anti-aircraft weapons at

Monowitz Monowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (''Arbeitslager'') run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and the Holocaust. For most of its exis ...

was staffed by Luftwaffe guards. The Luftwaffe also provided

flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

units to protect Monowitz factories from air attack. By early 1944, there were 1,000 Luftwaffe guards at Auschwitz. Luftwaffe guards had a reputation for being slightly less brutal than the SS, in several cases attempting to improve the conditions for prisoners. Nevertheless, Luftwaffe personnel also frequently mistreated prisoners. For example, Luftwaffe technicians in several places forced prisoners to defuse or otherwise handle unexploded bombs. Luftwaffe soldiers reportedly executed prisoners during a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...

, and tortured and murdered prisoners at Wiener Neudorf, a subcamp of

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...

. For the latter crimes, Ludwig Stier, the Luftwaffe captain in charge of the Luftwaffe soldiers at the camp, was sentenced to death by a US military court in 1947 and executed.

List of camps with primarily Luftwaffe guards

subcamps: Mühlhausen and Stalag-13 Wernigerode * Dachau subcamps: Horgau, Fischen, Ottobrunn, Stephanskirchen, and Sudelfeld * Flossenbürg subcamps: Altenhammer, Holleischen, Kirchham, Leitmeritz, and Mülsen St. Micheln *

Gross-Rosen , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

subcamps: Brieg and Kittlitztreben *

Herzogenbusch , , german: Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch , location map = Netherlands , map alt = , map caption = Location of the camp in the Netherlands , coordinates = , known for = , location = Vught, Netherlands , built by = N ...

subcamps: Breda, Leeuwarden, and Venlo *

Hinzert Hinzert was a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, from the border with Luxembourg. Between 1939 and 1945, 13,600 political prisoners between the ages of 13 and 80 were imprisoned at Hinzert. Many were in tr ...

subcamps: Langendiebach I and II, Mainz-Finthen, Merzhausen, Seligenstadt, and Usingen *

Mauthausen-Gusen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany ...

subcamps: Gusen II, Melk, Wiener Neudorf, and Schwechat * Mielec concentration camp * Mittelbau-Dora subcamps: Ellrich, Günzerode * Natzweiler subcamps: Cochem-Bruttig, Erzingen, Hailfingen airfield, where almost 200 prisoners died, Neckarelz I and II, and Mannheim-Waldhof * Neuengamme subcamps: Beendorf, Bremen, Bremen-Obernheide, Kaltenkirchen, and Meppen-Dalum * A forced labor camp near the Nowy Swierzen ghetto * Ravensbrück subcamps: Karlshagen I and II * SS-Baubrigaden: 13 camps involved in the construction of V-1 weapons sites in occupied France * Sachsenhausen subcamps: Mackenrode, Nüxi, and Wieda *

Stutthof Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig ( Gdańsk) in the territory of the Germ ...

subcamps: Gerdauen, Heiligenbeil, Jesau, Praust, Schippenbeil, and Seerappen

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * *{{cite book , last1=Uziel , first1=Daniel , title=Arming the Luftwaffe: The German Aviation Industry in World War II , date=2011 , publisher=McFarland , location=Jefferson , isbn=9780786488797 , language=en

External links

''Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945''
(free download at the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...

web site) Luftwaffe Nazi concentration camps War crimes of the Wehrmacht