LOCATION
STATISTICS
STAFF & COMMANDANTS
PICTURES
LINKS
A lesser known
camp to some, Flossenberg was one of the original four killing centers in
Germany begun early in the war along with Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen.
Flossenberg Prison was the site of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's martyrdom, the man
singularly responsible for the existence and continuance of the "Confessing"
Church during the Third Reich. It was at Flossenberg that those who participated
in the plot to kill Hitler: Dohnanyi, Oster, Canaris and von Stauffenberg are
put to death. Located in Germany, not far from Weiden, it was established in
1938, originally a a re-education center for political prisoners but quickly
evolved into a killing center. It had 93 subcamps, and is responsible for at
least 73,000 deaths.
Flossenberg had both a men's and women's division and was staffed by SS. As with many of the camps, Flossenberg was built near quarries to employ slave labor in the task of building Hitler's utopian Reich. Slaves were also employed in the manufacture of armaments and aircraft. Over 65,000 were imprisoned during the war years: at liberation only 2000 were left alive. Flossenberg is reknown for its death march in the days before liberation of 15,000 prisoners, most of whom did not survive. Disposal of bodies was through the Krema, on site. Flossenberg was liberated by the 97th infantry: a detailed account of liberation of the camp may be found at Chaplain's Account 2
1 "Flossenberg: About.com:Camps 2 "Flossenberg", USHMM Learning Center/Archives. 3 "Flossenberg", Jewish Gen: Forgotten Camps: Flossenberg. 4 "Flossenberg", Photo Credit: "Campo di Flossenburg"-Labyrinthe de Novecento 5 The Plot to Assasinate Hitler