KL Dachau workshop?

[Nightmare]

Hello everybody,

Recently i got this dachau paper lot which belonged to former prisoner of Dachau and among other things was this photo:



I'm assuming this is somekind of a workshop or a factory placed near by, can somebody explain me what were they doing in this type of a factory?

Also are there any books related to Dachau factories or workshops? My greatgrandfather was also prisoner there, he was working in the shoe workshop and i would like to find some pictures or descriptions.

[carltiger]

Interesting image. Some of the facilities at Konzentrationslager Dachau produced ammunition, others various handicraft industries. A large sector known as The Plantation was also created during 1938, with herb gardens, buildings and greenhouses. An Angora rabbit farm was also established - not the only concentration camp with such a feature, whilst farm buildings and clothing workshops were also widely used at Dachau.

Regarding books and other printed material, you may want to find "Legacies of Dachau: The Uses and Abuses of a Concentration Camp, 1933-2001" by Harold Marcuse (Cambridge University Press, 2001) and After the Battle magazine issue number 27 - a thorough study of the camp.

Regards,

Carl

[history1]

Doesn´t it look like a kitchen?

[chrischa]

It looks like a kitchen or a laundry to me.

I always break queries down to the most basic form and in this instance I wonder why and how a prisoner would get a photograph of himself or place of work. I don't think it's likely. Maybe his place if work before becoming a prisoner? He appears to be quite smartly dressed.

Chris.

[Nightmare]

Thank you Carl!

It looks like a kitchen if you are judging by the pots in the background, but im not sure food was cooking in these big "pressure cookers".

Anybody else?

Best regards,

Grega

[Nightmare]

Thank you Chris for another opinion,

Yugoslavian prisoners were held in the camp for about 2 months after liberation (health reasons, war still going on back home etc.).

This picture was taken between that time, i also have 2 other pictures from the same lot and they were pretty good dressed.

here they are:



(yugoslavian national committee and a group of prisoners)


Grega

[chrischa]

Thanks for the photos Grega. They do look in good health like the chap in your first photo.

I didn't realise that prisoners were kept on.

Chris.

[feldpost 58]

Hi,

these photographs look like the preparation of food for the prisoners in Dachau KZ.
Many prisoners in Dachau (and most other KZ) were kept there by their liberators for many months after the fall of the Third Reich.
Mostly, to stop the spread of contagious diseases (typhus, cholera etc) but also to stop the prisoners from taking revenge on the local inhabitants, who; in the majority - were unaware of the atrocious conditions in the camps.
I believe KZ Dachau (the first KZ) was a model for the future in the TR period, and no better than a murder camp - unless you were a political prisoner.
Been to Dachau, and Bergen-Belsen; these places were a nightmare for prisoners, and a very hard place to survive in.

Best wishes,

John.

[carltiger]

I believe KZ Dachau (the first KZ) was a model for the future in the TR period, and no better than a murder camp - unless you were a political prisoner.
Been to Dachau, and Bergen-Belsen; these places were a nightmare for prisoners, and a very hard place to survive in.

Best wishes,

John.

Yes John, as the first of the major Konzentrationslagers, Dachau was indeed the model. As harsh as it was, it was actually classed as a Category-I camp, i.e. work camp - the lowest grade in terms of severity. Category-II camps such as Buchenwald were also work camps but had harder living and working conditions. The third category was reserved for the "Knochenmühlen" (bone mills), which were directly linked to the DEST quarries - KL-Gross-Rosen, KL-Mauthausen, KL-Flossenbürg etc.

[history1]

[...] I wonder why and how a prisoner would get a photograph of himself or place of work. I don't think it's likely[...]
Chris.

Postwar images is the answer, you sure know the photos of the spanish photographer after the liberation of the KL Mauthausen?
Note that in the new photo we can read the placard "long live the free democratic union of Yugoslavia". 2nd placat reads something similar, also a political motto. The two men in the middle are wearing armbands with the inscribtion "Int. Pris.".

I doubt that anyone during WWII would shot such photos or would have a reason to praise his country. Remember that Yugoslavia wasn´t a united country during WWII.

[SiPo]

Definitely cooking pots, similar ones used in Birkenau.

[Nightmare]

Thank you g hanson, i was looking for an answer like this.

Thank you all for your input.

[carltiger]

Yes John, as the first of the major Konzentrationslagers, Dachau was indeed the model. As harsh as it was, it was actually classed as a Category-I camp, i.e. work camp - the lowest grade in terms of severity. Category-II camps such as Buchenwald were also work camps but had harder living and working conditions. The third category was reserved for Mauthausen, one of the "Knochenmühlen" (bone mills), which were directly linked to the DEST quarries - KL-Gross-Rosen, KL-Flossenbürg etc.

To augment, Mauthausen was, as a Class-III Konzentrationslager, reserved for serious offenders. The mortality rate was significantly higher than at camps such as Buchenwald or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg, with around 100,000 of the approximate 200,000 deportations resulting in death.

[byterock]

I would say it is the Kitchen.