24th May 1940
Luftwaffe at Beendorf

THE PRESENT COVER CONTAINED TWO LETTERS (ONE DATED 22ND FEBRUARY 1940 & 24TH MAY 1940), TOGETHER WITH A MONETARY RECEIPT.

NOTES

Beendorf is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. During World War II a concentration camp was established in Beendorf. It was a sub-camp to the Neuengamme concentration camp. From February 1944 until April 1945 about 2,500 women were forced to work in a pit. It was part of the armament factories for the German Luftwaffe.

Source: Wikipedia

In 1944, two satellite camps of Neuengamme concentration camp were set up in Beendorf near Helmstedt, one for men and one for women. Some of the male and female prisoners were housed on different floors of the same building. Both satellite camps were managed by the SS as “A III” camps. They were used for the underground relocation of the armaments production facilities of Askania Werke AG and the Hakenfelde GmbH aeronautical equipment plant on behalf of the Jägerstab (“Fighter Staff”) of the Ministry of Armaments and War Production. The Jägerstab had been established by the Ministry of Armaments and War Production in March 1944 under the leadership of SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Kammler, an architect, to coordinate the relocation of production facilities critical to the war effort in order to protect them from bomb attacks. SS-Obersturmführer Gerhard Poppenhagen was the commander of both the men’s and women’s satellite camps. The camps were guarded by members of the air force.

The first prisoners arrived in Beendorf on 17th March 1944. The men were used to excavate underground production halls in two neighbouring salt mines, “Marie” (Beendorf) and “Bartensleben” (Morsleben). Important equipment for manufacturing air force munitions was moved to the two tunnels, and the secret projects were given the code names “Bulldogge” and “Iltis”. The hard physical labour and terrible working conditions in the shafts damaged the prisoners’ eyes and lungs in particular. According to a report by Dr. Trzebinski, the SS Garrison Physician at Neuengamme concentration camp, there were 749 male prisoners in Beendorf on 25th March 1945. However, it is likely that the Beendorf camp had a much larger number of prisoners throughout its existence since prisoners who were “unable to work” were replaced with new prisoners.

On 10th April 1945, both camps were evacuated, and the women and men were loaded onto goods cars and taken via Magdeburg, Stendal und Wittenberge to the Wöbbelin “reception camp”, which they reached on 16 April. The survivors were liberated by American troops two weeks later.

Source: kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de

Gewerkschaft Burbach. Founded in 1896 by Gerhard Korte. In 1898, potash mining began in Beendorf (continued until 1928). In 1900, the company joined the 'German Potash Syndicate'. Korte was a member of the executive committee and was chairman of the syndicate from 1927 to 1940. In 1943, the union held the majority of the 'Marienborn-Beendorfer Kleinbahn-Gesellschaft'. The Burbach Group leased several mines to the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe. Due to the central location and the security provided, important parts for the Luftwaffe were manufactured here. At that time, a concentration camp was attached to the mine, in which several thousand prisoners were imprisoned for working in the mine. In 1943, 3,765 of the 5,000 shares were owned by the 'Burbach-Kaliwerke Aktiengesellschaft'. After the end of the war, rock salt was mined until 1969. From 1956 to 1984, chickens were fattened in parallel in the old munitions halls.

Source: sietz-de

Link to information on the 'German Potash Syndicate' 1942-1945.

(CIA document)

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