27th March 1947
Friedrich Boos

Friedrich Boos - Spezialfabrik für Zentralheizungen und sanitäre Anlagen

(Specialised factory for central heating and sanitary installations)

Further research required

Friedrich Boos doesn't appear on the list of German firms that used slave labour during the Nazi era ( see the Jewish Virtual Library). However, the company does appear in documents from The US National Archives and Records Administration and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. These documents categorically place the firm of Friedrich Boos at the heart of the Holocaust with regards the physical infrastructure required for its realisation.

These include the following references taken from the reels of microfilm:

Reel 22

58 Various pieces of correspondence and memos dealing with administrative matters of the German firms involved in work in Auschwitz and of their civilian workers. Lists containing names of workers employed by various German firms. Other correspondence from the various firms requests deferment from military service for some of the specialist workers

59 Correspondence with the firms Anhalt, Boos, Falk, Hirt, Guta, and others regarding manpower and its use, allocation of leaves of absence, supervision of work. 1941 - 1943. 43 pp. Directive from SS Central Construction Office to all firms working in Auschwitz on labor assignments and requirements that all workers wear identifying armbands. Another directive, of February 1942, deals with where workers must enter camp, how guards are to be greeted, and gives more detailed information and rules about identifying armbands.

68 Correspondence with the firms Boos, "Deutsche-Bau-Aktiengesellschaft," "Guta" regarding manpower and its use, discharges, and leaves of absence. 1942 - 1944. 307 pp. Various circular memos about administrative matters concerning civilian construction employees. Other internal matters dealing with personnel-related subjects, including requests of an administrative nature from private firms engaged in construction work in Auschwitz. [This file contains duplicates of some of the material previously cited.]

Reel 24

92 Correspondence with the firms Boos, Lentz, Industrie Bau, and others on building and equipping Krupp arms workshops and other industrial sites. 1942 - 1944. 737 pp. Exchange of letters between various German construction firms about setting up and equipping various arms manufacturing enterprises for Krupp and other arms industries in Auschwitz. Includes some of the planned locations and dimensions of various enterprises.

95 Correspondence with the firms G. Hirt, F. Boos, "Industrie Bau," and others regarding contracts for construction work, equipping a bunker, living quarters for prisoners, reinforced concrete construction, etc. 1940 - 1945. 323 pp. More exchanges of notes and memos about various camp construction projects, many having to do with providing air raid shelters for SS men and leaders. Memo about construction projects in Auschwitz during Second and Third War Economy Years.

Reel 25

107 Bill from the "Boos" firm for delivering equipment and performing assembly work on various projects. no date. Requests from Boos firm, manufacturers of health equipment and specialists for heating, ventilation, and sanitary facilities, with particular pertinence to laboratory in agricultural camp (Raisko). Cost breakdown includes bill for expansion of heating plant in camp commander's house. Also, communications and payments to Boos from central construction office. Final bill, with detailed breakdown, for work done by Boos.

Reel 27

129 Correspondence with the Boos firm on the delivery and assembly of electrical equipment, lighting, and heating equipment. 1941. 99 pp. Construction cost bills. Boos project plan and cost proposal to SS New Construction and Budget headquarters in Berlin for central hot water system in camp commander Höss's residence, with schematic drawings. Subsequently Boos submitted interim and final bills for actual expenditures on project. List of daily pay for work done by Boos from 19 May to 30 June 1941. Boos bills for various construction projects, with breakdown of some of daily labor costs.

Reel 28

132 Correspondence with the Construction Inspection department and the Topf, Boos, and R. Hanke firms regarding delivery of electrotechnical equipment and financial accounts. 1942 - 1944. 57 pp. Communications between SS central construction office and SS Construction Inspection office in Poznan; including bills to be paid to private firms for approval. More bills from Boos, for heating and electrical work. Other bills to be rendered, as well as various certificates of bills submitted by private firms.

134 Correspondence with "Boos" firm on installing facilities for heating water, boilers, disinfecting equipment (with drawings). 1941 - 1942. 27 pp. Boos cost proposal for hot water system for Auschwitz quarters.

135 Bill from the "Friedrich Boos" firm on installing central heating, in a building of the construction inspectorate (with drawings). 24 May 1941. 2 pp. Additional Boos cost proposals, with drawings for a central heating system in the SS New Construction Directorate office.

136 Correspondence with the "Boos" firm on installing central heating, with enclosure containing price-lists and drawings. 1941. 17 pp. Boos cost proposals for various camp projects.

137 Letters and financial accounts of the "Boos" firm concerning delivering and installing central heating systems, steam engines, steam boilers, etc. for a garage, baths, and disinfection chamber. 1941 - 1944. 91 pp. Boos cost proposals for various construction and work projects.

138 161. Correspondence with the Boos, R. Keller, Mankenberg, Reisinger, Breining, and Hirt firms on delivering electrotechnical equipment and boilers for district heating plants. 1941 - 1944. 539 pp. Memos, etc. on planned temporary central heating plant, with Boos submissions of cost proposals. February 1941 memo to Berlin SS construction headquarters about plans drawn up by Auschwitz New Construction Directorate, including the existing protective custody camp, troop housing, troop mess, railroad connector, and railroad station. Various administrative items, such as type of armbands to be worn by Kapos who work beyond camp perimeter. Among a series of drawings of heating plant designs there is one that shows a washroom building, Entlausung station, prisoners' bath and reception building (July 1942).

142 No. 117-6. Correspondence with the Boos firm on delivering oxygen, steam equipment, and heating apparatus. 1943. 18 pp. Boos proposals and bills for previously cited project.

Reel 30

160 No. 62/29. Correspondence with the "Boos" firm and others regarding water heating equipment. 1943 - 1944. 17 pp. More material on construction of wells and pump houses; various orders for construction materials. One project (August 1944) is for expansion of six existing housing barracks and their conversion into mortuaries in Auschwitz II, with request for immediate lifting on existing prohibition on construction work.

Reel 32

193 Correspondence with the Boos firm on supplying and installing boilers and pipes. 1940 - 1941. 102 pp. Various bills from Boos construction firm, specializing in heating, ventilation, and sanitary equipment. Detailed breakdown by project, and lists of items, equipment, etc. used for these projects.

Reel 34

207 48/2. Correspondence with the Supthut, R. Waldeker, Hirt, and F. Boos firms regarding delivery of materials to the Central Construction Directorate for construction projects. 1942 - 1943. 35 pp. Various memos about construction and related matters. Other items about arrangements for deliveries of goods via trains.

Reel 35

240 Correspondence of the chief of the Central Construction Directorate with the Kluge and Boos firms regarding construction of quarters for commanders and commanders' correspondence with the camp commandant regarding renovation of their quarters. 1940 - 1944. 133 pp. Various requests from the SS staff for additional housing or improvements in existing facilities, etc., with memos from German private firms indicating readiness to carry out necessary construction or remodeling.

241 Bill from the "Friedrich Boos" firm for supplying hot water to the residence of the camp commandant (with drawings). 11 February 1941 and 15 February 1941. 7 pp. Cost estimates for work on camp commander's residence, with drawings and plans, primarily for central heating and hot water systems (provided by Boos firm).

242 Correspondence with the "Boos" firm on providing construction equipment for the quarters of SS Hauptstuermführer Wagner. 1941. 20 pp. Correspondence from Boos concerning work done in residence of one of SS leaders.

245 Correspondence with the "Boos" and "Meier" firms on providing a hot-water heater for the building of the Construction Directorate, on providing barracks (with enclosure containing drawings). 1941 - 1944. 234 pp. More correspondence on barracks deliveries and other camp construction projects.

250 Correspondence with the "Boos" firm concerning heating fixtures for the commanders' quarters (with drawings). 1941 - 1944. 14 pp. Notes about work on various camp quarters and houses.

252 Correspondence with the inspectorate, the "Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke" firm, F. Boos, and Panderov regarding furnishings. 1941 - 1944. 178 pp. Assorted items on housing, furnishings, etc.; requests for major construction projects, such as a camp hotwater heating plant.

Reel 36

254 Correspondence with the SS administrative Directorate and the "Friedrich Boos" and other firms regarding the construction of administrative premises for the komandatura of the KL (with drawings). 1940 - 1943. 67 pp. Various memos about completion of construction projects and handing over of facilities to camp command. Various items concerning the building of a tank facility for camp's Transport Section, with plans. Completion of an unfinished building (originally a theater) as a Wirtschaftsgebände for the Auschwitz command, consisting of a large hall, to be used as a dining room and movie; canteen; rooms for lower-rank SS leaders; a reading room. The second floor is to consist of a leadership casino. In the basement there is to be a troop kitchen; game rooms; bowling alley; a pub. All this is accompanied by architectural drawings. Related correspondence deals with construction work required from German firm.

255 Correspondence with the Boos, Wiesner, and Nuesing firms regarding building and outfitting a building for the komandatura and a theater. 1941 - 1943. 139 pp. Correspondence concerning construction work on headquarters and general quarters buildings [materials in folder mentions this work and is dated at various times and years, suggesting that work on same project went on over a long period of time]. Interspersed are requests for prisoner specialists to work on various aspects of construction. Additional material on Wirtschafts barracks, with location map.

Reel 39

296 Correspondence with the F. Boos, O. Erhard, and F. Krupp firms on delivering electrical equipment, boilers, wires, and materials for outfitting workshops. 1943. 399 pp. Memos about construction materials for Krupp plant in Auschwitz. Various pieces of correspondence with requests for construction steel; fire extinguishers; setting up a munitions building for Krupp. More on things needed for Krupp plant, such as electrification, fuel, office buildings, etc.

Reel 40

296 Continued. Memo about work on camp central heating plant. More material on Krupp plant workshops; memos facilitating detonator production at Krupp plant.

Reel 42

323 Financial accounts with Friedrich Boos, Konrad Segnitz, and other firms relating to deliveries of materials and construction project No. 32 (gas chambers). 1942 - 1944. 217 pp. DAW [SS operated] bills for barracks, including request for payment for prisoners used to build the barracks. One project is a disinfestation facility in the Gypsy Camp, with Boos firm bills for work on this facility.

325 Financial accounts with Friedrich Boos, Anhalt, and other firms relating to delivery of materials and construction project No. 6 (gas barracks). 1940 - 1944. 87 pp. Bills for partial payment for six disinfestation barracks, and other bills for payment for this project. Bills and other correspondence related to two delousing [Entlausungs] barracks in Birkenau. Cost proposal and detailed breakdown for a laundry barrack in Auschwitz.

328 Financial accounts with Huta, Lentz, DAW, and other firms for deliveries of materials and construction work on project No. 5a (disinfection barracks). 1941 - 1944. 315 pp. Huta firm bills for work on Entlausungs facility; memos containing requests for materials for delousing barracks I and II (November 1942) and for Entwesungs facilities 1 and 2. Bills for salaries for work on these facilities, including cost of prison labor. Bill from Boos firm for central heating in women's Entwesungs chamber. Final bill from Concentration Camp Administration Auschwitz for prisoner labor on a monthly basis in 1942, ranging from 300 prisoner hours to 1,050 prisoner work hours, paid at 30 Pfeunnig per hour. Various labor bills for wash barracks in the camp quarantine section.

329 Correspondence with the "Boos" firm on equipping a disinfection facility and a laundry. 1942. 21 pp. Boos memo regarding Entlausungs facility, referring to hydrogen cyanide [Blausäure] Entlausungs facilities. Boos memo about specs for disinfestation facilities in camp reception building (September 1942). Boos specs for laundry facilities in camp.

330 Financial accounts with Boos, Industrie Bau, Hirt, and other firms relating to the construction and outfitting of a reception point with [passage indistinct] and laundry. 1941 - 1942. 80 pp. Partial bills from Boos firm, and other items, all with pertinence to laundry and Entlausungs facilities.

331 Plan for prisoner fumigation chamber using hydrocyanic acid (drawings). 1942 - 1943. 7 pp. Boos plans for hydrogen cyanide delousing facility mentions place in system for "Zyklon" containers and indicates locations where they are inserted in schematic drawings.

Reel 43

335 Plan and protocol transferring a building containing disinfection facilities to the local SS directorate and police (Building No. 32) (with drawings). 1942 - 1944. 20 pp. Record of handing over Entwesungs facility by SS Central Construction Office to Central Administration of Auschwitz, with description of facility; various floor plans from Boos. Operational instructions, with technical plans and drawings.

336 Correspondence with F. Boos, Segnitz, Topf, and other firms regarding construction and equipping death chambers, disinfection, and fumigation facilities. 1942 - 1944. 109 pp. Memo from Boos regarding Entwesungs barrack in POW camp. Segnitz firm delivery of wood and cement; other materials needed for barrack. Camp-internal correspondence about specs and plan changes, and various bills for materials used. Travel report (September 17, 1942) by Auschwitz commander Höss and staff to Litzmannstadt to view ghetto and a "Sonderanlage." Discussion with local functionaries and decision to divert materials for this project to Auschwitz. Memos and bills from German firm for Entwesungs facility. March 1943 memo about building Entwesungs barracks takes note of excessive accumulation of personal belongings, and of clothing stored in the open and exposed to weather. Mentions danger of spontaneous combustion fires as a result of the great masses of closely packed belongings. February 1943 memo to Topf for delivery of Entwesungs facility consisting of two ovens with 11 chambers and six carts. Memo points out that the order is being placed now so that there are no delays like those encountered during work on crematorium II. This is followed by Topf cost breakdown. Memo detailing the use of six prisoners to operate some of Entwesungs machinery expresses the wish to assign preferably German prisoners because of the importance and cost of this Entwesungs facility. Memo announcing that electric fence around area holding personal belongings and luggage barracks, including Entwesungs facility, was completed December 20, 1943, with Entwesungs facility becoming operational on that date. Memo about new Entlausungs facility in Birkenau (December 1943). Topf response to report about damage to hot-air chambers of Entwesungs facility (February 1944). June 1943 memo from Waffen-SS Construction Inspection Office East, authorizing plans for Entwesungs and disinfestation facility in POW camp. Memo from SS Economic Administration Main Office Berlin (March 11, 1942) stipulates that "in the final instance, all Entlausungs facilities are to be converted for the use of hydrogen cyanide." (see May 1944 memo in folder 322.) Cost proposal from Topf for Entwesungs facility with four chambers, February 5, 1943. Memo from Birkenau camp to Auschwitz camp command (July 1943) that Birkenau has had no lice infestation and only rare typhoid fever cases because its inhabitants are being deloused daily. Now, with expansion of camp, lice are beginning to appear again.

337 Correspondence with the F. Boos, Tesch and Stebenov, and Erhardt firms on building and equipping fumigation and disinfection facilities. 1943 - 1944. 49 pp. Memo with specs for 11 hydrogen cyanide chambers, July 1944. June 8, 1944 memo about hydrogen cyanide facilities: "...According to the resident camp doctor, the Zyklon-B gas chambers are now to be converted to Ariginal gas." Series of memos about hydrogen cyanide delousing facility, and great urgency to work on it. Notes on discussion about installation of stationary shortwave delousing facility. Cost proposal detailing work on and material required for a shortwave Entlausungs facility in the prisoner laundry and reception building. Memo from Siemens-Schuckert concerning this shortwave facility

338 Correspondence with the Boos, Jenkner, I. Kluge, and Anhalt firms on equipping a laboratory in Rajsko. 1942 - 1944. 225 pp. Memo about requirements for facilities in Raisko agricultural camp, including the setting up and equipping of an agricultural laboratory. Includes architectural and floor plans for building (fall of 1943). Specs for facilities of hygiene laboratory in Raisko provides for one lab for "special examinations," another for inoculations, specifying blood groups, and physiological examinations [memos never mention who or what will be examined]. Floor plans for this laboratory. Other construction requirements in Raisko.

343 Correspondence with the Boos and Pensgen firms regarding delivery of plumbing equipment for a laundry (valves, pumps, motors). 1941 - 1942. 222 pp. Lengthy memo about authorizing construction and allotments under war economy conditions and shortages in construction materials. Allocations of various construction materials and assignments of construction projects, such as prisoner barracks, laundry; a list of resources needed for various projects.

345 Correspondence with the Boos firm on installing central heating in the laundry and the Rajsko laboratory. 1942 - 1944. 124 pp. Memo about work done on various pieces of equipment by carpentry shops, locksmiths; installation of fire extinguishers, provision of cleaning materials, etc.

346 Correspondence with the "Lentz", "Penchon", and "Boos" firms regarding renovation of the "Deutsche Haus" hotel, construction of a temporary laundry, the laboratory in Rajsko. 1942 - 1943. 58 pp. Lenz firm memo about rebuilding of "German House" in camp (a SS facility). Memos from various German firms about construction and related work in camp, such as the temporary laundry, Raisko laboratories, prisoner canteen, etc.

Reel 44

347 Drawings and correspondence with various firms on erecting buildings for a laundry, sanitary inspectors, and disinfection chambers in the KL. 1940 - 1944. 478 pp. Various pieces of correspondence and memos from German firms and camp offices for material allocation and inquiries about authorization for camp projects. Most of the material deals with the camp laundry facility and the reception building (May 1944). Floor plans for low-pressure steam heating facility, hot water, and both installations for shortwave Entlausung (September 1943). Architectural drawings of prisoner baths, reception and laundry buildings, and of Entlausungs building (June 1942). Floor plans for camp bathing facility: one of the drawings allocates space for barber and haircutting room, as well as undressing and dressing room (plans are from Boos, June 1941). 1942-1944.

Reel 46

377 Correspondence with Segnitz, Gottschling, Kluge, Lentz, Lepski, and other firms regarding delivery of construction materials and an inventory relating to the building of a construction warehouse. 1943 - 1944. 310 pp. Various construction project bills, specs, etc., such as for horse stables; civilian workers workshops; workshops for SS central construction office; sheds in construction materials yard to house construction materials. Rejection of a bid for camp construction job and other memos related to this project (supply shed). Correspondence about this project with successful bidders, including work on new construction material yard, with architectural drawings. Construction proposal for seven sheds for various construction materials in this yard. Various memos, specs involving Boos and work on office barracks in Kochlowitz (apparently refers to last item below in this folder). Materials about work on office, housing, and utility barracks for construction. Inspection office "Silesia." Other items, bills, memos, specs for a variety of construction tasks, such as a pump house, horse stables for SS central construction office; allocation of wood, drainage work, etc. Floor plans, maps, and architectural drawings of office barracks in Kattowitz (located on Kochlowitz Lane). Other construction jobs for Construction Inspection Unit.

Reel 53

21 Idem, project nos. 4 - 5a, drawings. 1942 - 1944. 254 pp. Final bill for work on railbed for temporary rail spur to work halls I and II; final bills for road construction and road reinforcement in camp, and for work in industrial park. Final bill from Lenz firm for excavation work, with plan drawings for work on factory building in camp, also detailed description and cost breakdown. Final bill for a study of structural soundness of proposed construction work of a factory building. Cost estimate for carpentry at various camp projects, particulary for work on factory buildings. Boos firm bills for hotwater system for a cell block, and for a general water heating system.

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