The Blechhammer (') (nowadays Blachownia Śląska, district of the
City of Kędzierzyn-Koźle) area was the location of
Greater German Reich chemical plants,
prisoner of war camps, and forced
labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...
s (). Labor camp prisoners began arriving as early as June 17, 1942,
and in July 1944, 400–500 men were transferred from the
Terezin family camp to Blechhammer. The mobile "pocket furnace" () crematorium was at Sławięcice.) and Bau und Arbeits Battalion (BAB, ) 21 was a mile from the Blechhammer oil plants and was not far from
Kattowitz and
Breslau.
[ Blechhammer synthetic oil (aka synthetic fuel) production began April 1, 1944 with 4000 prisoners, with the slave labor camp holding these prisoners during April 1944, becoming a satellite camp of the dreaded Auschwitz extermination camp, as '' Arbeitslager Blechhammer''.
]
Chemical plants
Two plants in the area, Blechhammer North (south of Sławięcice) and Blechhammer South at Azoty ( from the labor camp)[ were nicknamed "Black Hammer" by Allied bomber aircrews. The facilities were approximately apart with each occupying a 3,000 × 5,000 ft (914 × 1524 m) area in open country. Similar to the Gelsenberg plant, the Blechhammer plants used ]bituminous coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, ...
from Upper Silesian Coal Basin[ in the Bergius process to synthesize Ersatz oil.]United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
considered Blechhammer one of the four "principal synthetic oil plants in Germany", and after the Fifteenth Air Force had dropped 7,082 tons (14,164,000 lbs; 6,424 tonnes) of bombs on Blechhammer, the Blechhammer plants were dismantled post-war
A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...
by the Soviets.[
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]
Evacuation
In March 1945 the POWs were evacuated. One camp went to Regensburg
Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...
,[ BAB 21 went to Landshut)][ (about 20% died en route). Some small groups did manage to escape (see František R. Kraus).
The "7 Company" was the guard battalion for Blechhammer, and the 1945 Belsen Trial convicted Blechhammer staff members Karl Francioh and Ansgar Piche.
]
Camps
The Blechhammer complex contained a number of POW Camps:[Beattie, Trevor (ed.) (2011). ''Captive Plans: The Pow Diary of Reg Beattie''. .] and by a Czech survivor, journalist František R. Kraus.
See also
*Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
Following the Invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II, nearly a quarter of the entire territory of the Second Polish Republic was Areas annexed by Nazi Germany, annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under the German civil ad ...
* Monowitz concentration camp
* Oil Campaign of World War II
* Territorial changes of Poland after World War II
References
External links
{{Authority control
Province of Upper Silesia
Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Industry in Germany
Oil campaign of World War II
World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Germany
Nazi war crimes in Germany
Auschwitz concentration camp
Reich Security Main Office