During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

staffed dozens of

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

, and posted its soldiers as guards at many others. Camps created for the exploitation of

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

for armaments production were often run by the branch of the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' that used the products. The ''Wehrmacht'' also posted about 10,000 soldiers to concentration camps because of a shortage of guards in mid-1944, including many from the Luftwaffe.

Camp operations

By the end of the war, 2,700

soldiers worked as guards at

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...

and its subcamps. The main camps of Flossenbürg Mittelbau-Dora, and Natzweiler had many Luftwaffe guards. In late 1943, a Luftwaffe salvage yard () opened halfway between

Auschwitz II-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschwitz ...

and

Auschwitz I Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschwitz ...

. About 1,300 prisoners at a time were forced to work salvaging parts from Luftwaffe and

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

aircraft that had been damaged beyond repair. These prisoners were supervised by Luftwaffe personnel and guarded by the SS. Although many of the Luftwaffe personnel smuggled letters or provided food for the prisoners, their commanding officer, a Luftwaffe major, was known for beating prisoners with an aluminium pipe. The prisoners were housed at Birkenau and forced to march to the ''Zerlegebetrieb'' each morning; they were exempt from work if the temperature dropped below . Most were Polish or Soviet POWs; the latter were known for their frequent escape attempts. Because of the valuable items that could be found while dismantling the aircraft, prisoners frequently tried to smuggle them back to Birkenau to trade for necessities. The death rate was high because of the harsh working conditions and workplace accidents. A factory for anti-aircraft weapons at

Monowitz Monowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (''Arbeitslager'') run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and the Holocaust. For most of its existe ...

was staffed by Luftwaffe guards. The Luftwaffe also provided

flak Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...

units to protect Monowitz factories from air attack. By early 1944, there were 1,000 Luftwaffe guards at Auschwitz. Luftwaffe guards had a reputation for being slightly less brutal than the SS, in several cases attempting to improve the conditions for prisoners. Nevertheless, Luftwaffe personnel also frequently mistreated prisoners. For example, Luftwaffe technicians in several places forced prisoners to defuse or otherwise handle

unexploded bombs Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deploye ...

. Luftwaffe soldiers reportedly executed prisoners during a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

, and tortured and murdered prisoners at Wiener Neudorf, a subcamp of

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. For the latter crimes, Ludwig Stier, the Luftwaffe captain in charge of the Luftwaffe soldiers at the camp, was sentenced to death by a U.S. military court in 1947. He died on death row on 5 September 1947.

List of camps with primarily Luftwaffe guards

subcamps: Mühlhausen and Stalag-13 Wernigerode *

Dachau Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

subcamps: Horgau, Fischen, Ottobrunn, Stephanskirchen, and Sudelfeld * Flossenbürg subcamps: Altenhammer, Holleischen, Kirchham, Leitmeritz, and Mülsen St. Micheln *

Gross-Rosen Gross-Rosen was a network of Nazi concentration camps built and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II. The main camp was located in the German village of Gross-Rosen, now the modern-day Rogoźnica in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, d ...

subcamps: Brieg and Kittlitztreben *

Herzogenbusch Herzogenbusch (; ) was a Nazi concentration camp located in Vught near the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. The camp was opened in 1943 and held 31,000 prisoners. 749 prisoners died in the camp, and the others were transferred to oth ...

subcamps: Breda, Leeuwarden, and Venlo * Hinzert subcamps: Langendiebach I and II, Mainz-Finthen, Merzhausen, Seligenstadt, and Usingen *

Mauthausen-Gusen Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

subcamps: Gusen II, Melk, Wiener Neudorf, and Schwechat * Mielec concentration camp *

Mittelbau-Dora Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour f ...

subcamps: Ellrich, Günzerode * Natzweiler subcamps: Cochem-Bruttig, Erzingen, Hailfingen airfield, where almost 200 prisoners died, Neckarelz I and II, and Mannheim-Waldhof *

Neuengamme Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...

subcamps: Beendorf, Bremen, Bremen-Obernheide, Kaltenkirchen, and Meppen-Dalum * A forced labor camp near the Nowy Swierzen ghetto * Ravensbrück subcamps: Karlshagen I and II * SS-Baubrigaden: 13 camps involved in the construction of V-1 weapons sites in occupied France * Sachsenhausen subcamps: Mackenrode, Nüxi, and Wieda *

Stutthof Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...

subcamps: Gerdauen, Heiligenbeil, Jesau, Praust, Schippenbeil, and Seerappen

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * *{{cite book , last1=Uziel , first1=Daniel , title=Arming the Luftwaffe: The German Aviation Industry in World War II , date=2011 , publisher=McFarland , location=Jefferson , isbn=9780786488797 , language=en

External links

''Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945''
(free download at the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

web site) Luftwaffe Nazi concentration camp occupations War crimes of the Wehrmacht Air force ground defence units and formations