The European Holocaust Memorial / Kaufering VII

Past and present

Landsberg am Lech

Landsberg am Lech had a special significance for the Nazis: Adolf Hitler wrote his book "Mein Kampf" in this town when he was imprisoned there from 1923 to 1924. From 1933, Landsberg proudly called itself "Hitlerstadt" and "Stadt des Führers" and became a place of pilgrimage. The cell in which Hitler was imprisoned became an important place for supporters of National Socialism. In 1937, Landsberg was officially named the "City of Youth". After the large party meetings in Nuremberg, groups of Hitler Youth marched to Landsberg in 1937 and 1938 to take part in a special meeting. During the Nazi dictatorship, there were eleven concentration camps in Landsberg, satellite camps of the Dachau concentration camp, the Kaufering concentration camp complex. Around 23,000 people, mainly Jewish prisoners, were victims of forced labor there, where many of them died due to the catastrophic conditions in the camps. The prisoners therefore called these camps "cold crematoria". Around 6,500 prisoners were buried in mass graves in the vicinity of Kaufering and Landsberg. After the Second World War, many war criminals who were captured in the American occupation zone were imprisoned in Landsberg. The prison where Hitler wrote his book was used by the Americans as a prison for war criminals. By June 7, 1951, 248 war criminals had been executed there, including Oswald Pohl, Otto Ohlendorf and Paul Blobl. After the liberation of the concentration camps in 1945, one of the largest camps for displaced persons was set up in Landsberg.

Kaufering VII

The Kaufering VII concentration camp was taken over by the SS in September 1944, having previously been set up by the Organization Todt (OT). Men, women and children, up to 2,000 people in total, including many Jews, were imprisoned in Kaufering VII. They were victims of the Holocaust and came from various European countries. The prisoners had to perform forced labor under the most difficult and often deadly conditions to build bunkers and other construction projects, such as the Held & Francke (aka Erich) concrete parts factory. In January 1945, the camp was converted into an infirmary camp. The SS transferred sick, weakened prisoners who were no longer able to work from other concentration camps in the Kaufering complex and left them there to die without any medical care. The typhus epidemic worsened the situation and the camp was quarantined, while around 2,000 people were buried in nearby mass graves. In April 1945, as the Allies approached, the SS left the camp, but forcibly drove the surviving concentration camp prisoners on death marches south. After the war, German displaced persons and refugees from the east were housed in the former SS barracks and clay pipe buildings. This accommodation remained in place until the mid-1960s.

The Memorial Site

The European Holocaust Memorial was built by the European Holocaust Memorial Foundation e.V. at one of these 11 subcamps, Kaufering VII. Several construction phases took place between 2011 and 2018: the clay pipe barracks, in which the prisoners were housed under inhumane conditions, were preserved and are visible on the grounds of the memorial, the bunker for the dead was made safe, and research excavations were carried out. The project's website lists all these processes, as well as publications, the planning of the documentation center on site and information on the foundation's history education activities such as guided tours and visiting times. The European Holocaust Memorial Foundation e.V. is primarily responsible for preserving the former Kaufering VII concentration camp as a living testimony to the violence of the Nazi regime. It wants this site to be preserved as a place of remembrance of the suffering of the victims and as a place of learning. A central concern of the foundation is therefore the planning, design and construction of a documentation center for the entire Kaufering / Landsberg concentration camp complex. The aim is to ensure that knowledge about these historical events remains present for present and future generations. The foundation takes on various tasks, including the development of exhibition concepts, the dissemination of knowledge about historical events at authentic locations and the research and communication of recent history in the Landsberg district. It also promotes exchange and cooperation with memorial sites, information and documentation centers, museums, universities and schools. It also provides various resources of sources, archival materials and objects for science, research and youth work.