page_title: Flossenbürg concentration camp
section_title: Expansion
hierarchical_section_title: Flossenbürg concentration camp / Expansion
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Odrecznie narysowany plan obozu koncentracyjnego w Flossenbürgu autorstwa Stefana Kryszaka - byłego więźnia obozu. Rysunek tuszem na kalce. English: Hand drawn plan of the Flossenbürg concentration camp by Stefan Kryszak the survivor of the camp. Drawing done in ink on tracing paper. Znak/LabelPolishEnglishAKomendatura obozuCamp headquarter BGłówna brama, strażnica SSMain gate, SS watchtowerCKoszary SSSS barracksDMagazynyMagazinesEOsiedle mieszkaniowe oficerów SSHousing for SS officersFKuchniaKitchenGLaźniaBathHWarsztatyWorkshopsIWozowniaCoach houseJNamiotTentKRewir (Szpital)Sickbay (Hospital)LLekarzDoctorMBunkierBunkerNStrzelnicaShooting rangeOUstęp Kwar.ToiletsPWęgielCoalRWieże strażniczeWatchtowerQPsyDogsSKrematoriumCrematoriumTSzubienicaGallowsUDroga transportu zwłok i węgla do krematoriumRoad for moving corpses and coal to the crematoriumZPpoj. "Rutschbahn" - Rynna do spuszczania zwłok"Rutschbahn" - Gutter for sliding corpsesI-XVII, XXIV Baraki mieszkalne więźniówPrisoner barracksXX-XXIIIBaraki kwarantanny ("Zugangi")Quarantine barracks ("Zugangi")Ogrodzenie (pod napięciem) Electric fence
context_page_description: Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flossenbürg and near the German border with Czechoslovakia. The camp's initial purpose was to exploit the forced labor of prisoners for the production of granite for Nazi architecture. In 1943, the bulk of prisoners switched to producing Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter planes and other armaments for Germany's war effort. Although originally intended for "criminal" and "asocial" prisoners, after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the camp's numbers swelled with political prisoners from Eastern Europe. It also developed an extensive subcamp system that eventually outgrew the main camp.
  Before it was liberated by the United States Army in April 1945, 89,964 to 100,000 prisoners passed through Flossenbürg and its subcamps. Around 30,000 died from malnutrition, overwork, executions, or during the death marches. Some of those responsible for these deaths, including administrators, guards, and others, were tried and convicted in the Flossenbürg trial.
context_section_description: In September 1939, the SS transferred 1,000 political prisoners to Flossenbürg from Dachau in order to clear the latter camp to train the first regiment of the Waffen-SS. These prisoners, who were the first political prisoners at Flossenbürg, were moved back to Dachau in March 1940. The first foreign prisoners were transferred to the camp by the Gestapo in April, including Czech student protestors and Polish resistance members. The vast majority of the new foreign prisoners were incarcerated due to their opposition to the Nazi regime; a few of them were Jews. Most of the Jewish political prisoners were executed or died shortly after arriving from mistreatment. The last twelve surviving Jews were deported to Auschwitz on 19 October 1942, pursuant to Himmler's order to make the Reich Judenrein.
  The number of Polish prisoners increased sharply in 1941; on 23 January, 600 arrived from Auschwitz. In mid-October 1941, 1,700 to 2,000 Soviet prisoners of war arrived at Flossenbürg as part of a massive transfer of Soviet prisoners to the SS camp system. In poor condition due to their previous mistreatment, they spent several months recovering before they were deemed fit to work. They were accommodated in a special, cordoned-off area.
  By February 1943, Flossenbürg had 4,004 prisoners, not including the Soviet prisoners of war. From April 1943, the commandant was Max Koegel, described by American historian Todd Huebner as "a vicious martinet" who lacked the ability to manage the camp during its rapid expansion. Continuing influxes of political prisoners from occupied countries caused Germans to become a minority that same year. During 1944, Flossenbürg's population expanded almost eightfold, from 4,869 to 40,437, due to a high influx of mainly non-German prisoners. This was part of an expansion that applied over the entire Nazi concentration camp system.
  By the end of 1943, the number of guards had increased to about 450, including 140 Ukrainian auxiliaries. As with other concentration camps, guards initially consisted of SS men from Germany and Austria, whose ranks were augmented with Volksdeutsche recruits after 1942. The number of guards increased sixfold during 1944 and reached 4,500 by the time the camp was evacuated. Due to manpower shortages, fit young guards were called up for front-line service and many older men, members of the Wehrmacht, and five hundred SS women were recruited into the guard force at Flossenbürg.
caption: Layout of the camp, as drawn by survivor Stefan Kryszak
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