Lager II Aschendorfermoor

History (info: Wikipedia)

Camp Aschendorfermoor was established in 1935 by order of the Ministry of Justice as a prison camp for 1,000 people. In the official German list of concentration camps, Aschendorfermoor is listed under number 36. In the context of the Emslandlager, the camp is called Lager II Aschendorfermoor. The guards were provided by approximately 300 men by judicial officials and the SA. From July 1937 to May 1940, all political prisoners from the Emsland camps were brought together in camp Aschendorfermoor. During those years, the capacity was increased to approximately 2,200 prisoners.

Conditions

The prisoners were deployed in the peat industry, to cultivate land and to build roads and drainage channels. Often hard labor under inhumane conditions. The prisoners were also deployed to create a walking park for the guards and their families in the Aschendorfermoor area. On April 18 and 19, the camp was shot at by English planes and hit by incendiary bombs. This cost the lives of 50 prisoners. Many barracks were burned down after the bombing. At least 237 prisoners were murdered during their work.

After the war

A vacant lot is a reminder of the former park. Until 1956, a barrack remained on its site as a home for an East Prussian farmer. In the cemetery of Herbrum/Aschendorf, the Herold-Friedhof, there are three memorials, one for the Luxembourgers who died and one in memory of 191 murdered unknown prisoners and the 4 who died under English fire. The 191 men were murdered just before the end of the war on the orders of 21-year-old Willi Herold, who falsely presented himself as Hauptmann and were thrown into a mass grave. Herold was sentenced to death for this. More than 100 drawings by Ernst Walsken made in the camp have been preserved.

https://www.gedenkstaette-esterwegen.de/geschichte/die-emslandlager/ii-aschendorfermoor.html

Tuesday 23rd July 2024

Information panel at the former camp site.