In the antechamber to extermination: The fate of Polish and Jewish convicts and “Night and Fog Prisoners” in the penitentiary subcamp Blachownia Śląska (Blechhammer) in 1942–1945

Susanne Barth

doi:10.19195/SKHS.2023.1.43.75

Vol. 78 No. 1 (2023)

In the antechamber to extermination: The fate of Polish and Jewish convicts and “Night and Fog Prisoners” in the penitentiary subcamp Blachownia Śląska (Blechhammer) in 1942–1945

Susanne Barth

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0382-4262

https://doi.org/10.19195/SKHS.2023.1.43.75

Pages: 43-75

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Abstract

The paper examines for the first time the role played by a penitentiary subcamp, that was set up in Blachownia Śląska (Blechhammer) by the penitentiary in Strzelce Opolskie (Gross Strehlitz) in 1942, as part of the Nazis’ plans to “Germanize” the annexed Silesian territories and to eliminate “racial” and political opponents.

Keywords:

Nazi penitentiary subcamps, work education camps, anti-Polish and anti-Jewish policies in Silesia, extermination through labor, “Night and Fog prisoners.”

Published

2023-12-31

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.