This website is intended as a virtual memorial and seeks to uncover a part of the history of the town of Trostberg that has so far remained hidden.
According to the current state of research, there existed 152 sub-camps and external work details of the Dachau Concentration Camp (near Munich, Germany). Many of them were established as part of the relocation projects of the German armaments industry. Most of these camps, in which the prisoners were imprisoned under catastrophic conditions as dehumanised production capital for the armaments industry, have been forgotten and repressed today. The Trostberg sub-camp, which is the focus of this website, is one such camp. Until now, the history of this place of terror was largely unknown.
Starting from the political and economic framework of the camp's establishment and based on research in the relevant archives, this website aims to provide a first comprehensive account of the history and function of the Trostberg sub-camp.
The Trostberg sub-camp (AL Trostberg) opened at the end of October/beginning of November 1944. It was created as part of the relocation of the production of the BMW 801 engine, previously housed in Markirch (Alsace). This engine was used as a universal power unit in both bomber and fighter aircraft of the German Luftwaffe. By relocating the plant and the prisoners forced to perform slave labour there, the engine production was to be protected from Allied air raids.
The Trostberg sub-camp was established as part of the National Socialist camp system for the oppression and exploitation of the prisoners' labour. The camp's peak occupancy was reported in January 1945 at 951 prisoners. Seven prisoners died in the Trostberg sub-camp as a result of inadequate nutrition, hard labour, lack of medical care and ill-treatment. At least 121 prisoners, weakened by illness, were sent back to the Dachau main camp. Their further fate is unknown. In total, 1,048 prisoners known by name passed through the Trostberg sub-camp. The majority (just under 70%) were citizens of Eastern European states or the USSR. In addition to BMW, the prisoners were also deployed at the Trostberg chemical company "Süddeutsche Kalkstickstoffwerke" (SKW; today AlzChem), as well as by the town of Trostberg itself for the construction of an air-raid tunnel. From March 1945 the Trostberg concentration camp sub-camp was partially evacuated. The 300 prisoners who remained at the Trostberg sub-camp were liberated by soldiers of the US Army on 4 May 1945.
Today, parts of the former camp site are built over with allotment gardens; the remaining area lies fallow. Today, only a small memorial in a remote corner of Trostberg cemetery commemorates this cruel chapter of the town's history, marked by ill-treatment and oppression.