The Town of Trostberg

Trostberg between 1933 and 1945

During the National Socialist era, the situation in Trostberg was similar to that in many other German towns of the Reich: the town council consisted exclusively of NSDAP members, social life was subject to "Gleichschaltung" (forced political conformity) and shaped by various Nazi organisations such as the BDM (League of German Girls), HJ (Hitler Youth), NSKK (National Socialist Motor Corps) and many others. Many Trostberg men, and as the war progressed increasingly also adolescents, fought as part of the German Wehrmacht.

Trostberg under the Nazi regime resembled many other towns in one further respect: a sub-camp was also established here. The National Socialist policy of persecution and oppression of opponents of the regime and of members of supposedly "inferior races" now also took place directly on the doorstep of the people of Trostberg. Although the existence of concentration camps was no secret, it makes a considerable difference whether one knows something only from hearsay or whether one sees with one's own eyes the wretched, often fatal conditions under which the prisoners of the sub-camp fought daily for their lives.

Why Trostberg? – The question of location

Many different points played a role in the choice of Trostberg as the site of a sub-camp of the Dachau Concentration Camp. Some of these aspects can be found in historical documents, others arise from fundamental considerations against the background of the conditions of the time or from comparison with the establishment of similar sub-camps. The following four points contributed to Trostberg being chosen as the location of the sub-camp.

1. Geographical situation and the resulting military and logistical-economic advantages

Trostberg lay in a south-central position within the remains of the "German Reich". To the south the Alps formed a natural barrier; to the north, east and west lay the last remnants of the land mass of the "German Reich". The place was thus, at least provisionally, as far as possible from the reach of the advancing Allied armies.

At the same time, the new BMW relocation plant, for which the Trostberg sub-camp was to provide the labour force and which was therefore built simultaneously with and directly next to the camp, was not too far from the main Allach plant (near Munich) and the other BMW plants and relocation operations. During the war, BMW engine production was distributed across several plants. This led to numerous so-called relocation operations in which different components of the engines were manufactured. The engine parts had to be transported back and forth between the individual plants for processing. At the time of the establishment of the Trostberg sub-camp the infrastructure was severely overloaded and often destroyed. The proximity of the individual relocation operations to each other made the transport of the parts considerably easier and was a key factor in continuing to guarantee the production of BMW aircraft engines.

2. The town's prior appearance in earlier relocations and military projects

Even before the establishment of the sub-camp, relocations had taken place to Trostberg. From July 1944 the cigarette company "Haus Neuerburg" of Munich stored cigarette paper and cartons on an area of 540 m² in the "Pappenfabrik Rieger". The "Hotel Post" in Trostberg housed measuring instruments and materials of the battery and elements factory of Petrix-Werke GmbH, which had been evacuated from Berlin to Trostberg. Until December 1944 Trostberg also housed Collection Camp IV of the Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production.

Trostberg had thus already come to the attention of the relevant authorities before the plans for the relocation of the BMW plant and the establishment of the sub-camp.

3. Existing buildings and infrastructure

In the final phase of the war, the resources of material, time and labour were extremely scarce. It was therefore a great advantage to use existing buildings and infrastructure. In Trostberg, the halls of the Süddeutsche Kalkstickstoffwerke (SKW), which had been based in the town since 1911, provided buildings that BMW could now use for aircraft engine production. In addition, the SKW factory grounds had a railway siding which was of great importance not only for transporting the prisoners but above all for transporting materials, machinery and engine parts. The railway connection led directly into the SKW factory grounds and thus also to Hall 1 used by BMW, so that the aircraft engine parts further processed at the BMW relocation operation in Trostberg could be transported by train directly to and from the plant.

This saving in investment in the construction or expansion of infrastructure and buildings was a substantial production and time advantage for BMW, since aircraft engine production in Trostberg could begin directly without further preliminary work (with the exception of the construction of the sub-camp, which, however, did not fall within BMW's area of responsibility but within that of the SS and the SS-WVHA respectively).

4. Energy supply

As early as 1944 there was a hydroelectric power plant in Trostberg which was built and operated by the SKW. In times of war-related energy shortages this facility provided a certain degree of energy security and self-sufficiency for the production processes of the BMW relocation operation.