The Arbeitserziehungslager
The first Arbeitserziehungslager was built shortly
after the start of the war in the south-western part of the Reich.
Since 1938 a large number of workers of the Organization Todt had
been occupied with the building of the Westwall and a highway.
Understandably the work did not progress at a pace which was to
the satisfaction of the planners, with the result that in October
1939 the "SS-Sonderlager" (SS special camp) Hinzert was
established along with several subsidiary police detention camps.
It was here that the 21-day "Erziehungshaft" (education
imprisonment), formerly completed in police prisons, was executed.
Judging from post-war statements by the first Hinzert commandant
these detention facilities had been necessary because many of the
workers assigned to the project by the employment offices were
found to have an "aversion to work". It had become necessary to
"educate" these "habitual drinkers" and notorious "lay-abouts" in
Hinzert and its Außenkommandos" (subsidiary camps.)
It appears that the Hinzert model had proven itself as Todt
himself later stated that only this form of short-term "education
detention" had made the completion of the Westwall
possible.
The establishment of special Arbeitserziehungslager (AEL)
was quickly taken up in other parts of the Reich as well. It
was probably in April or May 1940 that the Bremen Gestapo, with
the approval of the RSHA (Reich Security Headquarters)
arranged to have an AEL built in Farge which was initially used
primarily for German "Bummelanten" (loafers) who had been
arrested by the Bremen Gestapo in consultation with the management
of armament producers. Mid-April 1940 several barracks in
Berlin-Wuhlheide were transferred from railway management to the
Gestapo in Berlin. These buildings also served as detention
centers for "Arbeitsvertragsbrüchige" (workers in
breach of labor contracts) and for Gestapo prisoners awaiting
trial, and as centers for transfer to concentration camps.
By the mid-40's the AEL were also being used to put pressure
on another group of people, namely the more than 200,000 Polish
workers in the Reich. This is evident from a communiqué of
June 7, 1940, from the SS-Reichsführer (Supreme
SS-Commander) to all heads of district offices. In it Himmler
requested to be informed of the number of Straflager
(prison camps) for Polish workers and the experience with
these camps. The problem would urgently require uniform
regulations.
Berlin was not the only place where up to this point
uncertainty existed with respect to the existing Straflager
for Polish workers. Also, on June 7, 1940, the Höhere SS-
und Polizeiführer (HSSPF) (Senior Head of the SS and
Police) in defense district XI, Jeckeln, turned to the
Braunschweig State ministry. He had heard from discussions with
district heads in the Braunschweig area "that some sort of
Straflager for unwilling Polish workers had been
established in certain areas. In some cases places with especially
heavy work had been selected for this purpose ....
."1 Jeckeln also
requested further information about the existing camps and the
experience with them, since "this matter requires uniform
regulations."
In the summer of 1940 Jeckeln was transferred to the Ruhr area
where he took over the office of HSSPF West. On August 8 he
took part in a conference in Münster, attended by
representatives of the mining sector, Gauleitungen (Nazi
administrative districts) and defense. The subject for discussion
was the work performance of Poles employed in coal mining.
Gauamtleiter (District Head) Klein complained about the
lack of interest, disinclination to work, lack of
discipline and a tendency toward insubordination. The performance
of Polish workers tended to be as much as 35% less than that of
German workers, whose performance was also increasingly
diminishing. Klein demanded "drastic education measures."
Supported by experiences from former defense district XI,
Jeckeln suggested "to establish Zwangläger (forced
labor camps) for Poles, intended for temporary detention of those
elements who do not complete their work quota or otherwise commit
disciplinary
offenses."2 At a subsequent meeting on August 16, Jeckeln's
recommendation was approved, at which time also the "bad part of
the German work force" was included as potential detainees.
By the end of the same month, at the construction site of the
Versedam, the "Arbeits- und Erziehungslager (labor and
education camp) Hunswinkel near Lüdenscheid" became
operational. The construction firm Hochtief AG Lüdenscheid
had made some barracks available, in return receiving the
prisoners as laborers. The guard contingent consisted of members
of the police force under the command of the crime secretary of
the Gestapo regional headquarters Dortmund.
On December 12 the management of camp Hunswinkel wrote a
progress report. Up to that point 517 "education prisoners" had
been processed through the camp. In view of the existing
conditions at Hunswinkel, this achievement was considered
"extremely good". The report made mention of the highest demands
on the physical condition and health of the prisoners; the working
conditions were said to be "worse than difficult." Germans still
accounted for the greater number of prisoners (457). Thirty nine
were Poles, the remainder were citizens of other countries.
The large percentage of Germans in Hunswinkel could be
considered an exception, even at this point, the second half of
1940. AEL Hallendorf-Watenstedt, in Jeckeln's former command area,
had been established primarily to serve as a detention center for
"unwilling Polish workers" while still "having them available for
the Arbeitseinsatz (labor deployment) [at the Hermann
Göring Werke.]" A report about AEL Breitenau, which had been
established in the summer of 1940, contains the following:
"On the instructions of the Secret State Police Kassel, an
Arbeitserziehungslager for police prisoners ...... was
established. This camp is to be seen as a preliminary stage of
a concentration camp. Although for the most part Poles and
Jews will be housed here, Germans and other foreigners will also
be among them. The basis for detention is mainly refusal to work,
leaving the workplace and offenses against the
community."3
On April 1, 1941, in a letter to all government ministers and
Gestapo regional headquarters, among others, Himmler dealt with
the consequences which the 21-day
"Arbeitserziehungs-detention" in police prisons had on
Poles. For those incarcerated because of work refusal and
insubordination, the "purpose of incarceration" was said not to
have been achieved through simple imprisonment and detention in a
police prison. Himmler therefore ordered more severe prison
conditons such as the limiting of food rations.
As latest to this point, a special punishment which was
already in use in certain parts of the Reich, was suggested by the
Reichsführer: the admission to an
"Arbeitserziehungslager". In his communiqué he further
announced that, with respect to the establishment of
Arbeitserziehungslager a special decree would soon be issued.
The decree of May 28, 1941
The decree, announced in early April 1941, was officially made
public a mere eight weeks later, on May 28, 1941, to relevant
offices (Gestapo headquarters, commanders and inspectors of the
security police and security service, and others.) It shows that
it was still not known in Berlin how many AEL already existed in
the Reich. Instructions were given to report by June 15 all camps
already in existence.
The decree contained 13 points and six lay-outs. Thus any
misunderstandings about the operation of the AEL which were to be
established, would be removed.
Himmler justified his order on the basis of increasing
breaches of labor contracts by foreigners and other workers in
industries of importance to defense and the national economy. In
the interest of the defense capabilities of the German people this
deplorable state of affairs had to be opposed by all means:
"Workers who refuse work or otherwise endanger work morale and who
have to be placed in police custody for the maintenance of order
and security, are to be placed together in special
Arbeitserziehungslager and kept there for regular work
assignment. The Arbeitserziehungslager are exclusively intended
for the detention of those who refuse to work or problematic
elements whose conduct is equivalent to labor sabotage. The
incarceration pursues an educational purpose and is not intended
to be
punishment."4
The establishment of an Arbeitserziehungslager required the
approval of the RSHA. Within the Reich applications had to
be submitted through the inspectors of the security police and
security service (SD) (IdS.) In the occupied
territories the commanders of the security police and SD
(BdS) were responsible. In their
applications the IdS and BdS had to indicate to the
RSHA why it was necessary to establish an AEL within their
respective territories and how its operation (facilities, care,
capacity, labor deployment, etc.) would be organized. The actual
responsibility of the camp rested with one or more Gestapo
regional headquarters selected by the IdS/BdS. The Gestapo also
supplied guards. The initiative for the establishment of these
camps therefore originated with intermediate authorities
(IdS and BdS), and not with the highest ones as was
the case for concentration camps.
The AEL inmates were required to perform heavy labor in order
to keep them focused on their anti-social behavior. They were made
subject to controlled work providing a deterrent and a warning to
others. The daily hours of work in an AEL were not allowed to be
less than ten and not more than twelve. Work on Sundays and
holidays was permitted. Daily "wages" of 50 Reichspfennigs
were prescribed from which the prisoners could buy personal
needs (stamps, razor blades, toothpaste, etc.) to a maximum of 2
Reichsmark per week. The remaining money was to be paid at the
time of discharge. De former prisoner was expected to use this
money to pay the transportation expenses to his place of residence
or work. In the camp "free sickness and accident care" was
supposed to be provided.
AEL prisoners were to be made available as workers, to
armament industries in particular. The company was expected to pay
the minimum wage for untrained workers plus a surcharge of 15% for
accident and social insurance contributions. In case of difficulty
in the procurement of raw materials the employer also had to
provide work clothes, if possible. For prisoners whose keep was
not included, these costs had to be paid to the Gestapo who kept
back the proceeds, after subtracting daily wages of 50
Pfennig. When prisoner upkeep was required, the
money would go to the responsible agent after deduction of 3,50
Reichsmark per day, which went to the Gestapo for the prisoner's
"housing and care". All remaining costs for the operation of the
Arbeitserziehungslager were borne by the Reich treasury.
The AEL had the character of a police prison. They were
not meant to be like concentration camps. The detention
period was limited to 56 days. Should the "education goal" not
have been achieved at the conclusion of the this period, the
Gestapo department which had been responsible for the arrest, then
had to apply for imposition of "Schutzhaft" (protective
custody) and consequently the transfer to a concentration camp.
Additional regulations
On December 12, 1941, the Supreme Commander of the SS,
apparently because of various abuses of the AEL, considered it
necessary to refer once more to the basic regulations of May and
to further elaborate on and change some issues. Once more Himmler
pointed out that the AEL had to serve only as detention facilities
for "workers who were in breach of labor contracts." Other
prisoners, especially "Schutzhäftlinge" (prisoners in
protective custody), were not to be admitted.
In future disabled prisoners were no longer to receive
compensation and IdS/BdS could decide that Poles and Jews
would not be paid any wages. Also, on December 12, 1941, camp
regulations were issued. Under these regulations physical action
against prisoners was prohibited. The camp management could impose
the following punishment:
- Warning;
- Withdrawal of privileges;
- Withdrawal of warm morning and evening meals up to
four consecutive times;
- Withdrawal of warm mid-day meals up to three consecutive
times;
- Withdrawal of warm meals up to three times daily, every
second day;
- Withdrawal of bedding up to three consecutive times;
- Special work assignments up to five days; the total hours of
work could not exceed 16 hours for such assignments.
Even after this camp directive Polish prisoners were in an
especially poor position:
"Should further measures be required for Polish
prisoners, the Head of the State police headquarters in charge
of the business operation of the camp, can then further arrange
such measures ... on his own initiative".
5
"Special treatment" (execution) can obviously not be
understood to be part of these "further measures". Up to a few
months before the end of the war such decisions were reserved for
the more senior departments.
The decree of May 28, 1941, remained in effect in its entirety
from December 12 of that year until the end of the war.
Arbeitserziehungslager and "Ausländerpolitik"
(politics relating to foreigners)
Although the AEL was considered an instrument of repression
against all workers in the Reich and occupied territories, they
primarily punished foreigners, especially Polish and Soviet
citizens.
The Polish forced laborers, at their arrival in the Reich,
would be read "instructions" which included an undisguised threat:
"Anyone found to be negligent in work ... will receive forced
labor in the Arbeitserziehungslager". In a directive of the
RFSS (Supreme Commander SS) of February 20, 1942, with
respect to the deployment of workers from the former Soviet
territory, immediate intervention by the Gestapo and "as a rule
admission to an Arbeitserziehungslager" was ordered. Workers from
the Baltic States were also read instructions which stated: "Those
who stop working, who incite other workers, who leave the
workplace without authorization, etc., receive forced labor in the
Arbeitserziehungslager."
6 Such threats at the start of
employment never existed for German workers during the entire war.
Foreigners, in particular Polish and Soviet citizens,
represented the larger portion of the prisoners in AEL. In camp
Grosbeeren by Berlin the proportion of East-Europeans represented
at one time 80%. In camp Wulheide by Berlin Germans represented
approximately 15%, East-Europeans 52% and West-Europeans 33% of
the prisoners. AEL Bremen-Farge was also mostly populated by
foreigners, as was the case for camp Lahde by Minden.
The AEL were considered the instrument to suppress any
resistance by foreigners. By 1942 it had become customary with
some individual Gestapo department headquarters in the Reich and
the occupied territories, to conduct regular conferences in larger
companies with representatives of the Gestapo, labor trustees and
company management, on which occasions "labor contract breach" by
foreigners was discussed and immediate corrective measures taken.
This functioned as a deterrent to such extent that Himmler
instructed all Gestapo department headquarters to adopt these
proceedings. One year later Himmler again pointed to this
practice. Such conferences should as a rule be carried on right to
the start of the week. "Loafers" should immediately be warned or
arrested and punishment applied for which as "more a severe
measure" the admission to an AEL was suggested. The Gestapo in
Prague had already achieved good results with such action,
contributing significantly to an increase of labor discipline.