• Leipzig Memorial of Forced Labour
In December 2001, a memorial was inaugurated on the premises of the former Hugo-Schneider-Aktiengesellschaft (HASAG), an armaments corporation. It commemorates the tens of thousands of prisoners from the Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück concentration camps who had to conduct forced labour in arms factories in the Leipzig region.
Image: Weimar, January 7, 1945, Letter from a youth to his mother from the HASAG Leipzig satellite camp, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.
Weimar, January 7, 1945, Letter from a youth to his mother from the HASAG Leipzig satellite camp, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.

Image: Leipzig, 2002, Main building of HASAG factory I, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.
Leipzig, 2002, Main building of HASAG factory I, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.
With the rise to power of the National Socialists, the region around Leipzig gradually became one of the largest armaments industry centres of the German Reich. Among the largest factories in the area were the Erla-Maschinenwerke, the Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke as well as the HASAG. By the end of World War II, HASAG had become the third largest arms manufacturer in Germany. Having previously produced petroleum lamps, HASAG began specialising in the production of munition and surface-to-surface weapons. It maintained several branches in Saxony and Thuringia. At the end of 1939, HASAG also took over several factories in the General Government in occupied Poland. In 1944, the Reich minister for armaments and war production, Albert Speer, issued HASAG a special authorisation for manufacturing the »Panzerfaust«. Beforehand, this weapon had been developed by HASAG scientists.
The SS Economic Administration Main Office (WVHA) rented out concentration camp prisoners to armaments companies in return for payment. Many satellite camps for the accommodation of the forced labourers at German armaments plants were created in this way. The concentration camps from which the prisoners originally stemmed were responsible for the administration of these new camps. In 1944, there were over 100,000 prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates in satellite camps in and around Leipzig. Many of them perished of the harsh and at times hazardous to health labour in the factories. HASAG forced labourers had to, for instance, produce highly toxic explosives for the Panzerfaust and fill them into the missiles without any protective clothing.
Women and men who were no longer able to work were regularly sent back to the main camp and replaced by new prisoners.
Image: Weimar, January 7, 1945, Letter from a youth to his mother from the HASAG Leipzig satellite camp, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.
Weimar, January 7, 1945, Letter from a youth to his mother from the HASAG Leipzig satellite camp, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.

Image: Leipzig, 2002, Main building of HASAG factory I, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.
Leipzig, 2002, Main building of HASAG factory I, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V.
The over 100,000 forced labourers who were deployed in the Leipzig region came from all over Europe. HASAG alone was responsible for the death of over 5,000 forced labourers whom they had deployed on their production sites in Germany.
Shortly before the end of the war, many more prisoners died on death marches following the evacuation of all satellite camps by the SS.
On April 18, 1945, members of the SS, the Gestapo and the Volkssturm committed a massacre to which around 300 forced labourers, who had worked in the Erla-Maschinenwerke in Abtnaundorf near Leipzig, fell victim. The men were chased into a barrack, which was then set ablaze.
Image: April 20, 1945, Victims of the massacre in the Abtnaundorf satellite camp, National Archives Washington
April 20, 1945, Victims of the massacre in the Abtnaundorf satellite camp, National Archives Washington

Image: Leipzig, 2004, Youths speaking with survivors at the memorial, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V., Norma Neuheiser
Leipzig, 2004, Youths speaking with survivors at the memorial, Förderverein »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V., Norma Neuheiser
In 1946/47, the largest armaments factories were blown up with the exception of a few administrative buildings on orders of the international control council and not reconstructed. The HASAG premises are today home to the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
On December 12, 2001, thanks to an initiative of the Leipzig city council and with the support of the UFZ's research directorate, a small memorial was inaugurated at the historic site to honour the forced labourers.
In May 2003, the permanent exhibition »Deported - Exploited and yet the Courage to Survive« was opened in the presence of former forced labourers. The project had been funded by the European Commission. The memorial is maintained by the »Dr. Margarete Blank« e.V. support association.
Each year, former forced labourers visit the memorial on an invitation of the City of Leipzig.
Image: Leipzig, undated, Exterior view of the memorial, Gedenkstätte für Zwangsarbeit Leipzig, Andrea Lorz
Leipzig, undated, Exterior view of the memorial, Gedenkstätte für Zwangsarbeit Leipzig, Andrea Lorz

Name
Gedenkstätte für Zwangsarbeit Leipzig
Address
Permoserstraße 15
04318 Leipzig
Phone
+49 (0)341 235 207 5
Fax
+49 (0)341 235 207 6
Web
http://zwangsarbeit-in-leipzig.de
E-Mail
gedenkstaette@zwangsarbeit-in-leipzig.de
Open
Tuesday to Thursday 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. or by appointment
Possibilities
Support for school and student projects, loan of travelling exhibition »Deported - Exploited and yet the Courage to Survive«, thematic tours for pupils and youth groups