This sub-camp was first established on 15th September 1944 in the woods near the railway station of Horgau but is first mentioned on 4th March 1945. Horgau railway station was located on the Augsburg to Welden railway line, a branch line that declined due to increasing competition from motor cars, the track finally being lifted in 1986. A modern cyclepath follows the course of the line.

 

80 prisoners formed an outsourcing arrangement from Pfersee. Additionally, there appears to have been a total of at least 307 prisoners transported from Bergen-Belsen with another two from Dachau. There may have been more prisoners on site but this cannot be clarified for certain. However, it is known that there were plans at one point to expand the numbers to 700. Other prisoners, both male and female, were located at Horgau station where there was a kitchen for the sub-camp. 

 

The prisoners were mainly Polish and Russians, but there were also Germans, Italians, French and Hungarians, including a great many Jews. The site was located about 15 kilometres west of Augsburg and consisted of both the sub-camp and the forest factory ('Waldwerk') it served. The prisoners worked on the wings of Messerschmitt aircraft, probably ME262 jet fighters, working on sheet metal stamping in the forest, the whole operation camouflaged from any risk of identification from the air. The prisoners also worked on road construction and on the railway (Reichsbahn).

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Only a small number of the buildings had concrete flooring and these were mainly those in which heavy machinery had been installed. The remaining buildings had floors of hardened clay covered with a material similar to lino. Both accommodation and toilets were primitive and only a few remains are visible today. 

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The guards consisted of SS and Wehrmacht troops unfit for front line service. It is not known how many deaths, if any, there were at the camp, which was closed down as the Americans approached in April 1945. No charges were ever brought against any individual associated with the camp.

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Source: Dachau KZ blog, citing:

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Wikipedia

Der Ort des Terrors, Vol 2, p283, Verlag C. H. BeckMunchen 2005

Translated from German by Herbert Stolpmann von Waldeck

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