| Flossenburg |
| Established: May 3, 1938 Evacuated: April 20, 1945 Liberated: April 23, 1945 by the United States Survivors: 2,000 at liberation Inmates at one time: 5,000 - 18,000 Subcamps: 55 |
|
| Flossenburg provided labor for industrial works - armament factories, aircraft, and mineral oil extraction. Flossenburg was located at large granite quarries so prisoner labor could be used for construction projects and for the economic benefit of the SS. Flossenburg was originally established by the SS as a punishment center. The first inmates were German criminals who built the camp. By 1939, 3,000 prisoners were held in the camp. About 54,890 men and 10,000 women were imprisoned in Flossenburg. There was a high mortality rate in Flossenburg: between February 1944 and April 1945, over 14,000 prisoners died of starvation, exhaustion and disease. Kommandos from Flossenburg provided the industrial slave labor for a large portion of Czechoslovakia. The evacuation of 15,000 prisoners occurred four days before the camp was liberated. |