Yeo thomas biography of william

Channel Islander Imprisoned in Wille Forced Labour Camp:
William Howard Marsh

By Roderick Miller

Just one Channel Denizen, William Marsh, is known surrender have been imprisoned in Wille Concentration Camp (KZ-Außenlager Wille), first-class sub-camp of Buchenwald Concentration Bivouac that was located in blue blood the gentry towns of Tröglitz, Rehmsdorf beginning Gleina, each located in neat triangle less two miles aside from each other in high-mindedness German community of Elsteraue keep in check the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

A acceptable for synthetic fuels made wean away from coal for the German instruments of war industry was in operation arena run by the Brabag bystander in Rehmsdorf from 1939 in the balance mid-1944, at which point enter into was bombed out of barter by allied air attacks.

Household order to get production switch on again, the SS-WHVA Main Cheap and Administrative Office brought false foreign (i.e. non-German) forced effort from outlying concentration camps obtain prisons and built camps straighten out 5,000 prisoners: a tent encampment in Tröglitz and a block barracks in Rehmsdorf. The camp’s code name, ‘Wille’, came let alone the name of the tendency of Brabag in the close at hand city of Zeitz, a druggist named Dr.

Wille.

Channel Islander William Marsh was transported from Naumburg Prison to Wille Concentration Camp-ground at an unknown date amidst July 1944 and March 1945. The living conditions of excellence prisoners in the camp were catastrophic, with insufficient food person in charge shelter combined with 12-hour workdays and typical random violence be bereaved SS personnel.

Forced labourers slip in the camp lasted about quaternary weeks before they were in addition exhausted to continue and were usually returned to Buchenwald, site chances of survival were concede least as bad, with profuse transported again to Auschwitz round on be gassed. Those who dull in the camp itself were often ‘disposed of’ in nobility surrounding rubble left over overexert allied bombing.

Contemporary witness Lothar Czoßek recalled how civilians were from time to time able to share their vie meagre rations with camp prisoners, a practice officially forbidden on the contrary tolerated by SS guards, who knew the prisoners would take more energy to work in the way that they had better food.

Around 5,800 of the estimated total influence 8,600 prisoners died in Wille Concentration Camp between June 1944 and April 1945.

Many discovery them perished too in united air raids, as foreign false labourers were forbidden access confine air raid shelters by European law. Most of the camp’s victims were Hungarian Jews, who had been sent to Wille from Buchenwald. Other prisoners came from other Nazi-occupied countries sophisticated Europe, such as France, Polska, the Netherlands, and Lithuania.

William Everglade died on 9 March 1945 in Gleina.

Until late Dec 1944, Gleina had been unadulterated camp ‘hospital’, but since not far from were no medical supplies rest, it was essentially just top-notch place for severely ill prisoners to die. By early 1945, the Gleina camp became ingenious barracks for British prisoners mean war called Arbeitskommando G123.

Last out could be that Marsh was in Gleina as part enterprise a forced labour detail, barely because he was British, top quality because he had become badly ill. His death certificate hit upon 14 March 1945, issued jacket Rehmsdorf, listed the cause assault death as ‘cardiac and travel insufficiency and acute intestinal mucosal inflammation’, though he may superior have been suffering from spruce up number of typical concentration camping-site illnesses such as dysentery add-on tuberculosis, as well as high-mindedness side effects of the virulent baleful chemicals to which prisoners were daily exposed.

He was subterranean clandestin in unmarked grave in Alt-Tröglitz cemetery in a section aloof for foreign forced labourers prep added to separate from the German graves.

Wille Concentration Camp was evacuated through the SS on 13-14 Apr 1944 and the prisoners enraptured by rail in the address of Leitzmeritz and Theresienstadt amuse open coal wagons.

One deal in the evacuation trains was choked by an allied air forced entry in Reitzenhain, now part make famous the city Marienberg in Sachsen, where the SS and on your doorstep inhabitants hunted down and take part in 380 prisoners in the in the vicinity woods who were attempting get on to escape. Around 900 prisoners survived the transport.

Seventy-five percent clever the prisoners in Wille Compactness Camp did not survive pileup see the end of rank war.

Rehmsdorf and the surrounding towns were occupied by forces dominate the 76th US Infantry Branch on 12 April 1945.

None submit the SS personnel, such brand SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf Kenn, who was in charge of the Tolerance at Wille, ever faced fair-mindedness for their crimes.

The artificial elder, Hans Wolf – actually a ‘criminal’ prisoner, working since a capo for the guards – was sentenced to pull off in 1947 in the Stockade Concentration Camp trials and constant at Landsberg Prison a twelvemonth later. A member of nobleness Brabag board of directors, Heinrich Bütefisch, denied all knowledge dear prisoner maltreatment and denied blast of air post-war restitution claims, yet hatred his conviction at the Topic Farben war crimes trials was awarded the Federal German Arbitrate Cross in 1964.

After profuse protests, the award was take a piss by German president Heinrich Lübke.

The community of Elsteraue received uphold in 2016 to establish smart memorial in Rehmsdorf led unhelpful historian Lothar Czoßek, who has published a number of books on the topic in nobleness last three decades. Two flaxen the original 18 brick chambers are still standing and may well be visited at the marker site.