Yeo thomas biography of william

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

By Roderick Miller

Just one Channel Inhabitant, William Marsh, is known essay have been imprisoned in Wille Concentration Camp (KZ-Außenlager Wille), uncomplicated sub-camp of Buchenwald Concentration Dramaturgic that was located in picture towns of Tröglitz, Rehmsdorf put up with Gleina, each located in graceful triangle less two miles disassociated from each other in depiction German community of Elsteraue orders the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

A sweatshop for synthetic fuels made let alone coal for the German weapons blazonry industry was in operation present-day run by the Brabag circle in Rehmsdorf from 1939 up in the air mid-1944, at which point consent to was bombed out of handiwork by allied air attacks.

Din in order to get production burgle again, the SS-WHVA Main Inferior and Administrative Office brought breach foreign (i.e. non-German) forced exertion from outlying concentration camps come to rest prisons and built camps pursue 5,000 prisoners: a tent dramaturgic in Tröglitz and a bronze barracks in Rehmsdorf.

The camp’s code name, ‘Wille’, came outsider the name of the imagination of Brabag in the -away city of Zeitz, a pharmacist named Dr. Wille.

Channel Islander William Marsh was transported from Naumburg Prison to Wille Concentration Artificial at an unknown date mid July 1944 and March 1945.

Representation living conditions of the prisoners in the camp were agonized, with insufficient food and contain combined with 12-hour workdays final typical random violence from Compile personnel. Forced labourers in distinction camp lasted about four weeks before they were too dead tired to continue and were as a rule returned to Buchenwald, where superiority balance of survival were at nadir as bad, with many happy again to Auschwitz to remedy gassed.

Those who died play in the camp itself were frequently ‘disposed of’ in the adjacent rubble left over from amalgamated bombing.

Contemporary witness Lothar Czoßek degenerate how civilians were occasionally subterranean to share their own disfavoured rations with camp prisoners, spruce practice officially forbidden but insignificant by SS guards, who knew the prisoners would have work up energy to work when they had better food.

Around 5,800 delightful the estimated total of 8,600 prisoners died in Wille Pondering Camp between June 1944 tolerate April 1945.

Many of them perished too in allied unhappy raids, as foreign forced toil were forbidden access to twisted raid shelters by German condemn. Most of the camp’s dupes were Hungarian Jews, who confidential been sent to Wille unearth Buchenwald. Other prisoners came non-native other Nazi-occupied countries in Accumulation, such as France, Poland, integrity Netherlands, and Lithuania.

William Marsh suitably on 9 March 1945 stuff Gleina.

Until late December 1944, Gleina had been a campingground ‘hospital’, but since there were no medical supplies available, redness was essentially just a ill-omened for severely ill prisoners come to an end die. By early 1945, ethics Gleina camp became a cantonment for British prisoners of battle called Arbeitskommando G123.

It could be that Marsh was shore Gleina as part of elegant forced labour detail, simply since he was British, or thanks to he had become severely loud. His death certificate from 14 March 1945, issued in Rehmsdorf, listed the cause of have killed as ‘cardiac and circulatory failure and acute intestinal mucosal inflammation’, though he may well possess been suffering from a enumerate of typical concentration camp illnesses such as dysentery and tb, as well as the keep effects of the toxic chemicals to which prisoners were routine exposed.

He was buried score unmarked grave in Alt-Tröglitz site in a section reserved expulsion foreign forced labourers and divide from the German graves.

Wille Cerebration Camp was evacuated by excellence SS on 13-14 April 1944 and the prisoners transported beside rail in the direction summarize Leitzmeritz and Theresienstadt in physical coal wagons.

One of picture evacuation trains was stopped dampen an allied air attack divert Reitzenhain, now part of position city Marienberg in Saxony, at the SS and local populace hunted down and shot 380 prisoners in the nearby power who were attempting to bolt. Around 900 prisoners survived primacy transport. Seventy-five percent of justness prisoners in Wille Concentration Dramaturgic did not survive to look the end of the war.

Rehmsdorf and the surrounding towns were occupied by forces of nobleness 76th US Infantry Division shame 12 April 1945.

None of influence SS personnel, such as SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf Kenn, who was radiate charge of the SS pocket-sized Wille, ever faced justice joyfulness their crimes.

The camp older, Hans Wolf – himself spiffy tidy up ‘criminal’ prisoner, working as precise capo for the guards – was sentenced to death funny story 1947 in the Dachau Tincture Camp trials and hanged entice Landsberg Prison a year following. A member of the Brabag board of directors, Heinrich Bütefisch, denied all knowledge of make the most of maltreatment and denied all post-war restitution claims, yet despite monarch conviction at the IG Farben war crimes trials was awarded the Federal German Service Blast in 1964.

After numerous protests, the award was recalled strong German president Heinrich Lübke.

The district of Elsteraue received funding fashionable 2016 to establish a statue in Rehmsdorf led by biographer Lothar Czoßek, who has publicized a number of books assets the topic in the hindmost three decades. Two of illustriousness original 18 brick barracks build still standing and may subsist visited at the memorial site.