MittelbauDora

Mittelbau-Dora was a labor camp established by the SS within the larger Mittelbau (Central Works) facility in Nordhausen, Germany during World War II. The site served as a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp and was developed specifically for the production of aircraft and V-2 rocket components.

SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Schwannberger was the commander of Mittelbau-Dora from its inception in September 1944 until April 1945, when the camp was dissolved. Over 60 subcamps were set up throughout the Mittelbau facility, where between 50,000 and 60,000 Soviet, Polish, French, and other prisoners were forced to work under inhumane conditions. Living quarters consisted of horse stalls and brick barracks that were poorly ventilated and lacked basic amenities.

Prisoners in Mittelbau-Dora were subjected to a brutal regime of forced labor, working long hours without relief or adequate compensation. Mortality rates within the camp were extremely high, with deaths resulting from malnutrition, exhaustion, disease, and physical punishment. An estimated 1,000 to 2,000 prisoners died at Mittelbau-Dora per week in the months preceding the war's end.

The camp's location made it a prime target for bombing by Allied forces. On March 3, 1945, several thousand prisoners and workers took to the streets to protest their working conditions, leading to the Dolp Camp Riot and subsequent deployment of troops to quell the uprising. By the end of the war in May 1945, the Mittelbau-Dora site had been largely destroyed. Its historical reputation has been cemented due to the extreme severity and atrocities committed there.