The US Army Airfield as a place for learning and remembrance Friederike Schröder (Geschichtswerkstatt KZ-Außenlager Echterdingen-) Bernhausen – the place where I grew up

2 Bernhausen – the place where I grew up

I grew up in a town called Filderstadt-Bernhausen which is very close to Stuttgart. It‘s actually a nice place to grow up: it‘s close to the city and also close to the nature. The famous German Sauerkraut grows there. But also there was always a lot of traffic and noise from all the highways and of course from our airport.

3 Bernhausen – the place where I grew up

When I was in the age of 14 I was a candidate for confirmation and we had weekly classes in the church of my parish. This was the first time that I heard that there was a small concentration camp at the airport nearby. It was quite shocking for all of us to hear something like that. At this time there was no big research about it and there was no memorial there, because it was situated on the ground of the U.S. Airfield so we only learned a little about the prisoners and the camp. 1995 – 50 years after the war, a memorial stone was placed in front of the Airfield.

4 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

In September 2005, this airfield suddenly gained notoriety in the newspapers and on TV all over the world. The remains of 34 Jewish forced labourers were discovered near the main security gate on the U.S. airfield during a construction project to upgrade the access control point.

5 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

6 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

Between 22nd November 1945 and the end of January 1945 this place at the south-western part of the was used as one of the 70 side camps of KZ Natzweiler-Struthof in Alsace. 600 concentration camp prisoners stayed in “Hangar 13” which is still in use today. At least 119 of them died during these two months.

7 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

The Stuttgart airport was completed in September 1939, at the beginning of the war it was under command of the air force. Because of its military significance, on 14 th August 1944 it was attacked by the American air forces, by which the runway was severely damaged. Organization Todt in ordered 600 workers for the renovation of the airport at the Economic Administration Main Office (WVHA) of the SS, the headquarter for all concentration camps, in order to repair the runway and to build a link to the highway, so that it was possible to start and land on the highway, too.

8 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

The 600 prisoners of Jewish faith arrived by train in Echterdingen on 22 nd November 1944. They came from the Stutthof concentration camp in Danzig, and were of different nationality: 201 of them were from Hungary, 147 came from Poland, 80 from Greece, 43 from France, Holland and 32 from other nations, only 13 came from . Their health condition at the arrival was already given cause for concern; many of them came already with a long history of suffering. The actual camp was a hangar, which had been built in February 1944 and previously served as accommodation for non-Jewish forced labourers. A barbed wire fence and four watchtowers surrounded the hangar.

9 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

In order to rebuild the runway and to fill the holes in there, stones had to be taken from quarries in the surrounding area. One of the quarries was in Emerland south of Bernhausen; the other one is located in Leinfelden. The security force consisted of members of the air force, which were based at the airport. Camp commander was the SS-Untersturmführer Rene Romann from Alsace, who was previously commander of the concentration camp Peltre. Later he became commander of the concentration camp Geislingen.

10 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

On their daily walks to the quarries, prisoners regularly met with the population of the communities around the airport. These pictures are deeply stamped in the memory among the people of Bernhausen, Echterdingen und Leinfelden. Despite of strict prohibition numerous citizens tried to help by providing something to eat for the prisoners on their way or even in the quarries.

11 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

The heavy physical work in the cold winter and with poor nutrition quickly lead to diseases and soon at least 119 prisoners died due to a lack of medical care. 19 of them were burned in the crematorium in Esslingen. 66 victims were buried in a mass grave within the forest of Bernhäuser Forst. After the war, they were exhumed and buried at Ebershaldenfriedhof in Esslingen. Due to the military defeat of the German Reich, the Nazis were not interested at all in preserving the lives and the work force of forced labourers. The destruction was given priority over the exploitation of forced labourers.

12 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

Today the names of 119 victims are known, so they were given back their identity and therefore at least a little part of their dignity. However, an assignment which dead persons are buried on which of the two cemeteries is not possible.

13 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

In January 1945, typhus broke out and therefore the camp was closed. Still the suffering of the prisoners went on. They were sent on a new odyssey to other camps. 100 of them were sent to the so-called sick camp Vaihingen/Enz, another side camp of Natzweiler, 74 of them died there, 21 were later deported to Dachau. Other 59 prisoners were sent to Bergen-Belsen and 320 persons to Ohrdruf in Thüringen, a side camp of Buchenwald camp. It is unclear what happened with the remaining three. In addition, until today it is not known how many people in total survived the camp in Echterdingen, we only know of 64 people.

14 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

15 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

16 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

After the remains were exhumed, and after months of negotiation, the bodies were reburied in December 2005.

17 KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

18 Geschichtswerkstatt KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

Since then inhabitants of Filderstadt and Leinfelden- Echterdingen – the towns nearby started to work on the remembrance of the victims of this concentration camp.

19 Memorial KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

Considerations Excursions to different memorial places in Baden- Württemberg A model of 3-pillars: Memorial, educational exploration, foundation

20 Memorial KZ-Aussenlager Echterdingen

The memory of the victims of the concentration camp will be based on three pillars:

1. Pillar 1: warning, commemoration, remembrance: A "place of remembrance and commemoration" will be set up nearby the burying place at the airfield (with a cost of about 70,000 euros) 2. Pillar 2: Scientific and educational exploration through a book, a film and further educational materials 3. Pillar 3: Establishment of a foundation

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