Nordhausen.

[Peter Clare]

My son visited Nordhausen last week, he described it as 'very sad'


Nordhausen Concentration Camp (Germany)

[Harry Ree]

Dora Mittelbau was the tunnel complex where V2 rocket engines were manufactured in the twin tunnels.There was no such place as "Dora" Mittelbau in so far as "Dora" was a code name for the installation and Mittelbau meaning central or main part of a building of the installation."Dora" was the installation that the Germans were forced to evacuate to from Peenemunde after the successful raid of 18 August 1943.It was also the site where after seizing control of the project from the Wehrmacht,the SS ruled a reign of terror over all who found themselves at "Dora". At the time "Dora" was not identified on any map and I am certain that the Allies did not hold the same level of intelligence as they did on Peenemunde.

One of the problems and confusing to all caught up in its terror was that the imates did not know where Dora was.Deportees were sent here and their next of kin were not aware of its existance.It was as if people vanished into night and fog.

Memorials in France to victims always refer to the individuals deported and death in "Dora". Visiting Nordhausen "Dora" shortly after the East German regime fell we were able to walk freely around the site whereas before as the GDR,visitors only could be shown round the site by guided tourand no doubt have to attend a polical presentation.However, one advantage of this interim period was that the East German ""Dora" infomation leaflets were still available and make good reading, implicating those SS engineering personnel who had fled into West Germany and had never been brought to justice. There was no official attendence at the site as I have said and visitors could walk around the site as if it was a park.

One thing I noted from the memorials in France and those on the plaques in the crematorium which quickly appeared when the regime broke down was that a typical length of survival of people deported here, and there was a large number of young people, was three months.

When US forces overran the place in mid April 1945, hundreds of inmates were found lying and dying out in the open,having freely left the tunnels as best they could when the SS quickly left. Around them lay completed and unfinished V2 engines.Other inmates had left and been driven on a forced march to nowhere and death.

From an interesting point of view,on our visit, old steam trains were still running through the streets of Nordhausen,as they had done in the days of the GDR and had to until they could be replaced.The streets were mostly cobbled and to regulate these trains,there was quite a number of traffic lights.

[marcus69x]

Imagine being only one of three left. Lying amongst the dead bodies of the people you got to know during the last few weeks? Unimaginable.