WIESBADEN-UNTER DEN EICHEN [aka WIESBADEN]

On March 20, 1944, a work detachment of 57 skilled Luxembourg craftsmen was sent from Hinzert to Wiesbaden. Their task was to erect Ausweichquartiere (temporary quarters) for Police and SS offices that were either threatened or destroyed by Allied bombing raids in Wiesbaden. Already a few weeks earlier, inmates of the Wiesbaden police prison had prepared accommodations for these inmates on the grounds of the former Festplatzgelände (fair grounds) of the city Unter den Eichen. The contingent was increased in numbers in September 1944 by an additional 19 Luxembourg prisoners who had previously been dismantling airplanes in Gelnhausen. Altogether, there were almost 100 prisoners in the Wiesbaden-Unter den Eichen subcamp, including 76 Luxembourgers, a few Dutch and French, 1 Belgian, and 1 German prisoner. The camp elder was Nicolas Braun. Other sources state that in November 1944 a second group of about 100 prisoners, mostly Dutchmen, arrived in the camp.1 The prisoners worked for the ...