PLAUEN [HORN GMBH]

Three Flossenbürg subcamps were established at the end of 1944 in Plauen in the Vogtland. Two of them were located in partly nonoperating textile factories, cotton and wool plants, where women had to manufacture lightbulbs for Osram KG. A subcamp for male prisoners was located at the company Dr. Th. Horn, which had been active in aircraft technology from the 1920s. The company’s office was based on the outskirts of Plauen at 284 Pausaer Strasse. On November 9, 1944, 50 prisoners were transferred to the Plauen Dr. Th. Horn company. Numbers gradually declined so that in December 1944 there were only 35 men there. They were accounted for as skilled workers.1 Two Russian prisoners tried to escape on December 6, 1944. The next day a Pole and a Frenchmen died, and the death of another Frenchman is recorded on December 28. In light of the small size of the subcamp and the use of skilled workers, this is an extraordinarily high death rate. Obviously, the prison conditions were poor, which a...