KZ-Farge was a subcamp of concentration camp Neuengamme. Between 1943 and 1945 the camp was situated in this area on the Neuenkirchen Heide between the towns of Schwanewede, Lüssum, Farge, Rekum and Neuenkirchen (Nedersaksen) and housed forced laborers that constructed U-Boat Bunker Valentin.
A little further from the camp entrance, there were two camps at this location from the summer of 1943 until they were dissolved in 1945. This memorial is on the border between the two camps “Naval Community camp I” (Ger: Marinegemeinschaftslager I) and the “Soviet POW camp“. Facing the stele you have the former naval community camp on the left (East) and the prisoner of war camp on your right (West).
Both camps had barracks of light wood construction. These were demolished soon after the war, and in the years that followed almost all traces of the two camps disappeared.
Marinegemeinschaftslager I
The naval community camp served as troop accommodation for around 600 soldiers of the German Kriegsmarine, who were employed on the construction site. Among them were the prisoner-of-war guards. The camp counted a total of 14 barracks.
Soviet POW Camp
Up to 1,000 prisoners were housed in about 10 barracks in the camp for Soviet prisoners of war. These prisoners had to work under miserable conditions on the construction site of the “Valentin” bunker. Many of these men who died during this time were buried in a nearby mass grave. The number of dead and their identity remains unknown. Based on estimates, up to 600 dead Soviet prisoners of war are assumed.
Visit
You can visit this memorial on the on the Neuenkirchen Heide in Bremen-Farge. Beware though, it is located on active training grounds of the German Army, so access is only allowed during the weekends and public holidays.
Here and there you can find some concrete remnants of the barrack foundations.
