Between October 1943 and April 1945 this location was the entrance to Neuengamme concentration camp’s subcamp Bremen-Farge, which was the second largest satellite camp of Neuengamme. The camp was set up in the summer of 1943 specifically for the construction site of the Valentin submarine bunker.
Oil storage bunker
Unlike today, the area was only slightly overgrown with heather, but otherwise had the character of sand dunes. Around 3,000 male prisoners were detained here in a large underground oil storage bunker and several barracks. Barracks for the SS leadership, the kitchen, toilets and the infirmary were built on the roof of the bunker and outside the fence. Due to the increased deportation of French from July 1944, two more stone barracks were built next to the bunker roof.
Prisoners were put to work as laborers by the German Kriegsmarine under the most miserable conditions. The prisoners came from 16 different nations, of which most were Polish, French or Russian. Prisoners who were no longer able to work, so-called “Muselmanns“, were brought back to Neuengamme concentration camp for “special treatment” and replaced by new prisoners. Almost 600 people from KZ Farge are known by name as victims of “extermination through work”. The identity of an unknown number of dead prisoners remains a mystery.
Death Marches
In early April 1945, the camp was dissolved by the SS. The prisoners were sent on “evacuation marches”, during which many died. The sick were crammed on trains and deported to Bergen Belsen concentration camp, although this transport never reached its destination. Others were forced aboard the Ship “Cap Arcona”, which was later sunk by the British in the Neustadt Bay in May 1945. Because of these events the camp had few survivors to tell the story of what happened here.
Visit
You can visit this site on the Neuenkirchen Heide in Bremen-Farge. While it is located on active training grounds of the German Army, access is only allowed during the weekends and public holidays.
In the area around this information point you can find many concrete remains of bunkers and barracks.
