Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe
Encyclopedia
Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe (German Economic Enterprises), generally abbreviated DWB was a project launched by the Allgemeine SS
to profit from the use of Nazi concentration camp inmates
as slave labor.
DWB was a holding company for more than 25 SS industries. Oswald Pohl
, the head of the SS business department
(known by its German initials as WVHA
) was also the chief officer of DWB. Georg Lörner
, another high WVHA official, was another incorporator. Through stock ownership DWB controlled a wide variety of enterprises, such as stone quarries, brick manufacturing plants, cement mills, pharmaceutical factories, real estate, housing, building materials, book printing and binding, porcelain and ceramics, mineral water and fruit juices, furniture, foodstuffs, and textiles and leather.
After World War II
. the surviving chief officers of WVHA were placed on trial
for crimes against humanity. Most of them were found guilty. Both Oswald Pohl
and Georg Lörner
were sentenced to death by hanging, although Georg Lörner managed to get his sentence commuted to a prison term. The war crimes tribunal placed particular emphasis on the role the defendants had played in four DWB subsidiaries:
DEST in particular became notorious for exploitation under brutal conditions of the labor of concentration camp inmates at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
in Austria.
Allgemeine SS
The Allgemeine SS was the most numerous branch of the Schutzstaffel paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany. It was managed by the SS-Hauptamt...
to profit from the use of Nazi concentration camp inmates
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
as slave labor.
Holding company for Nazi concerns
Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
, the head of the SS business department
SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt
The SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt was responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects for the Allgemeine-SS...
(known by its German initials as WVHA
SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt
The SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt was responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects for the Allgemeine-SS...
) was also the chief officer of DWB. Georg Lörner
Georg Lörner
Georg Nikolaus Lörner was an SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS, and Deputy Chief under Oswald Pohl, of the Wirtschaftsunternehmen im SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt , chief of Amtsgruppe B, of the WVHA, and deputy chief of Amtsgruppe W Georg Nikolaus Lörner (Feb. 18, 1918;...
, another high WVHA official, was another incorporator. Through stock ownership DWB controlled a wide variety of enterprises, such as stone quarries, brick manufacturing plants, cement mills, pharmaceutical factories, real estate, housing, building materials, book printing and binding, porcelain and ceramics, mineral water and fruit juices, furniture, foodstuffs, and textiles and leather.
Role in war crimes
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. the surviving chief officers of WVHA were placed on trial
Pohl Trial
The Pohl Trial was the fourth of the twelve trials for war crimes that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
for crimes against humanity. Most of them were found guilty. Both Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
and Georg Lörner
Georg Lörner
Georg Nikolaus Lörner was an SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS, and Deputy Chief under Oswald Pohl, of the Wirtschaftsunternehmen im SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt , chief of Amtsgruppe B, of the WVHA, and deputy chief of Amtsgruppe W Georg Nikolaus Lörner (Feb. 18, 1918;...
were sentenced to death by hanging, although Georg Lörner managed to get his sentence commuted to a prison term. The war crimes tribunal placed particular emphasis on the role the defendants had played in four DWB subsidiaries:
- The German Earth And Stone Works (Deutsche Erd- und SteinwerkeDESTThe D. E. S. T. , was an SS owned company originally created to procure and manufacture building materials for state construction projects in Nazi Germany DEST was a subsidiary company of Amtsgruppe W of SS-Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt...
), known as DEST, which operated five granite quarries, six brick and tile plants, and a stone-cutting plant; - The Klinker-Zement, manufacturing brick and cinder block, fireproof products, ceramics, lime, and chalk. This company had large subsidiaries at Golleschau, PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Lvov, and BialystokBialystokBiałystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Located on the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River, Białystok ranks second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area, of the cities of Poland...
; - Ostindustrie, or OSTI, organized in March 1943 and dissolved a year later, which, using forced Jewish labor operated all confiscated Jewish industries in German-occupied PolandGeneral GovernmentThe General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
, including foundries, textile plants, quarries, glass works, and others. - The German Equipment works (Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke) or DAW, which operated various industries in seven concentration camps, using forced inmate labor.
DEST in particular became notorious for exploitation under brutal conditions of the labor of concentration camp inmates at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
in Austria.
See also
- Oswald PohlOswald PohlOswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
- August FrankAugust FrankAugust Frank was an official of the Main Economic Administration Office of the Nazi SS generally known by its initials WVHA. WVHA was, among other things, responsible for the administration of the Nazi concentration camps...
- August Frank memorandumAugust Frank memorandumThe August Frank memorandum of September 26 1942 was a directive from SS Lieutenant General August Frank, a higher official of the SS concentration camp administration department. The memorandum provides a measure of the detailed involvement planning that Frank and other Nazis put into the...
- Pohl trialPohl TrialThe Pohl Trial was the fourth of the twelve trials for war crimes that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
Further reading
- Nicosia, Francis R., and Huener, Jonathan, Business and Industry in Nazi Germany, University of Vermont Center for Holocaust Studies Berghahn Books, 2004 ISBN 1571816542
- Sofsky, Wolfgang, The order of terror : the concentration camp, Princeton University Press, 1996 ISBN 069104354X