Slave Labor for Dynamit Aktiengesellschaft in Christianstadt
July 13, 2010
My father did 2 years hard labor in Christianstadt/Germany (Krzystkowice/Poland) for die Dynamit Aktiengesellschaft during World War II.
I am looking for anybody who had a relative or knows somebody else, who did hard labor there as well for die Dynamit Aktiengesellschaft during the War. Please contact Harm Karst Johannes Breman, Zwolle, Holland
[I suggest reading Hildegard Taussig Friedman‘smemoirs (1941-1945) “Meine Lebensgeschichte” (in German). Taussig Friedman was sent to Christianstadt, among other camps. To research further, I also recommend visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website regarding its 2002 symposium “Forced and Slave Labor in Nazi-Dominated Germany” with downloadable podcasts. The Museum has also records of the transport list from Gross-Rosen/Kommando Christianstadt to Parschnitz, Nov. 24, 1944 and Dec. 2, 1945. — Tekla Szymanski]
Dialog 
Thank you Tekla for recommending the memoirs of my mother Hildegard Taussig Friedman posted on the website of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York. On July 9, 1944, Hilde was sent to Christianstadt along with approximately 550 Jewish women from Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were subjected to “Vernichtung durch Arbeit” (Extermination by Work). The prisoners received little nourishment and were subjected to hard work, constant torment, and beatings. Hilde did slave labor for Dynamit Nobel AG, although she didn’t learn this name until decades after liberation. She suffered severe nausea and stomach problems from the toxic gas inhaled while working without a gas mask in the munitions factory. Only the non-Jewish women were given milk to drink as an antidote to the poison. Sitting by a fast moving carousel-type machine, Hilde filled grenade shells with a poisonous, hot, explosive material, which often burned her unprotected hands and legs.
For more information about Christianstadt, I recommend the book: The World without Human Dimensions: Four Women’s Memories, by Ela Fischerova, Vera Hajkova, Anna Hyndrakova, and Frantiska Faktorova Schornsteinova.
For more information about the Gross Rosen labor camps, see Bella Gutterman’s book: A narrow bridge to life: Jewish forced labor and survival in the … – Page 142
— Miriam Friedman Morris
My father was there from 1941-1945. Always said he should have written a book. He mentioned the Dynamite factory as well as logging and the medical experiments.
I have recently visited the wretched place, now near Novogrod Bobrzansky. I asked if the Royal Air Force had bombed the place but I was told it was built with the aid of American capital and was protected because of that. Is this true? The place has a million ghosts and I felt horrible.
Ruth Kluger, in Still Alive, writes about her own experience in Christianstadt.
I know some about your father Mr. Breman. Contact with me please: shogun_1987@o2.pl
My grandfather spent 3 years in this camp.
shogun_1987@o2.pl Susan can you contact me please and tell me the story of your grandfather.
http://www.dag-krzystkowice.com
Een duitstalige studie naar deze fabriek is te downloaden:
„Geheime Reichssache“ Christianstadt –
Das Ende einer Kleinstadt zwischen Oder und Neiße sowie der Sprengstoff-Fabrik „Ulme“.
Der Gemeinsamen Fakultät für Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften der Universität Hannover zur Erlangung des Grades einer Doktorin der
Philosophie (Dr. phil.) genehmigte Dissertation
von Martina Löbner M. A., 2002.
Een gedetailleerde tekening van het complex met de ligging van de diverse kampen en recente foto’s van het complex kan ik op verzoek mailen.
My mother was in Christianstadt. She related some of the horrors she lived through. She was unable to tell me everything because of her fear that it would cause me too much pain. I never encouraged her to tell me since I was petrified by what I knew I would hear. She arrived in the cattle cars with her sister, Brandel and niece, Dorchala who was four years old. As she exited she was greeted by the SS dressed in their immaculate uniforms. A group of musicians were playing waltz’s as the men, women and children were led to their separate lines. Brandel and Dorchala were pulled apart. Brandel refused to let Dorchala go alone and joined the children’s line. Previously my mother had given Dorchala a small piece of bread that she had been hiding. As the children’s line was led away Dorchala dropped the bread turned her head back to look at my Mom and called her name, Doda Gucia to help her. My mother left the woman’s line and ran to pick up the bread to give to Dorchala. As she got the bread she was immediately struck down. Mom never saw her sister Brandel and Dorchala, the niece she adored again. This was one of many memories that haunted my mother until she died. There is so much more I could write. If you are I interested in my sharing more of my mom’s nightmares please contact me at jokatz52@hotmail.com.