Author: Miroslava Langhamerová

In May 1938, the SS organization established the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Upper Palatinate (Bavaria). It was at the time when the overall system of concentration camps was being established and their function was being determined. The camps were no longer to be used for the mere internment of the arrested, but were to become primarily economic centers using the cheap labor of prisoners and supporting German industry.

Between 1938 and 1945, approximately 84,000 men and 16,000 women from more than thirty countries were imprisoned in Flossenbürg and its satellites, of whom at least 30,000 perished. Over half of them were of Polish or Soviet origin. It also included 23,000 Jewish prisoners who came mainly from Poland and Hungary.

Our research was only concerned with the main camp in Flossenbürg. By studying a number of documents at home and abroad, we obtained 3,514 records (men only). We found that 148 entries are duplicates (two registrations in Flossenbürg). The fates of the prisoners are not always clear, but we have identified 483 who died and 9 executed as part of the S.B. (so-called Sonderbehandlung - special treatment).

From 1940, prisoners were also transferred from the police prison in Terezín, in total there were 930 men. On April 12, 1945, the last transport of 90 persons arrived from Terezín to Flossenbürg.

The largest number of Czech prisoners were taken to the camp in 1944 and 1945, almost 84%. In 1945 alone, 1,517 were registered. E.g. on January 26, 1945, 832 people arrived in Flossenbürg by the so-called Moravian transport from Brno. Their deportation was decided by Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei in Brno, Max Rausch.

On April 20, 1945, the evacuation of 22,000 prisoners located in Flossenbürg began. The target of the death march was the Dachau concentration camp. Flossenbürg concentration camp was liberated by the US Army on April 23, 1945; on the same day, the death march was also stopped in Stamsried, Bavaria.

Problems when working with the database:

Due to the type and origin of the sources, not all data on all imprisoned persons are available, therefore the amount of information may also vary.

• first and last name, place of birth, place of residence, profession - considerable variability of these names appears in the sources, so when searching for a name or word it is sufficient to use only the root of the word.
• prisoner category: adopted the original marking in the form of abbreviations – Tsch. (Tscheche), pol. (politisch), Sch.H. (SchutzHäftling), R.D. (Reichsdeutsche), ZA (ZivilArbeiter), BV (Berufsverbrecher), Aso (Asozial), VH (VorbeugungsHäftling)
• period of imprisonment: if the data is available, the date of arrival and departure of the prisoner is indicated
• reason for termination of imprisonment: transport-transfer of the prisoner to another camp; died - death due to illness or other reasons; executed - I will carry out the death penalty on the basis of the so-called special treatment (Sonderbehandlung), killed - murdered by the camp's supervisory or auxiliary staff; released before the liberation of the camp; evacuated - sent on a death march; liberated - saw the end of the war
• note: contains various information about the person (e.g. death in another facility)