Hannover-Stöcken (Continental)

Continental tyre works had huts near its Nordhafen plant west of Stelinger Strasse in Hannover-Stöcken which had previously been used for foreign workers. On 7 September 1944, a transport with 1,000 Jewish prisoners from the Litzmannstadt ghetto (Łódź) who had been selected for work in Auschwitz-Birkenau arrived in Hannover-Stöcken. The weak and exhausted prisoners worked day and night shifts producing mainly automobile and aircraft tyres.

At least 55 prisoners died from the working and living conditions at the camp. The satellite camp existed for just three months, during which time sick prisoners and those “unable to work” were continually transported back to Neuengamme main camp. The majority of these prisoners – around 85 – are unlikely to have survived.

The commander of the satellite camp was SS-Unterscharführer Otto “Tull” Harder, a well-known former Hamburg football player. He and the 60 SS men he commanded were directly responsible for the inhuman living conditions and brutal treatment of the prisoners in Stöcken.

In November 1944, the prisoners from the Stöcken satellite camp of Continental were transferred to the Hannover-Ahlem satellite camp (A 12).