Aurich-Engerhafe

In October 1944, the SS established a satellite camp of Neuengamme concentration camp in Engerhafe in the Aurich district of East Frisia. From 21 October 1944, 2,000 men were forced to dig anti-tank ditches and build fortifications for the "Friesenwall" coastal defence line north of Aurich. The work was commissioned by the Reich Defence Commissar (Reichsverteidigungskommissar) in Military District X (Wehrkreis X). Each day, the prisoners marched two kilometres from the camp to the Georgsheil railway station, where they were forced into cattle cars. Before reaching the station at Aurich, they had to disembark and march through the town to their workplaces. Later they were led to work outside of the residential areas because a growing number of residents had complained about the sight of the starving prisoners.

At least 188 men died and were buried at the local cemetery in Engerhafe. The vast majority of them were from Poland and the Netherlands.

On 22 December 1944, the SS cleared the camp and transported the prisoners back to the Neuengamme main camp.

The commander of the satellite camp was SS-Oberscharführer Erwin Seifert, one of the few ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe in a position of leadership.