Lütjenburg-Hohwacht

The Lütjenburg-Hohwacht satellite camp was set up in Hohwacht near Lütjenburg on the Baltic Sea in November 1944. 200 prisoners had been taken from Buchenwald concentration camp to the Neuengamme main camp where, after a quarantine period of several days, they were sent on to Hohwacht on November 16. They were made to work in the relocated part of the Kiel-based Anschütz & Co factory, producing navigational equipment (gyroscopic compasses) for the V2 rocket, declared a ‘miracle weapon’ by Nazi propaganda. The prisoners were housed in a former Luftwaffe barracks camp located directly on the Baltic Sea. They were divided up among three barracks, with four others used as workshops. 300 forced labourers from 12 nations were also housed in the same camp.

The work demanded a great deal of skill. Most of the prisoners were highly qualified professionals, so they were treated somewhat better than the prisoners in most other satellite camps. The camp was evacuated on 19 April 1945 and the prisoners were taken to Rathmannsdorf on the Kiel Canal. On 5 May, they marched from there in the direction of Kiel. Their guards left them in Kiel, and the prisoners continued walking in small groups towards Neumünster and Hamburg until they encountered British troops.

The guards consisted of older Wehrmacht soldiers who had been assigned to the SS. SS-Hauptscharführer Jonny Gätjens was appointed as Kommandant of the camp.