Frozen in time. Before you lie the fragmented foundations of Fundament Block 5 des KZ Ahlem. This isn’t just a collection of stones. This is the chilling echo of a Nazi concentration camp subcamp. It existed from late November 1944 to April 10 1945. Here in Ahlem. Part of the larger Neuengamme concentration camp system.
Fundament Block 5 des KZ Ahlem was one of five buildings. Two served as sleeping quarters. One housed both sleeping areas and a kitchen. Another functioned as a laundry and infirmary. The last was a stone structure serving as a washhouse with toilets and showers. All but the stone washhouse were wooden barracks. The camp was surrounded by electrified barbed wire. It housed up to 840 prisoners. Mostly Jewish men.
The prisoners’ lives were brutal. They toiled in twelve-hour shifts in the nearby asphalt mines. The conditions were appalling. Cold damp and dark. The air thick with 85 percent humidity. Added to this were the constant brutal beatings inflicted by the SS guards. Otto Harder commanded the camp. He was also the commandant at the Hannover-Stöcken subcamp. SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Klebeck was the overall supervisor. The 60-man guard contingent was led by SS-Oberscharführer Hans Harden. SS-Rottenführer Wilhelm Damann was particularly feared. He was known for his extreme brutality and involvement in several prisoner murders. Heinrich Johann Wexler the camp elder was equally cruel.
Fundament Block 5 des KZ Ahlem had the highest mortality rate of any of Hanover’s seven concentration camps. Camp commandant Max Pauly of KZ Neuengamme responded by transferring 250 to 350 prisoners back to the main camp. He then replaced them with Danish Polish and Russian prisoners. This temporarily reduced the death toll. The death toll was 22 per week in late December then soared to 44 in the first week of January. Within six weeks half of the Jewish prisoners were dead or incapacitated. The washhouse also served as an execution site. Approximately 20 prisoners were hanged there. At least 300 prisoners perished within Fundament Block 5 des KZ Ahlem’s walls.
On March 25 1945 another 340 prisoners arrived from the evacuated Hildesheim subcamp. This swelled the population to 750 plus those already present. The evacuation of Fundament Block 5 des KZ Ahlem started April 6 1945. The SS forced 600 prisoners on a death march. They left behind 250 unable to walk. American soldiers of the 84th Infantry Division liberated them on April 10 1945. Future Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was among those soldiers. Many prisoners were shot during the march to Bergen-Belsen. Those who survived arrived at Bergen-Belsen on April 8 1945. They were liberated by British forces days later.
The surviving remnants of Fundament Block 5 des KZ Ahlem stand as a sobering testament. A reminder of the horrific events that transpired here. It’s a place to remember those lost. To reflect on the profound consequences of hatred and oppression. A reminder of the importance of never forgetting.