“Heard of Pertrix?” a voice whispers nearby. Here in Niederschöneweide stands a place with a dark past. Today, we’ll delve into the history of the Pertrix factory. It’s a story of batteries, forced labor and wartime production.
Pertrix Chemische Fabrik AG arrived in Niederschöneweide in 1928. It was part of Akkumulatoren-Fabrik AG. AEG and Siemens & Halske founded AFA in 1887. Soon, it controlled battery production.
The Pertrix factory was located at 53a Sedanstrasse. Today, it’s Bruno-Bürgel-Weg. Around 1,300 people worked there. They made batteries, flashlights and, from 1934, cartridge cases. By 1937, Pertrix was a defense industry company. In 1939, it became a GmbH. Still, it remained under the AFA group. Günter Quandt’s son Herbert managed AFA in Oberschöneweide. He was listed as owner of Pertrix GmbH. Viktor Werner was the manager.
Jewish forced labor began in 1938. Later, French POWs and civilian forced laborers arrived. Most were from the Soviet Union. Pertrix mainly made lead batteries for aircraft. In 1944, Albert Speer prioritized aircraft battery production. This was part of the Fighter Program. Battery production peaked in autumn.
Prisoners initially lived in a boat shed on the Spree River. The boat club was at 101 Berliner Strasse now Schnellerstrasse. It belonged to the former restaurant “Loreley”. “Loreley” housed forced laborers. They worked at L’Orange Motorzubehör. In 1971, a former prisoner sketched the fenced-in subcamp. Belgian and Polish prisoners stayed there. This lasted from September 20, 1944, to February 26, 1945. An air raid then damaged the boat shed. It became uninhabitable.
After the raid, prisoners moved to nearby camps. The SS took some Belgian women to a camp in Köpenick. They dug trenches for the German Home Guard. Though not working for Pertrix, Sachsenhausen camp still managed them under “Pertrix”.
About 200 Polish women went to an Italian Camp nearby. The camp on Köllnische Strasse had 13 stone barracks. A central barracks divided the site. Two empty barracks housed the women. Like the boat shed, the subcamp was in a residential area. Neighbors could see it.
About 500 prisoners were in the Niederschöneweide subcamp. They came mostly from Belgium and Poland. Some were from other countries. Many had spent years in jail or concentration camps before Ravensbrück. Belgian women came directly from police arrest. They went to Ravensbrück and then Schöneweide in September 1944.
Polish women went from prisons to Auschwitz II-Birkenau then Ravensbrück. Finally, they arrived at the Zehlendorf Spinning Mill subcamp. SS guards from Ravensbrück supervised them. Then, they were transferred to Schöneweide. The women were 16 to 49 years old. They included “protective custody” prisoners. Also, there were “foreign civilian workers”, “asocials,” and criminals. The subcamp reported to Sachsenhausen. Seriously ill prisoners were taken back to Ravensbrück.
AFA knew that malnourished people were vulnerable to lead poisoning. Still, the non-German laborers worked with poisonous materials. They had no protection. Camp conditions were poor. There was no soap but plenty of vermin. There was no infirmary. Prisoners wore striped clothes with a cross on the back and wooden clogs. Two women shared each bed.
Witnesses say food was distributed at the camp. It was mostly ersatz coffee, watery soup and little bread. Sometimes, there was cheese. One Belgian witness said there was no food during the night shift. Another said, “We stopped working because they gave us nothing to eat,” even though they had been promised food.
Several prisoners mention a strike in February 1945. SS guards made the women stand for hours. They wanted to find the leaders. Three women were beaten on orders from Sachsenhausen. Escapes occurred sometimes. On March 31, 1945, eight Polish women escaped from the camp on Köllnische Strasse.
Records don’t show murders in the Niederschöneweide subcamp. However, witnesses mention shootings on death marches. “Many people collapsed from exhaustion. They were then fatally shot by the SS men.”
West German authorities investigated the guards later. One was named Hesse. Another was Kätbe Bechler. She died in 1966. The camp leader’s name is unknown.
The subcamp closed over three days. On April 18, 23 prisoners left for Sachsenhausen. Another 134 and 114 women left in the following days. The women stayed in Sachsenhausen for one to three days. Then, they were sent on a death march toward Lübeck and Schwerin. Some escaped during the march. Others were freed by the Red Army on May 2, 1945.
In the 1970s, German prosecutors investigated the subcamp. Statements made to Polish and Belgian commissions found no “prosecutable crimes” at Pertrix. German investigations stopped on June 30, 1972.
Today, the past lingers here in Niederschöneweide. Remember the prisoners of Pertrix as you explore the area.