Hinzert concentration camp

KZ Hinzert
Nazi concentration camp
SS officers at a construction site in the Hinzert concentration camp
Operation
Period	Between 1939 and 1945
Prisoners
Total	13,600 (in 20 satellite camps)
Victims	over 1,000

Hinzert (SS-Sonderlager Hinzert or Konzentrationslager/KZ Hinzert) was a German concentration camp located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 30 km from the Luxembourg border.

Between 1939 and 1945, 13,600 political prisoners between the ages of 13 and 80 were imprisoned at Hinzert. Many were in transit towards larger concentration camps where most would be killed. However, a significant number of prisoners were executed at Hinzert. The camp was administered, run, and guarded mainly by the SS, who, according to Hinzert survivors, were notorious for their brutality and viciousness.

Located on the Hochwald plateau, and overlooking the Hunsrück mountain range, the Hinzert concentration camp was named after the nearest village, now called Hinzert-Pölert. At an altitude of 550m, the plateau is exposed to much humidity, wind, strong precipitation, fog and glacial temperatures in winter. The camp was surrounded by a coniferous forest that provided lumber for the camp's construction and maintenance.

An access road that first bordered the prisoners' cemetery led to a first area guarded by the SS. This area contained seven huts, a guard post, the camp's Kommandantur or command post, a garage, workshops, the officers' mess and two SS housing huts. This area was decorated with floral and garden arrangements. Prisoners were kept in another area measuring approximately 200m by 200m, bordered by a 3m high barbed wire fence with watchtowers. The prisoners' area also contained the camp commander's quarters, the clothing workshop, the carpenter's area, the quarantine area, the morgue, a disinfection area and the "cloakroom" where the prisoners' belongings were kept.

Prisoners were housed in four barracks, each containing two spaces that in turn contained 26 bunk beds for the projected capacity of 208 prisoners. Later, straw mattresses were added to increase the total capacity to 560. Certain rooms were reserved for a particular category of prisoners, such as the Night and Fog prisoners.