The famous song Die Moorsoldaten was written in the Börgermoor concentration camp. ... The song was performed on August 27, 1933 at an event entitled "Zirkus Konzentrazani" by 16 prisoners, former members of the Solingen workers' singing club, and shortly thereafter banned by the SS camp administration.

The concentration camp Börgermoor near today's municipality of Surwold, district of Börgermoor, was one of the first concentration camps, initially planned for 1,000 "protective prisoners". In June 1933 it was occupied by the first prisoners. It is one of the Emsland camps set up by the National Socialists. From April 1934 it was a prison camp of the Reich Ministry of Justice.

In 1933, political prisoners were deported to Börgermoor, mainly from the industrial areas on the Rhine and Ruhr. The camp was located in the north of Surwold, slightly above today's federal highway 401 and was the first of the later Emsland camps. Initially, the guards were still guarded by Osnabrück police officers, but from July 1933 they were replaced by guards from SS Group West. The SS enforced a strict regime in the camp, and complaints from the population meant that from the end of October 1933 the police were back on guard, with most of the guards being recruited from SA members. The prisoners set up the Börgermoor camp and the Esterwegen concentration camp and were used to cultivate the moor.

Shortly before Christmas 1933, many prisoners were released after they had to sign a non-disclosure agreement about life in the camp.

1934 - 1945
In May 1934, Börgermoor was assigned to the Reich Ministry of Justice as a "prisoner camp".
The composition of the prisoners changed; the prisoners were accused of offenses such as "grand theft", "embezzlement" and "fraud". This also included homosexuals. From 1937, the political prisoners were concentrated in Camp II Aschendorfermoor. From 1940, more and more soldiers convicted by the Wehrmacht court were added. After 1942 at the latest, the proportion of those convicted by a military court was well over 50%.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZ_B%C3%B6rgermoor?wprov=sfti1
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Andreas 🇺🇦

April 18, 2022

Continuation:
In May 1937 the capacity was increased to 1,500 prisoners. With the beginning of the war, Börgermoor also became a prison for "military prisoners" who were imprisoned for desertion, "unauthorized removal" or "undermining of military strength". The prisoners were employed in agriculture and the armaments industry and had to sort old materials.
On April 10, 1945, the camp authorities drove the prisoners together with prisoners from the Esterwegen camp on a death march. About 700 prisoners and 400 prisoners on remand had to march to Collinghorst. After an overnight stay in Völlenerkönigsfehn, the survivors reached Aschendorfermoor on April 11, 1945. Very little is known about the death toll in the camp and during the death march. The registered number of deaths is 237.

After 1945
In 1950, the Berlin district court sentenced the concentration camp manager R. to fifteen years in prison for the period between April 1938 and February 1941; the sentence was overturned in 1959.

Until the mid-1960s, the camp was used as a prison under the name "Penal institutions Emsland, department Börgermoor". It was later demolished. Information boards hang at the site today.

Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZ_B%C3%B6rgermoor?wprov=sfti1

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Meiko61

September 30, 2020

Stop for a moment and reflect.

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Location: Surwold, Landkreis Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany

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