Information about Hkp 562 Slave Labor Camp
HKP 562, located on Subocz Street in Vilnius, Lithuania, was the site of an unusual labour camp during the Holocaust. The camp was officially owned and administered by the SS, but run on a day to day basis by a Wehrmacht engineering unit, HKP 562 (Heeres Kraftfahr Park 562,) stationed in Vilna. HKP 562's commanding officer Major Karl Plagge was sympathetic to the plight of his Jewish workers. Plagge and some of his men made efforts to protect the Jews of the camp from the murderous intent of the SS.
The HKP camp was hastily erected in September 1943 when Major Plagge learned of the impending liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto and with considerable difficulty gained permission to move his Jewish workers and their families to a free-standing labor camp on the outskirts of Vilna. The camp housed approximately 1,000 Jewish men, women and children. Due to the sympathies of Major Plagge, it was largely free of the abuse, hunger and brutality found in most slave labor camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. In spite of the generally benign attitude of the officers and men of the HKP unit, the SS did enter the camp on several occasions and committed atrocities. Most notable was the Kinder Aktion (an action against the camp's children) on March 27, 1944, during which the SS removed the vast majority of the 250 children living in the camp, who were then taken to their deaths. During the final days before Vilna was occupied by the Red Army in July of 1944, Plagge warned his Jewish workers of the impending arrival of SS killing squads. This warning allowed many of the camp's inhabitants to enter previously-constructed hiding places. Ultimately, 250 of the camp's 1,000 Jewish inhabitants survived the final camp liquidation. This group represents the largest single group of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in Vilna.
The HKP camp was hastily erected in September 1943 when Major Plagge learned of the impending liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto and with considerable difficulty gained permission to move his Jewish workers and their families to a free-standing labor camp on the outskirts of Vilna. The camp housed approximately 1,000 Jewish men, women and children. Due to the sympathies of Major Plagge, it was largely free of the abuse, hunger and brutality found in most slave labor camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. In spite of the generally benign attitude of the officers and men of the HKP unit, the SS did enter the camp on several occasions and committed atrocities. Most notable was the Kinder Aktion (an action against the camp's children) on March 27, 1944, during which the SS removed the vast majority of the 250 children living in the camp, who were then taken to their deaths. During the final days before Vilna was occupied by the Red Army in July of 1944, Plagge warned his Jewish workers of the impending arrival of SS killing squads. This warning allowed many of the camp's inhabitants to enter previously-constructed hiding places. Ultimately, 250 of the camp's 1,000 Jewish inhabitants survived the final camp liquidation. This group represents the largest single group of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in Vilna.
References
- The HKP Jewish Slave Labor Camp Irina Guzenberg (2002) The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. (ISBN 9955-9556-1-9)
- The Search For Major Plagge: The Nazi Who Saved Jews Dr. Michael Good (2005). Fordham University Press. (ISBN 0-8232-2440-6 )
See also
External link
- Chronicles of the Vilna Ghetto: wartime photographs & documents - vilnaghetto.com
- Family Journey Website
Vilnius (/span>]] ?· i ; also known by alternative names) is the largest city and the capital of Lithuania, with a population of 553,904 (850,700 together with Vilnius County) as of December 2005.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"Tautos jėga vienybėje"
"The strength of the nation lies in unity"
Anthem
Tautiška giesmė
..... Click the link for more information.
"Tautos jėga vienybėje"
"The strength of the nation lies in unity"
Anthem
Tautiška giesmė
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
SS usually refers to the Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force. It may also refer to:
..... Click the link for more information.
Military
- Special Service, a division of soldiers in British service during World War II (later renamed Commandos)
..... Click the link for more information.
Wehrmacht (listen) ("armed forces", literally "defence make") was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Major Karl Plagge (July 10, 1897, in Darmstadt–July 1957 in Darmstadt) was a German officer and Nazi Party member who during World War II employed some 1,200 Jews—500 men, and the rest women and children—for forced labor, thus giving them a better chance to
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Vilna Ghetto or Vilnius Ghetto was one of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius during the Holocaust in World War II. During roughly 2 years of its existence, starvation, disease, street executions, maltreatment and deportations to
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
occupation of Baltic states refers to the occupation of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) first by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, by Nazi Germany from 1941-1944, and again by the Soviet Union from
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Fordham University Press is a publishing house, a division of Fordham University, that publishes primarily in the humanities and the social sciences. Fordham University Press was established in 1907 and is headquartered in the Canisius Hall building in the Rose Hill Campus of
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Major Karl Plagge (July 10, 1897, in Darmstadt–July 1957 in Darmstadt) was a German officer and Nazi Party member who during World War II employed some 1,200 Jews—500 men, and the rest women and children—for forced labor, thus giving them a better chance to
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus
