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Dillingen concentration camp

Discussion in 'Concentration, Death Camps and Crimes Against Huma' started by ukrsindicat, Aug 16, 2023.

  1. ukrsindicat

    ukrsindicat New Member

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    Hello, Esteemed board!
    My grandpa was Soviet POW, captured by Germans in 1941. My grandma lived in Ukraine, when she was sent to Germany to work for "reich." They met each other in Dillingen concentration camp.
    I think my grandma mentioned this camp was near this Steel plant Google Maps . They worked there up until the American forces liberated them.
    Fast-forward 79 years, my grandparents are gone and I'm serving in American military in Germany (Frankfurt area). I would like to visit the area where my grandparents first met.
    Anyone have ideas as to how I can locate the former location of the camp?
    Thank you,y'all!
     
  2. ukrsindicat

    ukrsindicat New Member

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    I'm guessing this is not the right forum for this?
     
  3. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

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    Welcome to the forum. You can try here for P.O.W. camps in Germany.
    German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II - Wikipedia

    Good luck and let us know if this helps.
     
  4. ukrsindicat

    ukrsindicat New Member

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  5. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    As far as I can tell, Dillingen was a sub-camp of Dachau and was located in Augsburg. I haven't been able to find any detailed information, though.
     
  6. ukrsindicat

    ukrsindicat New Member

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    Thank you, but this is different Dillingen. This one located in Saarland, which is pretty far from Dachau.
     
  7. RichTO90

    RichTO90 Well-Known Member

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    It was probably the Arbeitslager associated with the steel mill, the Dillinger Hüttenwerke, which was headquartered in Mannheim.

    BTW, in December 1944 my Dad was on the opposite side of the Saar, at Rehlingen, just northwest of Dillingen, with the 537th AAA AW Bn, attached to the 90th Infantry Division. That's where he received his first Bronze Star (V).
     
  8. ukrsindicat

    ukrsindicat New Member

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    Thank you for the answer!
    My grandparents had found memories of Americans that liberated them. They told me about the happy day when Americans came to their camp. POW received blankets and even chocolate. Off course, since the POW were Soviet citizens, Americans had to turn them over to Soviet authorities. Soviet authorities loaded my grandmother in the cattlecar back to Ukraine. My grandfather was suspected American/German spy (just because he was POW), and was marched to Donbas from Germany to pump the water out of flooded coal mines.
    Thanks to people like your father, they were liberated from German captivity!
    It would be great to find the site of their former camp, or maybe some records. Either way, I will take a picture with Dillinger Hüttenwerke and send it to my dad and aunt.
     

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