Jewish Forced-labor Camps along the Road Kryvyi Rih – Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk) (Based on Oral History Sources)

Keywords: Holocaust, German force-labor camps, survival strategies, violence, oral testimony

Abstract

The purpose of the research paper is to highlight, based on oral testimonies, the organization of the camps, the nature of work in them, the daily life of the imprisoned Jews, the terror and repression applied to them by the camp guards, and the survival strategies of the prisoners.

The scientific novelty is in using oral video testimonies to reveal various aspects of existence in forced-labor camps. The information contained in these sources makes it possible to reconstruct the past histories of the lives and deaths of the prisoners of those camps from the point of view of the victims and witnesses. Such an approach to the history of forced-labor camps, which were located along the road Kryvyi Rih – Dnipropetrovsk, is applied for the first time. In addition, memories from the specified oral history collections about German forced-labor camps along the road Kryvyi Rih – Dnipropetrovsk are analyzed.

Conclusions. German forced-labor camps for Jews were important for the construction of the road from Kryvyi Rih to Dnipropetrovsk. Those camps were established during the fall of 1941 – the winter of 1942, and by the end of 1943 they were all liquidated. The main purpose of the camps was to kill Jews through hard physical labor. Therefore, no basic sanitary and hygienic conditions were provided in the camps, there was no medical treatment, and people could be killed for the slightest misdeed. Some prisoners lived in such conditions for more than a year, and during that time, their physical and moral well-being only deteriorated.

Prisoners’ survival strategies in forced-labor camps included unsociability, as any information about escape plans could be passed on to camp guards; exchange of food and clothing, which gave prisoners the opportunity to survive; active or passive resistance, which created conditions for escape and, finally, prepared or spontaneous escape from the camp.

In addition to grueling physical labor, various forms of violence were applied against Jews in the camps. In all cases, the perpetrators of the violence were the persons who escorted and guarded the Jews. They were Germans, Latvians/Lithuanians, members of other military units, and local policemen.

Funding. This project received funding through the EURIZON project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 871072. This research was also made possible by access to sources from the Visual History and Education Collection of the Shoah Foundation (University of Southern California, USA).

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Published
15.10.2024
How to Cite
Shliakhtych, R. (2024). Jewish Forced-labor Camps along the Road Kryvyi Rih – Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk) (Based on Oral History Sources). Eminak: Scientific Quarterly Journal, (3(47), 411-427. https://doi.org/10.33782/eminak2024.3(47).747
Section
Modern History