The focal center of the massive construction project at Mühldorfer Hart was the colossal bunker in its architectural arch structure. It is here where most of the concentration camp prisoners were subjected to grueling hard labor. This expansive area is currently being developed as the third memorial site.
Before we proceed further with elaborations on the concentration camp and on the production of armaments, we would like to emphasize that our foremost commitment is to the memory of the victims. Unfortunately, the statistics on the prisoners have not been absolutely reliable. There were over 8,000 prisoners in the Mühldorf camps between August 1944 and May 1945. The prisoners were either assigned to work details on the construction of the armaments bunker or to special commando units. More than 4,000 prisoners did not survive this hard labor. The life expectancy of those who worked on the armaments bunker project was less than two months. The prisoners had varied backgrounds. Some were already in other concentration camps. Many who were sourced through Auschwitz were previously deployed at the Warsaw Ghetto. With the intensified need for forced labor on German soil, prisoners who appeared disabled-bodied were selected, sent to Dachau, and further deported to the extension camp at Mühldorfer Hart. Most of the prisoners were Hungarians while smaller numbers came from Lithuania, Italy, France, Greece and other parts of Europe.
The background reason for
the construction of the armament bunkers in the latter part of World War II
By 1944 the Allied bombing of armaments installations in northern Germany had increased dramatically in frequency. In order to maintain the production of armaments, two solutions were drawn up. One was the relocation of the armament production facilities underground. Such was the case at the Mittelbau Dora project in the Harz Mountains. The second solution was the construction of such facilities in wooded areas in the agricultural southeast that could be more easily camouflaged by the existing terrain.
Why the NS leadership chose this area as the bunker site for armaments production
Mühldorfer Hart was and is located in agricultural flatlands in Germany’s southeast. The grade of the flatlands consisted of vast gravel foundations. The groundwater table was sufficiently deep at 25–30 meters. The surrounding gravel pits were an additional source of building materials. The forested surroundings of Mühldorfer Hart afforded the desired camouflage. The strategic Mühldorf railroad junction ensured the optimal connection to Germany’s main railway network. This was of great importance for the expedient in-shipment of material supplies as well as the planned out-shipment of the finished armaments.
The Todt organization
and the subcontractors during construction
The Todt Organization was named after its head, Fritz Todt. This organization was responsible of organizing the construction projects of the Third Reich. Such projects included the construction of the network of autobahns and the facilities for armaments manufacturing. The construction of the armaments production facility at Mühldorfer Hart was specifically designated for the Messerschmitt 262—also known as the Me 262, the world’s first dual jet fighter aircraft and fighter bomber. Construction work began in the later part of 1944. Fritz Todt was no longer living, having perished in an air crash in early 1942. Hitler then appointed Albert Speer as Todt’s successor. The Nazi leadership pinned its hopes on the Me 262 as the weapon to ultimately change the course of the war and assure Germany’s victory. The project in Mühldorfer Hart was codenamed “Weingut I”.
The following subcontractors were commissioned by the Todt Organization:
- Polensky & Zöllner (also based in Muehldorf)
- Leonhard Moll
- Wayss & Freytag
Construction plans for the armaments bunker
There were several phases of the construction plans. The first phase consisted of the layering and formation of gravel mounds or hills. The second phase was the pouring of concrete with reinforcements over these mounds. A second layer of concrete layering and reinforcements followed so that the outer shell measured 5 meters in thickness.
As soon as the concrete layers had solidified, the gravel mounds in the lower layer were extracted and removed from the site through rail carriages through a specially constructed tunnel.
The interior of the bunker was to ultimately house six levels of industrial facilities for the different production stages of the Me 262 jet fighter-bomber. This was never realized. By the end of the war, the only work stage completed was the extraction of the lower layer of gravel.
A picture of the bunker arch structure
The architecture of the structure and the requirement of massive amounts of concrete precluded the use of scaffolding and staging. Instead, formation of the structure was executed through the pouring of concrete over gravel mounds or hills that were later extracted and transported out through rail carriages.
The bunker system is blown up
After the war in 1947, American military experts chose the bunker at Mühldorfer Hart for experiments in assessing various implosion techniques.
The work of the prisoners
The work of the prisoners on the construction of the armaments bunker consisted of carrying cement sacks and bending the iron rods of the concrete reinforcements. The cement sacks had to be dragged up to a platform on the side of the gravel mounds. The contents were then either loaded onto conveyor belts or poured into concrete mixers. The prisoners worked exhaustingly in 12-hour shifts and were constantly on their feet.
