A forgotten place: The Ketschendorf concentration camp for the "Fuchsbau"
The history of the "Fuchsbau" began in 1943 with the establishment of a concentration camp.
South of the then village of Ketschendorf, the SS built a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in the immediate vicinity of the Reichsautobahn.
The people crammed into 4 barracks there were cheap labor.
With various labor commandos, SS leadership evasion points were built in the area around Scharmützelsee.
The largest of these commandos was designated for the construction of a large underground telecommunications facility, the "Fuchsbau".
Up to 1000 men of various nations were confined in the camp, which was fenced in with barbed wire, until April 1945.
The SS provided the civilian construction companies with prisoners from the concentration camp free of charge.
Uncounted are the prisoners who died during the hard work in the concentration camp.
South of the then village of Ketschendorf, the SS built a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in the immediate vicinity of the Reichsautobahn.
The people crammed into 4 barracks there were cheap labor.
With various labor commandos, SS leadership evasion points were built in the area around Scharmützelsee.
The largest of these commandos was designated for the construction of a large underground telecommunications facility, the "Fuchsbau".
Up to 1000 men of various nations were confined in the camp, which was fenced in with barbed wire, until April 1945.
The SS provided the civilian construction companies with prisoners from the concentration camp free of charge.
Uncounted are the prisoners who died during the hard work in the concentration camp.
Timeline of the foxhole history
- 1943-Establishment of a concentration camp to build a bunker for the SS.
- 1944-Operation of the bunker "Fuchsbau" as an intelligence center for the SS.
- 1945-Bunker is looted,blown up and remains open
- 1960-Exposure of the bunker ruins and extensions for the air defense of the GDR.
- 1962-Transmission point of the Post Office goes into operation and the bunker becomes Central Alternate Command Post of the air defense of the NVA with the camouflage designation "Prüfstelle" and Lieutenant Colonel Heider as head.
- 1975-Beginning of the extension Abeiten
- 1977-Completion of the new building and installation of the automated guidance system by Soviet specialists.
- 1978-Start of work of ZGS-14 in the on-duty system of LSK/LV with Colonel Schmidt as head FBZ.
- 1990-Transfer by NVA Colonel Jedmin to the Bundeswehr and Lieutenant Colonel Lucas as the new head.
- 1992-Dismantling and scrapping of the ALMAS-2 apparatus.
- 1995-Total closure of the structures
- 2005-Opening of the bunker complex and use as a museum.
- 2009-Sale of the facility to a private citizen
The former Norwegian prisoner Odd Magnussen "Lars To" ( 1912-1976) describes in his book "Vi Ventet" in detail the life and death in the former concentration camp near Fürstenwalde and
has masterfully documented with his detailed drawings the construction of the bunker tubes until 1945.
The German edition is by his fellow inmate Albrecht Eika (1922 - 2016).
The German edition is by his fellow inmate Albrecht Eika (1922 - 2016).