Armaments Production and External Commandos
Armaments Production
From 1942, the concentration camps were given a more important role within the German war economy, which led to privately owned armaments companies setting up production facilities in the immediate vicinity of Neuengamme concentration camp. The companies had to pay the SS for the prisoners’ labor and therefore demanded that they be sent skilled workers. This led to a slight improvement in conditions for some prisoners who received “bread bonuses”.
Also, the arbitrary beating of prisoners could not be reconciled with the production process. The management of the Messap and Jastram companies reached an agreement with the SS which stated that prisoners working at their plants were not to be guarded by SS men, but by civilian employees of the arms manufacturers. Severe maltreatment and overwork were therefore the exception at these workplaces. Prisoners working in armaments production had to fulfil production quotas. If they failed, they faced punishment and transferral to one of the dreaded excavation or construction commandos.
External Commandos
Several smaller work commandos worked in the immediate vicinity of the camp, but outside of its confines. Prisoners had to work on local farms or at companies supplying the concentration camp. The SS would often use Jehovah’s Witnesses for such work, because they rejected escape attempts on religious grounds. Prisoners also worked in Hamburg itself. In 1941, for example, prisoners were used for maintenance work at the municipal park and later at the "Planten un Blomen" botanical gardens. Prisoners were also forced to clear rubble and unexploded bombs after Allied air-raids. Prisoners were occasionally able to find some extra food on these missions, and with the civilian population looking on, their guards would beat them less often. Prisoners on clearance detail were regularly killed by exploding duds. In the autumn of 1944, 1,000 prisoners had to dig anti-tank trenches in Hamburg-Oortkaten under dreadful conditions.
