DEST
Encyclopedia
The D. E. S. T. was an SS owned company originally created to procure and manufacture building materials for state construction projects in Nazi Germany
DEST was a subsidiary company of Amtsgruppe W (Amt.W) of SS-Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt (WVHA)
. Both Amt.W and the WVHA were headed by SS Obergruppenfuehrer Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS Oswald Pohl
and SS Gruppenführer
Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS Georg Lörner
.
The headquarters for DEST was located in Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
a small town in Austria
where Gusen II a subcamp of Mathausen was built in 1944.
The D.E.S.T. (Deutsche Erd- und Steinwerke GmbH or "German Earth & Stone Works Company"), founded on April 29, 1938 in Berlin
, was administered by the VWHA, for the purpose of procuring building materials, and organizing slave labor and overseeing quarry operations.
The Sachsenhausen
(1936), Buchenwald (1937), Flossenbürg
(1938), Mauthausen
(1938), Natzweiler-Struthof
(1939), Gross Rosen (1940) and Neuengamme concentration camp (1940) concentration camp sites were chosen because of their proximity to soil suitable for making bricks, or due to close proximity of a brickworks factory or stone quarry.
DEST was widely successful in the exploitation of slave labor, most of whom were Jews, in the quarries. Human labor was used cruelly, becoming one of the main tenets of war crime charges in the Nuremberg Trials
. The director of the program, SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl
, who was stationed in Berlin
, was sentenced to death for war crimes in 1947 in Nuremberg
, and executed in 1951.
In 1943, DEST changed its focus from stone industry to armaments. From this time DEST played a key role to help the SS enter some key war industries. This is underlined by the industrial park of DEST at St. Georgen
and Gusen
that made the SS a key supplier of aircraft fuselages (Me 109, Me 262), carbines and machine guns to companies like Messerschmitt
or Steyr-Daimler-Puch
. To run its business with the inmates of the Gusen
and Mauthausen concentration camps, DEST operated its headquarters of Granitwerke Mauthausen between 1940 and 1945 at the town of Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
which was the biggest and most important "Werkgruppe" (industry group) of DEST.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
DEST was a subsidiary company of Amtsgruppe W (Amt.W) of SS-Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt (WVHA)
SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt
The SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt was responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects for the Allgemeine-SS...
. Both Amt.W and the WVHA were headed by SS Obergruppenfuehrer Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
and SS Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS Georg Lörner
Georg Lörner
Georg Nikolaus Lörner was an SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS, and Deputy Chief under Oswald Pohl, of the Wirtschaftsunternehmen im SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt , chief of Amtsgruppe B, of the WVHA, and deputy chief of Amtsgruppe W Georg Nikolaus Lörner (Feb. 18, 1918;...
.
The headquarters for DEST was located in Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen is a small market town in Upper Austria, Austria, between the municipalities of Luftenberg and Langenstein...
a small town in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
where Gusen II a subcamp of Mathausen was built in 1944.
History
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, was administered by the VWHA, for the purpose of procuring building materials, and organizing slave labor and overseeing quarry operations.
The Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
(1936), Buchenwald (1937), Flossenbürg
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
(1938), Mauthausen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
(1938), Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg....
(1939), Gross Rosen (1940) and Neuengamme concentration camp (1940) concentration camp sites were chosen because of their proximity to soil suitable for making bricks, or due to close proximity of a brickworks factory or stone quarry.
DEST was widely successful in the exploitation of slave labor, most of whom were Jews, in the quarries. Human labor was used cruelly, becoming one of the main tenets of war crime charges in the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
. The director of the program, SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
, who was stationed in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, was sentenced to death for war crimes in 1947 in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, and executed in 1951.
In 1943, DEST changed its focus from stone industry to armaments. From this time DEST played a key role to help the SS enter some key war industries. This is underlined by the industrial park of DEST at St. Georgen
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen is a small market town in Upper Austria, Austria, between the municipalities of Luftenberg and Langenstein...
and Gusen
Gusen
Gusen is the name of the biggest and most brutal Nazi concentration camp complex on Austrian territory. Originally called "Mauthausen II", the camp consisted of three camps and toward the end of the war, was annexed to Mauthausen concentration camp...
that made the SS a key supplier of aircraft fuselages (Me 109, Me 262), carbines and machine guns to companies like Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
or Steyr-Daimler-Puch
Steyr-Daimler-Puch
Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names.-History:...
. To run its business with the inmates of the Gusen
Gusen
Gusen is the name of the biggest and most brutal Nazi concentration camp complex on Austrian territory. Originally called "Mauthausen II", the camp consisted of three camps and toward the end of the war, was annexed to Mauthausen concentration camp...
and Mauthausen concentration camps, DEST operated its headquarters of Granitwerke Mauthausen between 1940 and 1945 at the town of Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen is a small market town in Upper Austria, Austria, between the municipalities of Luftenberg and Langenstein...
which was the biggest and most important "Werkgruppe" (industry group) of DEST.
External links
- Shoah Education Project|Shoah Education Project-Web
- http://www.shoaheducation.com/DEST.html
- The St. Georgen/Gusen headquarters of Granitwerke Mauthausen