Oranienburg - Klinkerwerk

In the summer of 1938, a brickworks (Klinkerwerk) was established at Lehnitz-Schleuse north-east of Oranienburg. The prisoners were used as slave labor in the production of bricks and other building materials that would be used for the reconstruction of Berlin. Initially, Klinkerwerk was intended as a penal camp for prisoners who violated the rules set up by the SS in other camps, but the demand for labour meant that even ”ordinary” prisoners ended up in Klinkerwerk. In April 1941, Klinkerwerk became a satellite camp to Sachsenhausen with its own administration and the prisoners were housed in specially set up barracks. It was in camps like Klinkerwerk that the majority of the prisoners in Sachsenhausen died and mainly through hard work. The camp was located next to a canal that made it possible to transport building material to Berlin. On April 10, 1945, Klinkerwerk was destroyed during an allied bombing, and at the end of April, the remaining prisoners were evacuated to Sachsenhausen.