Dora and the hell of the concentration camps
Home /Background /Historical reminders /Dora

Dora — 1943-1945 — trip to the heart of the Third Reich ...
	1. Prisoners to build the rockets for the Third Reich 2. The hell of Dora 3. The Dora camp expands in size 4. The libération

The hell of DORA

It was in August 1943, after the bombing of Peenemünde, that the decision was taken to give priority to using prisoners from the concentration camps to make the rockets, in order to maintain total secrecy.

On 28th August, the first group of prisoners from Buchenwald arrived near Nordhausen, in Thuringe, to start work on converting the Mittelwerk underground factory.

The whole site was placed under the direct control of the SS. The task of this Kommando, called "Dora", was to transform an underground storage facility into a modern factory for the mass production of rockets.

For six months, the Dora tunnels were hell: in the midst of confusion and violence, the prisoners had to finish drilling the galleries and transport very large machines, with rudimentary lifting methods. In addition, the prisoners had to sleep below ground, in dreadful conditions of hygiene.

From 6,000 in November 1943, the number of prisoners employed in the "Tunnel" shot up to 12,000 in January 1944, when the factory went into production. The mortality rate was high: there were 2,882 deaths in six months (the bodies were burnt in the incinerator at Buchenwald) and 3,000 other prisoners who were sick were sent to Maïdanek and Bergen-Belsen to be "eliminated" there.