Dora and the hell of the concentration camps
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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

Prisoners to build the rockets for the Third Reich

The Peenemünde rocket programme — the most innovative weapons system of the Second World War — was structurally linked to the Nazi concentration camps in the final part of the conflict.

In the spring of 1943, to meet a shortage of unskilled labour with a view to the mass production of the A4 (V2), the heads of the rocket programme (von Braun, Dornberger) appealed to the SS.

The first group of concentration camp prisoners (Germans and Russians) arrived at Peenemünde from Buchenwald on 17th June. On 11th July, 400 prisoners – almost all French – were assigned to the pilot factory.

At the same time, other prisoners were sent to various sites linked to the A4 (V2) programme: to Wiener-Neustadt (from Mauthausen) and to the Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen.