The site of a former concentration camp near Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt, where more than 4,300 people died, has been sold to a real estate investor, the weekly “Spiegel” reported. The transaction has caused consternation.
Between April 1944 and April 1945, thousands of prisoners from the Langenstein-Zwieberge concentration camp built a 13-kilometer-long tunnel system under the Thekenberge mountains near Halberstadt. Among other things, fighter planes and V2 rockets were to be built in the tunnels for a supposed “final victory.”
“The working and living conditions were so inhumane that over 4.3 thousand people died within twelve months – as a result of accidents at work, diseases, executions and death marches. The monument (located on the grounds of the former camp – ed.) now commemorates the suffering of these people and the history of the camp, and visitors could tour the tunnel system in question,” wrote “Spiegel”.
After the war, the site was first used by the GDR National People's Army and then by the Bundeswehr. In 1995, the land was sold to a private person who transferred it, including the tunnels, free of charge to the Langenstein-Zwieberge Memorial Centre built in 1976. However, the owner ran into financial trouble and the land became part of the bankruptcy estate.
Questions for the state authorities
Politics and civil society representatives wonder why the state government has not bought the site. The insolvency administrator responsible blames the government for this, to which he has made several offers to buy, but all have been rejected. The state of Saxony-Anhalt has received offers to buy it for many years, legal expert and representative of the insolvency administrator André Loeffler told “Spiegel”. However, they have been rejected and have been asked for “free use”.
The state's culture ministry firmly rejects the trustee's claim that the government was not interested in acquiring the property. On the contrary, it considers the offers received to be unacceptable. On the one hand, because of the high price of over one million euros, and on the other hand, because the offers did not contain any specific information about the property for sale, wrote the portal t-online.
The bankruptcy trustee was allegedly asked several times for the missing information, but he did not respond to the inquiries. As a result, the government's hands were tied because it never received a formally correct purchase offer.
Loeffler sold the tunnels to a Saxon investor for 500,000 euros. The new owner, Peter Jugl, a businessman from Saxony who specializes in “problem properties,” has not yet revealed anything about his plans for the site. “We are interested in all types of properties. The larger the property, the more interesting it is for us,” his company's website says.
“The state government is trying to reassure all those who fear that the former concentration camp could become a profit-making museum or something similar. The use of the site is strictly limited by a conservation order. Any construction work must be approved, and commercial use is ruled out,” t-online wrote.
Main image source: TVN24