A History of the Dora Camp: The Untold Story of the Nazi Slave Labor Camp That Secretly Manufactured V-2 Rockets [Hardcover]

Andre Sellier (Author), Michael J. Neufeld (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2003

In mid-1943 Nazi Germany entered a crisis from which it was to emerge vanquished. Faced with a shortage of manpower in armaments factories, the Third Reich sent concentration camp prisoners to work as slaves. While the genocide of the Jews and the Gypsies continued at extermination camps, numerous outside "Kommandos" were set up in the vicinity of the large concentration camps. The Dora Camp, located in the center of Germany, was one of the most notorious. Originally a mere Kommando attached to Buchenwald, it became one of the largest Nazi concentration camps. There prisoners were put to work in a huge underground factory, building V-2 rockets, the secret weapon developed by German scientists in an attempt to reverse the course of the war, under the direction of Wernher von Braun. In this dispassionate but powerful account, André Sellier, himself a former prisoner at Dora, tells the dramatic story of the camp, the tunnel factory, and the underground work sites. He has utilized all available documents as well as unpublished testimony from several dozen fellow prisoners. He recounts the horrors of everyday life at Dora-prisoners dying by the hundreds and indescribable suffering-and the murderous "evacuation" of the camp by railroad convoys and death marches, which took place in early 1945 and led to the death of thousands of prisoners. Illustrated with 20 pages of photographs and drawings, and 24 maps.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the plethora of books on the Holocaust, there remain little-known corners to be explored, and Sellier casts light on one of the darkest corners with this account of the Dora Camp, where V-2 rockets-Germany's supposed secret weapon-were produced. The story of this camp, with its underground factory, has been suppressed or ignored by the U.S. government, writes historian Michael Neufeld, because of "its inconvenient connection to an American hero: the rocket scientist Wernher von Braun," who was in charge of testing the rockets. Sellier, a French historian and a survivor of Camp Dora, relates how the factory was manned by slave laborers sent from Buchenwald; describes life in the underground tunnels, where the prisoners not only worked but lived without running water or proper sanitation; and tells of the camp's evacuation by death marches and other means with the approach of Allied forces in 1945. Sellier quotes directly from the chilling testimony of the camp's former inmates, who evoke Dante to convey the hellish nature of life there. This is an important addition to the history of the Holocaust, published in association with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Illus. Maps.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Recommended for larger public libraries and specilalized collections. (Library Journal )

Brilliant...remarkable. (Jens-Christian Wagner )

An event...will continue to be revered as a standard work on the topic. I highly recommend it to all readers. (Michael J. Neufeld )

The definitive and valuable study...a valuable contribution. (John Weiss )

A fresh view of a horrendous scene. (Raul Hilberg )

This edition contains and excellent illustrative essay and maps. (J.R. White Choice )

A full-bodied Holocaust story of the type. Sellier delivers and effective tale of yet another site in the Nazis' system of war-making through terrible exploitation. (Gerard Alexander The Virginia Quarterly Review )

...Complex, nuanced, and balanced.... Sellier’s book is an important addition to the scholarship on the Holocaust... (Michael Peterson H-Net Book Reviews )

This is an important contribution to the history of the Holocaust and belongs in every library... (Jewish Book World )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee (May 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156663511X
• ISBN-13: 978-1566635110
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Source documents trace the horror of everyday life, September 10, 2003

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of the Dora Camp: The Untold Story of the Nazi Slave Labor Camp That Secretly Manufactured V-2 Rockets (Hardcover)

In mid-1943 Nazi Germany faced a shortage of manpower in its factories, and sent slave laborers to work manufacturing weapons. The Dora subcamp was one of the most notorious, putting prisoners to work building V-2 rockets. Sellier himself is a former prisoner at Dora but also a historian and tells the story of the underground work sites. Source documents trace the horror of everyday life and the conflicts of prisoners forced to work against their potential liberators.