in detail
In 1938, army officials selected 2,471 acres of forest area south of Allendorf, in the former district of Marburg, as the site for two explosives factories. The selected area needed to meet the following criteria: remoteness from densely populated areas, ample labor force, natural camouflage, and sufficient water supply. By the end of 1945, the factory which was a subsidiary of the Dynamit-Nobel AG produced and filled chemical explosives commissioned by the military. The Westphalian Anhalt Explosive Company worked on behalf of the navy. The production of armaments steadily increased during the war. The Allendorf plants, among the largest in Germany, had produced approximately 125,000 tons of TNT and 4,000-5,000 tons of Hexa by the end of the war. Forced laborers from twenty-two nations built and worked in the plants. By the end of the war, approximately 17,000 foreign laborers were employed in Allendorf, of whom some 6,500 were prisoners of war, 600 were convicts, and 1,000 were prisoners of concentration camps.
After the war, the American Army confiscated the factories. In the process of dismantling the plants, a portion of the machinery and factory equipment went towards payment of reparations and one-fourth of the buildings were blown up. With the help of local and state politicians, entrepreneurs and numerous refugees negotiated plans to rebuild the remaining infrastructure as a residential and commercial area. A school competition in German history ("Schülerwettbewerb deutsche Geschichte") in 1986 eighties sparked a new interest in the local history. The Documentation Center (DIZ) with its permanent exhibition has been open to the public since November 4, 1994 and is managed by the city government of Stadtallendorf.
The purpose of the DIZ is to document the recent history of the city and its environs and to provide an independent educational resource for students and teachers. Additionally, the DIZ provides research facilities and material from national and international archives on the subjects of the armament industry, forced labor, city development, armament waste as well as specific Hessen documentation about forced labor at the site of a former satellite concentration camp.
1939-1940
Two plants to produce and fill explosives are built.
1939-1945
Approximately 17,000 forced laborers, prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners are employed there.
After 1945
Initially, a part of the plant is dismantled, but then the remaining infrastructure is used as a new settlement for industry and small business enterprises.
Since 1986
Research begins on the history of Allendorf and on the use of forced laborers in both armament plants.
November 4, 1994
Official inauguration of the documentation center and its permanent exhibition takes place.
