Janowitz (Vrchotovy Janovice) Subcamp
July 24, 1944 – end of March 1945
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Aerial view of the former factory grounds in Vrchotovy Janovice, 2019 (Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial / Photo: Rainer Viertlböck)
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Prisoners
200 men, almost half of whom were Russian, 40 each French and Polish, one each German and Czech, and prisoners from seven other countries.
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Forced labor and quarters
Erecting a building for the SS assault gun school; working in a quarry; unloading wagons; building a second platform at Cichovka station; and road maintenance work. The prisoners were quartered in a barracks compound secured with barbed wire and guard towers, located close to Janowitz. After a typhus epidemic they were moved to a farm property near Kschepenitz (Křepenice) close to Chlum.
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Guards
Detail leader Friedrich Christel, later Willibald Richter, two non-commissioned officers and 39 SS men.
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Death toll
The head Kapo Helmut Lindner killed fellow prisoners through violent mistreatment. Numerous executions by shooting during the evacuation march claimed the lives of many victims.
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Disbanding of the camp / end of the war
At the end of April 1945, the prisoners were transported to Prague by truck and train, joining a large prisoner transport heading in the direction of Budweis (České Budějovice). On May 8, the survivors were liberated by Czech partisans near Kaplitz (Kaplice).
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Commemoration
Since 1982, there is a monument at the “Neuer Teich”, where the guard squad’s dog kennel once stood.