Some Notes about the Database

Please read these remarks in order to use our internet site most effectively:

This internet site is still under construction. Due to the complexity of the theme and in part, extremely fragmentary research sources, we cannot guarantee the completeness or the correctness of the information at the present time. We thankfully accept any comments or corrections.

Please observe that this project, at its start, is oriented to reflect the planning and organizational structures of the offenders due to systematic reasons. The fate of the victims is, at best, presented only indirectly. The internet site is only a component of a larger project of which you can learn more about by clicking on "Information".

You will notice that a disproportionate amount of information is available for the different crime sites. In particular, very little detailed information exists for the camps and detention centers located in eastern and southern Europe. Many locations, mostly in the former Soviet Union, could not yet be added to the database. This should not be taken as a sign of insignificance, instead only a result of an uncompleted project.

Normally, large groups of prisoners were made to perform, so called, “Kommandos“ forced labour. In the literature, these duties were often called „Arbeitskommando“ or “Außenkommando,“ where “Außenkommando“ signifies a duty for which the prisoner must leave the camp, returning after work. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a misunderstanding if the term “Außenkommando“ is also used for a contiguous or outlying camp. Those locations listed in the database invariably refer to a separate camp, whereas outside duties are listed under respective camps. A further problem is raised in the IST 1979 where the listings for outlying camps are divided by gender. Despite this listing, it was not always known whether the prisoners were actually separated by gender in the camps. Due to this lack of information, we have recorded these double entries in the site files, but marked the site only once on the respective map. An explanation can be found in the database file for applicable camps under the term, “Map entry“.

It should be noted that the information provided for particular crime sites should be considered inconclusive. For example, the information concerning manpower, given as an average prisoner count, could deviate considerably. If companies for whom the prisoners performed forced labor are given, it is quite possible that further duties existed.

Within the file categories, reference numbers (e.g. “[4]”) identify the research sources. To avoid confusion, information gathered from one resource is separated by a „backslash“ (“/“) from the information obtained from a different resource.

In the database, the concentration camps are signified by “KZ,“ a contemporary abbreviation, although, the official abbreviation “KL“ was formerly used.

Due to technical reasons, so far we have had to refrain from using language specific characters in foreign names. Particularly, with the names of eastern European cities, we could only reproduce them with German grapheme.