Germany, Langenstein-Zwieberge Concentration Camp Inmate Cards, 1944-1945

This record collection is comprised of three series of original German inmate identification cards for the Langenstein-Zwieberge Concentration Camp from April 1944 to April 1945: a name index to camp inmates, cards organized by block or barracks number that inmates were assigned to, and cards organized by occupation or trade. Information that can be found in these records includes prisoner names and numbers, arrival dates, birth dates, occupations, block or barracks number, and sometimes death dates.

Langenstein-Zwieberge was a sub-camp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp located in central Germany near the province of Saxony. Situated by the Harz Mountains the camp was intended to house forced laborers who would construct a mountain tunnel where Junker aircraft and V-2 rockets were to be assembled. Although small in size with an inmate total of only about 5,000, Langenstein-Zwieberge was known for its particularly brutal conditions and the death rate of prisoners was extremely high (the estimated mortality rate was between 60 and 75 percent).

When American forces liberated and occupied the camp in April 1945 they seized the records contained in this database, which are recorded on cards from cigarette cartons. Not only was the stock thicker than paper, but the cartons were plentiful in supply. The name cards are 3 by 3 inches and the block and occupation cards 2 ½ by 2 ? inches. In addition to the information previously mentioned, nationality of the inmate is included on the cards along with a cross if they perished in the camp and a note if they were transferred to another camp or escaped. The inmate number is also the most accurate way to track a prisoner as names are often spelled more than one way.

Some of the above information was taken from:

• Singer, Donald L. Langenstein-Zwieberge Concentration Camp Inmate Cards. ed. Benjamin Gutterman (National Archives: Washington, D.C. 2007).

Information in this database:

• Prisoner number
• Date of arrival
• First and last name
• Date of birth
• Occupation
• Block/barracks number

Information that may be in this database:

• Admittances to infirmary (or revier)
• Date of death

Each card contains an abbreviation for nationality. The most common abbreviations are as follows:

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