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More than 1,000 prisoners evacuated from Mittelbau-Dora and its subcamps were killed at the Isenschnibbe estate barn outside Gardelegen, Germany, on April 13, 1945. The prisoners had been marched to the area as Allied forces advanced. They were forced into the barn, which was set on fire. The US 102nd Infantry Division entered Gardelegen after the town surrendered the following day. The division's pamphlet placed the death toll at about 1,016.

The illustrated pamphlet documents the brick barn, burned bodies inside and near its doorway, and German officials and civilians lined beside an open mass grave under US military guard. German civilians were made to exhume and rebury the victims. Other photographs show rows of white crosses at the memorial cemetery, bodies heaped against a brick wall, and a US honor guard, bugler and firing party among the graves.

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Punctually at 1900 hours April 14, 1945, the commander of Gardelegen's military garrison appeared on the Estedt road. White flags flying from sedan and motorcycle escort, the German colonel guided troops of CT405 into town where, with arms stacked, the garrison stood neatly drawn up for surrender. On this decorous, if not ceremonial note, the battle for Gardelegen ended. What recriminations and accusations passed between the German commander and the Gardelegen Kreisleiter (county supervisor) will never be known. But certainly the surrender was ill-timed from the latter's point of view because it interrupted ghoulish activities in a barn on the outskirts of town.

There on Monday morning were found the charred and smoking bodies of over 300 slave laborers, deliberately burned to death by their Nazi captors. Freshly dug common graves in nearby fields mutely emphasized the haste with which all evidence of this atrocity was being concealed. Another day and no trace would have remained.

Investigation disclosed that 1016 political and military prisoners had perished here. Part of a larger group, they were being driven west to escape the Russians when suddenly their guards discovered the fall of Gardelegen was imminent. Following well-recognized Nazi precedent, these men were murdered to prevent any possibility of their turning on their captors in the even of sudden liberation.

Seven prisoners escaped from the barn. One of these, a Hungarian musician named Bondo Gaza, told his story on a beautiful spring morning as the citizens of Gardelegen buried the bodies of his former comrades.

Gaza said that the group originally had a strength of over 2000. They had been making airplane parts in a factory in eastern Germany. Then they were jammed into a train and shunted around the country for seven days. They had nothing but bread to eat. The train eventually reached Mieste, some twelve kilometers from Gardelegen. There the 2000 began their death march. But only 1200 reached Gardelegen. The lame and halt were more fortunate. They were shot as they fell by the wayside.

For a day the 1200 were housed in and around a hospital. There some 300 of them, German political prisoners, were drilled and placed as guards over their former comrades. For their services they were promised freedom. Next day the group marched to the barn on a little hill outside town. Again some fell out and were shot.

It was 6 pm, Friday, April 13, when they were herded into the barn, a large empty structure measuring roughly 100 by 50 feet. The prisoners were ordered to sit down. If they did not realize their fate at first they most certainly must have feared the worst when they saw the gasoline-soaked straw scattered knee-deep on the floor. At the last moment, after machine guns had been emplaced, the 300 guards were also forced into the building.


They had only five minutes to contemplate their fate before an SS corporal opened a door and laughlingly struck a match to the straw. He was all of 16 years of age. 50 or 60 prisoners rushed to the opposite side of the building. A door gave way. There was a dash for freedom, a short dash, ended by machine gun fire. Meanwhile others had managed to beat out the flaming straw with bare hands.

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Burgomeisters of Kreis Gardelegen view the mass grave from which over 700 burned bodies were later removed.
Once again SS boys ignited the floor, this time keeping the prisoners away from the fire by throwing hand grenades into the frantic masses. Exploding grenades spread the flames. At one door, where stubborn prisoners beat out the fire several times, a burp gun ripped into the struggling groups and signal flares reignited the floor. Finally, satisfied that the flames were out of control, the big doors were closed and barricaded.

Gaza, huddled in a corner was digging a hole under a door. Others tried to do the same. One managed to get his head through the opening before he died. But Gaza was lucky. He, his comrade, and a Pole, dug for an hour before they had a tunnel big enough. The Pole went out first. It was then about nine oclock and getting dark. If they could reach to the corner they might escape by crawling through the grain fields to the north. Just as the Pole reached the corner, a dog came sniffing by. The Pole tried to control his quaking limbs and feign death. But the dog howled, and a guard came running. A bullet freed the Pole from his troubles.

Behind him lay Gaza grimly awaiting his turn. Again he was lucky. Dog and master returned to the opposite side of the barn.

Gaza and his comrade crawled two miles to a damaged farm house.

Another man, a Frenchman, managed to remain alive in the burning barn. Sheltered by a mass of burned bodies he somehow escaped suffocation. He later told that SS men returned in the morning, calling that they were ready to give medical aid to anyone who had lasted the night. Several survivors indicated that they were alive. They were shot on the spot.


Local slave laborers were rounded up Saturday morning to dig great trenches around the barn, bury the remains, and otherwise clean up the evidence. Over 700 bodies were concealed before this work was interrupted by the surrender of the town.

Under the stern supervision of the 102d Infantry Division, burgomeisters from neighboring towns were conducted to the barn where they viewed the still smoldering victims of their criminal Nazi regime. They were charged with the responsibility of telling their communities the sordid tale. Later the citizens of Gardelegen established a memorial cemetery near the building. All able-bodied men of the community assisted in burying the dead and each family is henceforth responsible for keeping a grave forever green.

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[Magenta]

Oh, super-cool! Very informative!! I love this stuff!

[morningsun1967]

Awsome post!

[dEAD mICHAEL]

Great post.

[zadfrackglutz]

so many un told stories in these pages.

[ChockFullOfChock]

Excellent post. Reminds me of one of the final scenes in Come And See, one of the best - and least seen - war movies ever made. Find a copy and check it out.