From the collective farm to the SD camp

The establishment of the camp near Maly Trascjanec shows the connection between genocide and economic exploitation in the Nazi occupation policy.

Panoramic view of the estate near Maly Trascjanec

On the opposite side of Blahaǔščyna, on the Minsk-Mahiljou highway, lies the village of Maly Trascjanec, which was part of the "Karl Marx" collective farm before the beginning of the German occupation. On the 250-hectare site, agriculture and livestock breeding were practised; in addition, a grain mill and sawmill, as well as various craft facilities were operated.¹ In April 1942, the collective farm was confiscated by the KdS Minsk and brought under the responsibility of the SS Economic Main Office as "SS Estate Trostenez". The purpose of this "SS and Police Estate" was to provide food for the occupying forces by delivering provisions to the Wehrmacht, SS and police stations in Minsk.²

View of the fence around the camp at Maly Trascjanec as found by the Extraordinary State Commission in July 1944

From 1942 onwards, people deported to Minsk, but above all people from the surrounding area, were forced to work on the estate; in autumn 1943, about 600 to 900 forced labourers were accommodated on the estate. They were forced to work in the tailoring, shoemaking and saddlery workshops as well as in an asphalt factory. The asphalt was used to repair the Minsk-Mahiljou motorway and to build the "Eduard Strauch Avenue", which led directly to the camp.³ In 1942, the prisoners were largely used to extend the camp's residential and farm buildings. The construction of barns, a motor vehicle workshop and a forge also fell into this period.⁴ Since the number of prisoners was constantly growing, the camp management had new prisoners’ barracks built. In the southern part of the camp grounds, the prisoners had to build four new barracks, which were fenced in with barbed wire. New watchtowers were also built.

"The one who was able to work and any craftsman had a greater chance of living longer than the old, infirm one. Working non-stop was the best. The slightest break and you were put on the list and shot the next day at the latest. "⁵

Warnschild vor dem Lager Malyj Trascjanec_Belorusskij gosudarstwennyj muzej istorii Welikoj Otetschwennoj wojny, Minsk.bmp

Warning sign in front of the Maly Trascjanec camp, 1944

In 1942, the camp administration set up a cemetery south of the camp, where deceased staff members were buried. In April 1942, Eduard Strauch (commander of the security police and the Sicherheitsdienst in "Weißruthenien") had a memorial stone erected for Reinhard Heydrich (SS-Obergruppenfuhrer, one of the main organizers of the Holocaust).⁶

In view of increasing partisan attacks on the camp, the village of Maly Trascjanec, which included 92 farmhouses, was converted into a "defence village" in May 1943.⁷ The more than 700 previous inhabitants were resettled and replaced by peasants who were considered "loyal" and who, together with the camp guards, fulfilled an additional guarding function for the camp.⁸

Responsible for content: Peter Kamp

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_{¹ Cf. Kohl, Das Vernichtungslager Trostenez, p. 15.}

_{² Cf. Gerlach, Kalkulierte Morde, p. 341.}

_{³ Cf. Kohl, Das Vernichtungslager Trostenez, p. 16-17.}

_{⁴ Cf. ibid.}

_{⁵ Quote from Grünberg, in: IBB Dortmund/IBB Minsk/Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden (Hrsg.): Vernichtungsort Malyj Trostenez. Geschichte und Erinnerung, p. 89.}

_{⁶ Cf. Rentrop, Tatorte der Endlösung, p. 222.}

_{⁷ Cf. Kohl, Das Vernichtungslager Trostenez, p. 15.}

_{⁸ Cf. Kohl, Das Vernichtungslager Trostenez, p. 17.}