Pfaffenwald. One camp, multiple crimes

Forced abortions
 

The decree of May 1943 on the treatment of pregnant Eastern European forced labourers paved the way for forced abortions, even at advanced stages of pregnancy, if there was a “risk” that a “racially undesirable child” would be born. Pregnancies among Polish women were to be immediately reported to the Gestapo, including details of the month of pregnancy and the ethnic and/or national identity of the partner. The report was to be accompanied by the written consent of the respective Polish woman to terminate the pregnancy. If consent was refused, the Gestapo had the right to arrest the Polish woman in question. All administrative delays were to be avoided, as “intervention must occur immediately”.[24]

In many cases, however, pregnancies were terminated without the consent of the women in question or their consent was forced. In April 1944, eight forced labourers from the Soviet Union and Poland refused to undergo abortions in Pfaffenwald, although they had previously, under pressure from the authorities, consented. However, the medical staff at Pfaffenwald did not carry out the abortions and first enquired about the legal situation “under which such foreigners can be forced to terminate pregnancy.”[25] An additional problem was the lack of “medical instruments”, meaning that the Soviet doctors responsible could not immediately deal with all the cases they had been given.[26] More recent historical research does in fact highlight ambivalent aspects in this area. On the one hand, some doctors refused to carry out abortions, on the other hand intensive efforts on the part of the regional authorities to “terminate pregnancy” can be observed.[27] In any case, abortion meant that the woman in question could soon work again. 

It is impossible to verify the number of abortions carried out in Pfaffenwald. It is equally difficult to estimate the number of women who suffered lasting damage to their health or died as a result of forced abortions. The only certainty is the incredible pain and the physical as well as mental suffering the women in question endured. The National Socialist crimes at this camp only ended when the Americans arrived on 30 March 1945. 

A court case against camp guards accused of maltreating camp inmates was initiated in 1947, before ending in 1949 due to lack of evidence.[28] The German justice system conducted no further proceedings relating to the crimes committed at Pfaffenwald.

Commemoration
 

Local residents knew of the existence of the camp, but showed no great interest in it.[29] The area quickly became overgrown after the war and was gradually forgotten about. The only trace of what happened there was the Pfaffenwald-Beiershausen war cemetery, set up in 1960 by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge), where over 400 victims from Pfaffenwald and other exhumed cemeteries in the region are buried. Two bronze tablets with the names of 453 victims were inserted into the cemetery wall. The following is written on one of the tablets: “Here lie 453 war dead, who died far from home in the difficult period 1940–1945”. The second panel contains a Russian translation of the text. The cemetery still exists in this form and ceremonies are held there on the German day of commemoration (Volkstrauertag). Expanding the commemorative inscription to include a Polish translation would certainly make sense, as at least 46 of the engraved names are of Polish victims.[30] Another way to learn about the history of the location is a walking tour with the “Pfaffenwald-Gedenkrunde” app.[31] The Hersfelder History Association (Hersfelder Geschichtsverein) reconstructed a site map of the camp in 2016 and placed it at the historical location in the form of a tablet. It also published an information brochure titled “Pfaffenwald. Zeugnis nationalsozialistischer Gräueltäten in Bad Hersfeld” (Pfaffenwald. Report on National Socialist Atrocities in Bad Hersfeld). The brochure rightly criticises the fact that the commemorative plaques do not even mention the national origins of the victims, let alone their individual histories.[32]

The former camp site itself has been fully reclaimed by nature. It is mostly covered by forest and just a few foundations of the barracks remain. One can hardly imagine that at this location racism and economic exploitation led to the deaths of many people from Poland and Eastern Europe.

Pfaffenwald began as a labour camp and in the second half of the war became a place where Eastern European forced labourers, pregnant women and their babies died. At least 376 people died in this “auxiliary hospital” by the time the war ended.[33] Many children born under these catastrophic conditions in Pfaffenwald died in the following weeks and months, including in the “care facilities for foreign children”. The debilitated mothers also suffered after giving birth and not infrequently also died. That is all the more reason why this site should be marked with appropriate commemorative signs, in line with current historical research.

Katarzyna Woniak, March 2026