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[begin…] ning of the war in public parks for the protections of
the civilian population, mere ditches, about 1.80 m. deep, lined with boards or
faggots, roofed with boards or planks, and finally covered with excavated
earth. Where the ground water level prohibited the preparation of such
trenches, so-called walls round the barracks had to suffice. These were wails
of bricks stacked dry, which were to be erected at a distance of about one-half
meters from the hutments, and were to reach to about two-thirds the height of
the windows.
We refused to erect such, in our opinion, inadequate air
raid shelters. At my instigation, contrary to these orders, in the
Bottroperstrasse barrack camp, among many others, splinter-proof air raid
shelters and moreover a solidly built dug-out for 1000 people with a vault
thickness of 1½ bricks and covered with earth several meters deep, had
already been erected as early as the summer of 1941. The Essen branch office of
the Speer Ministry (responsible department chief Mr. Barlen), and the air raid
protection offices in the government at Muenster (Baurat Goebel) had already
declared more shelter trenches to be sufficient and had refused permission or
supplies for further provision. I myself took part in some of the discussions
with the Essen branch office of the Reich Armament Ministry, in which this
refusal was announced.
Later, we, together with the construction office
of the Krupp firm, developed a system of solidly built shelters resembling a
mine gallery, consisting of a tunnel-like passage with walls of cement or
cement bricks at least 30-40 cm. thick and a vaulted roof of the same
thickness, covered with earth at least a meter deep. These shelters were
completely dry, splinter and incendiary bomb proof. They proved their worth
everywhere, which is demonstrated by the fact that the losses in foreign
civilian workers during air raid attacks on the Essen camps of the Krupp firm
were considerably less percent than the losses in the German civilian
population.
Moreover, the camps were without exception in the areas
which were most affected. |
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| [Signed] EUGEN LAUFFER |
1314 |
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