Werwolf (Wehrmacht HQ)

Werewolf was a leader headquarters in a forest 8 km north of Vinnytsia in place Stryschawka in Ukraine in the landscape Podolia.

History of the plant

During the Second World War explored Rudolf Schmundt, the chief of the Wehrmacht adjutant to Adolf Hitler, a place for a new leader Headquarters ( FHQ ), which compared to the FHQ Wolfsschanze in East Prussia should be closer to the front line. Since 1 November 1941, the plant in the town of Stryschawka was built under the code name " oak grove " of 8000 workers of the Organization Todt and 1000 local Ukrainians to September 1942. From January to July 1942 erected in 1250 Workers more parts of the building. In Kalinowka existed an airfield.

It is close to the barracks of the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht ( OKW ), Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, and that of the Wehrmacht Operations Staff Colonel-General Alfred Jodl were.

The plant was located in a pine forest eight kilometers north of Vinnitsa. It consisted of 20 wooden barracks and up to three bunkers of the "Class B ", surrounded by barbed wire and defensive positions that were connected by tunnels. Some observational positions were located on platforms in oaks outside the pine forest. It also stood teahouse, hairdressing salon, bath, sauna, cinema and a swimming pool.

Between July 1942 and February 1943, the German Fuehrer's headquarters was located there. Adolf Hitler gave to most FHQ Wolfsschanze; he was only three times in the FHQ werewolf:

In March 1944, Hitler's headquarters was occupied by the Red Army. Previously German soldiers blew up the bunkers.

Massacre of Jews

Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police and SD, in September 1941 in the city of Vinnitsa ( Vinnytsia ) killed at least 10,000 Jews. In and around Vinnitsa lived in 1942 in spite of the German massacre still a number of Jewish forced laborers that have been classified as a security risk for Hitler. On January 5, 1942, the SS ordered the Jews to come together in a " relocation." However, they were sent back home because the ground was frozen so hard that it had not been able to dig pits. Then put the SS in the Fuehrer's headquarters nearest village 227 Jews on the wall of the local NKVD prison, blew up the wall and buried so these Jews. On April 16, 1942 4800 more Jews were killed. Until the arrival of Hitler's FHQ, in July 1942 SS Brigade Commander Max Thomas should " disappear " the last remaining Jews forced labor.

Field command post Hegewald and planning colony " Hegewald "

Not far from Vinnitsa planned Heinrich Himmler in his capacity as Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood setting up a first with 10,000 ethnic Germans to be colonized colony under the name " Hege forest ", which was intended as one of the cores of the future German settlements in Ukraine. Hege forest was initially only the designation of the field command post near Zhytomyr ( Zhitomir ) for the Reichsführer- SS. Here was a former Soviet Air Force Base, where the buildings were used by the Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Hans Heinrich Lammers.