VVN-Gedenkstein für die Opfer des Übergangslagers (KZ) im Goßberger Wald

The VVN memorial stone for the victims of the transit camp (KZ) in the Goßberger Wald marks a forest site near Hainichen, Saxony, where concentration camp prisoners were held by the SS in the open air during the final weeks of the Second World War. Placed by the VVN — the German association of people persecuted under the Nazi regime — the stone commemorates one of the more harrowing episodes of the death marches that swept through this part of what is now the district of Mittelsachsen.

Where is the memorial located?

The site lies in the Goßberger Wald, a forest stretching between the villages of Goßberg, Pappendorf, and Hainichen, in the valley of the Striegis river. It's a quiet, wooded area today, mostly frequented by walkers — there is little to suggest that in the spring of 1945 it was the scene of events that brought suffering, illness, and death to hundreds of women.

What happened here in the spring of 1945?

In March 1945, as the front line closed in on Thuringia, the SS evacuated a group of roughly 1,200 Jewish women from the Buchenwald concentration camp. Marched under guard along the evacuation route, they were brought to the Goßberger Wald, where the SS held them in the open — no barracks, no shelter, in conditions that were harsh even for the season. The forest served as a transit camp (Übergangslager): a stopping point along the march route rather than a permanent, built-up camp. According to available historical sources, as many as 1,500 women passed through the site over the course of that spring.

Who helped the imprisoned women?

Some of the women, taking advantage of moments when the guards' attention lapsed, sought help at a nearby paper-board factory in Pappendorf owned by Friedrich Schlieder. Helene Schlieder, the owner's wife, helped where she could under the circumstances — a warm meal, or a place by the stove to warm up and rest, even briefly. After the collapse of Nazi rule, surviving Jewish women from Goßberg were temporarily housed in rooms at the factory; many of them were seriously ill by that point, worn down by the march and months of captivity.

Who erected the memorial and why?

The stone in the Goßberger Wald was placed by the VVN — Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes, the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime. It was founded after the war by camp survivors, political prisoners, and others persecuted under Nazism, with the aim of honoring victims and supporting those who survived. The memorial near Hainichen is one of many such stones scattered across Saxony and other parts of Germany, marking sites of suffering that would otherwise leave no trace in the landscape. It is now listed in the official register of memorials and monuments maintained by the district of Mittelsachsen.

Frequently asked questions

What happened in the Goßberger Wald in the spring of 1945? The SS held Jewish women evacuated from the Buchenwald concentration camp here in the open air — according to historical sources, as many as 1,500 women passed through the site that spring.

Who was Helene Schlieder? The wife of the owner of a nearby paper-board factory in Pappendorf, who helped women seeking refuge from the camp with warm meals and a place to warm up by the stove.

Who put up the memorial stone? The VVN — Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes, a German association of concentration camp survivors and others persecuted under the Nazi regime.

Are there physical remains of the camp in the forest? The site functioned as a transit camp with no permanent structures, so today the memorial stone itself is the main physical trace of what happened there.

Where exactly is the Goßberger Wald? It's a forest between the villages of Goßberg, Pappendorf, and Hainichen, in the Striegis river valley, in the district of Mittelsachsen, Saxony.