Mittelbau-Dora, or Mittelbau concentration camp complex was formally established in 1944 near Nordhausen, Germany, south of Harz mountains from the already existing Buchenwald camps. Finally it comprised around 40 camps. The main goal of the complex was to establish the underground production of armaments, notably the V-2 rocket.
Prisoners in the camp were generally male, but, a small contingent of women were held in the Dora Mittelbau camp and in the Gross Werther subcamp. Only one woman guard is known today to have served in Dora, Lagerführerin Erna Petermann. Treatment towards the women prisoners was horrific and the same as the men.
Of 60,000 inmates, 12,000 deaths were officially recorded by the Nazis. The total death toll is estimated at around 20,000 and includes deaths from air raids and during the evacuation "death marches" in 1945.
Information on Erna Petermann was found in Daniel Patrick Brown's book, "THE CAMP WOMEN: The Female Auxiliaries Who Assisted the SS in Running the Nazi Concentration Camp System."
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