Werwolf (Wehrmacht headquarters)

Werwolf
Wehrmacht HQ
Ruins of Hitler's headquarters Werwolf near Vinnytsia, Ukraine
Location within Ukraine
General information
Type Blast resistant concrete bunker
Town or city Wervolf Forest
Vinnytsia
Country Ukraine
Coordinates 49°18′30″N 28°29′36″E / 49.30833°N 28.49333°E / 49.30833; 28.49333Coordinates: 49°18′30″N 28°29′36″E / 49.30833°N 28.49333°E / 49.30833; 28.49333
Elevation 243 m (797 ft)
Construction started November 1, 1941
Completed June 1942
Destroyed March 1944
Owner Third Reich
Technical details
Structural system Steel-reinforced concrete
Design and construction
Architecture firm Organisation Todt
Map showing the location of "Werwolf", and other Führer Headquarters throughout Europe

Führerhauptquartier Werwolf was the codename used for one of Adolf Hitler's World War II Eastern Front military headquarters located in a pine forest about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of Vinnytsia, in Ukraine, which was used between 1942 and 1943. It was one of a number of Führer Headquarters throughout Europe, and the most easterly ever used by Hitler in person.

Naming

The name is derived from Werwolf or Wehrwolf in German,[1] which can be translated as werewolf. The Nazis also used the term Werwolf as a codename for clandestine resistance groups which were intended to carry out guerrilla attacks against the occupying forces towards the end of World War II. The naming scheme is in accord with other code-names given to Führerhauptquartiere during the Second World War, such as Wolfsschanze. Several were named for Hitler himself, whose nickname was Wolf.[2][3][4] The site was also the easternmost Wehrmacht headquarters.

Headquarters

The complex was located in a pine forest, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of Vinnytsia in Ukraine, between the villages of Stryzhavka and Kolo-Mikhailovka on the Kiev highway. It was built between December 1941 and June 1942 under top secret conditions by Russian prisoners of war.[5] The location may have been influenced by the Nazis' proposed trans-European highway to the Crimean Peninsula, which would have connected with the site. The Wehrmacht had its regional headquarters in Vinnytsia, and the Luftwaffe had a strong presence at their airbase in Kalinovka, about 20 km away.[6]

Hitler's accommodation at Werwolf (the Führerhaus) consisted of a modest log cabin built around a private courtyard with its own concrete bunker.[7] The rest of the complex consisted of about 20 wooden cottages and barracks and up to three "B" class bunkers, surrounded by ring of barbed wire and ground defensive positions connected by underground tunnels. A couple of observation points were set up on platforms in the oak trees surrounding the pine forest. The area was surrounded by a defensive strip of bunkers, anti-aircraft guns and tanks, as well as anti-tank ditches and minefields. [8]

There was a tea house, a barber shop, a bathhouse, a sauna, a cinema and a swimming pool, primarily intended for Hitler who never actually used it.[9] The facility also contained a large vegetable garden organised by the German horticultural company Zeidenspiner to provide Hitler with a secure supply of food. Hitler's personal chef selected his vegetables and the food was chemically analyzed before being tried by a taster because of Hitler's fear of poisoning. Oxygen tanks were also available at Hitler's insistence.[10] Water for the site was provided by artesian wells while power was provided by a generator. Some historians, including Lloyd Clark, indicate that some buildings were connected by underground tunnels.[11]

The bunkers were constructed by Organisation Todt using some local Ukrainian workers, forced labour but mainly Soviet prisoners of war. The code name for the secret construction project was Anlage Eichenhain (Camp Oak Grove).[12] Many of the workers were subsequently murdered to maintain the secrecy of the site.[13]

The complex was served by a daily three-hour flight connection from Berlin to the airfield in Kalinovka 20km from the compound. There was also a regular train connection from Berlin-Charlottenburg to "Eichenbein" station at Werwolf.[14] The ride took 34 hours.

During his Eastern campaign, Adolf Hitler lived mainly at FHQ Wolfsschanze (near Rastenburg, East Prussia) but he stayed at FHQ Werwolf three times:[15]

  • 16 July to 30 October 1942. The weather was hot, up to 45 °C, and the bunkers were humid. Hitler caught severe influenza, with a temperature running up to 40 °C. In this condition he gave his fateful Decree no. 45 and split his army group "South" into two parts, trying to reach both Stalingrad and the Caucasus oil fields simultaneously.
  • 19 February to 13 March 1943.
  • 27 August to 15 September 1943.

History

The Nazis destroyed the site, including mining access to the underground complex, on abandoning the region. The site was examined after the Nazi departure in March 1944 under the orders of Joseph Stalin, but no documentation was found. The Soviet Union took steps to permanently seal the underground parts of the complex.

Today only the swimming pool and concrete fragments remain visible on the site, which is an open recreation area.[16][17] The site can be visited but plans to create a full-fledged museum had not come to fruition as of August 2018.[18][19] Nearby is a memorial to the thousands of labourers and others buried by the Nazis in gravepits at Stryzhavka.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rathkolb, Oliver (1 August 2004). Revisiting the National Socialist Legacy: Coming to Terms With Forced Labor, Expropriation, Compensation, and Restitution. Transaction. p. 179. ISBN 978-0765805966.
  2. ↑ Antony Beevor (2001). Stalingrad. London: Penguin Books. p. 97. ISBN 0-14-100131-3.
  3. ↑ Toland, John (1978). Adolf Hitler. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 978. ISBN 0-345-27385-0. Hitler moved his headquarters to this site deep into the Ukraine [...] a few miles northeast of Vinnitsa. Christened Wehrwolf by himself, it was an uncamouflaged collection of wooden cottages and concrete bunkers, surrounded by defensive positions.
  4. ↑ Ainsworth-Davis, John (25 May 2015). The Mountbatten Report, New Edition. Goldeneye Publishing Ltd: London. p. 292. ISBN 9781312749962.
  5. ↑ "Hitler's Ukranian Bunker Revealed". BBC. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  6. ↑ https://books.google.ca/books?id=qT4RBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT149&dq=building+the+werewolf+cabin+for+hitler&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMrt-R5ZjVAhUK3IMKHZdqDYkQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=building%20the%20werewolf%20cabin%20for%20hitler&f=false
  7. ↑ Felton, Mark (4 August 2014). Guarding Hitler: The Secret World of the Fuhrer. London: Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 1781593051.
  8. ↑ Matthias Uhl and Henrik Eberle (1978). The Hitler Book: The Secret Report by His Two Closest Aides. London: John Murray. p. 400. ISBN 978-0719554995. When Hitler arrived at Werwolf Colonel Thomas, the HQ commander, was waiting for him... Thomas took Hitler over the terrain around the HQ and showed him the security measures. The area was surrounded by a defensive strip of bunkers, anti-aircraft guns and tanks, as well as anti-tank ditches and minetields. Rattenhuber Hitler’s head of security, had formed a special group of RSD men whose job was to watch the approaches to the HQ and to keep an eye on the local population.
  9. ↑ https://books.google.ca/books?id=JT1pCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA292&dq=werewolf+cabin+Vinnitsa+swimming+pool&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG7cih5JjVAhVDwYMKHTPcAO0Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=werewolf%20cabin%20Vinnitsa%20swimming%20pool&f=false
  10. ↑ https://books.google.ca/books?id=qT4RBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT149&dq=F%C3%BChrerhaus+cabin+Vinnitsa&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj16amF45jVAhVF9YMKHcmCAOUQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=F%C3%BChrerhaus%20cabin%20Vinnitsa&f=false
  11. ↑ Clark, Lloyd (28 March 2013). Kursk: The Greatest Battle. Headline Review. ISBN 0755336399.
  12. ↑ Short, Neil (10 October 2010). The Führer’s Headquarters: Hitler’s command bunkers 1939–45. Osprey. ISBN 9781846035821.
  13. ↑ Matthias Uhl and Henrik Eberle (1978). The Hitler Book: The Secret Report by His Two Closest Aides. London: John Murray. p. 400. ISBN 978-0719554995. Hitler gave an approving nod and asked, ‘Who built the camp?’ Thomas [the HQ commander] answered, ‘Mostly Russians prisoners from the camps.’ Hitler‘s face darkened. He told Thomas, ‘They must all be shot. There is not a moment to lose. They know too much about my HQ.’ Thomas clicked his heels and answered, ‘At your command, my Fuhrer’ He turned on his heels and went.
  14. ↑ https://books.google.ca/books?id=JT1pCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA292&dq=werewolf+built+by+Organisation+Todt&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJzef1gpnVAhWh24MKHcnqBTwQ6AEIMTAB#v=onepage&q=werewolf%20built%20by%20Organisation%20Todt&f=false
  15. ↑ https://books.google.ca/books?id=JT1pCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA292&dq=werewolf+built+by+Organisation+Todt&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJzef1gpnVAhWh24MKHcnqBTwQ6AEIMTAB#v=onepage&q=werewolf%20built%20by%20Organisation%20Todt&f=false
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luMXkT-YslY
  17. ↑ "Hitler's headquarters "Werwolf"". The Koz Telegram. 18 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Hitler's Ukranian Bunker Revealed". 12 March 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Hitler's headquarters "Werwolf"". 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

Bibliography

  • Zeidler, Zeigert, Die Führerhauptquartiere.
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