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Forced labor and concentration camp in Slovakia. During the spring and summer of 1942, the authorities began using Sered as a labor camp. In fact, the idea of establishing such labor camps had come from the Jews themselves: during the height of the mass deportations, the Slovak Jewish rescue organization called the Working Group came up with a plan to save Jews from being deported by sending them to work in forced labor camps instead. However, not all Jews were spared. During that summer, some 4,500 Jews from Sered were sent to Poland on five transports.
After the last transport, the conditions at Sered improved greatly. The laborers produced an impressive number of quality goods, and as a result they received more food and even leave passes. There were school services for the children and cultural activities for all. A Jewish Council under Alexander Pressburger even helped run the camp.
During the August 1944 Slovak National Uprising, the camp was opened and many prisoners left to participate in the revolt. However, after the Germans put down the uprising, Sered was taken under their control. From October 1944 to March 1945, 13,500 Jews were deported from Sered to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. The camp was liberated by the Soviet army in April 1945.
[http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206016.pdf]
[http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/communities/bratislava/l...]
Located at the site of the former forced labour and transit camp Sered’ is a memorial to the Jewish inmates of the camp. Image: Sered’, between 1941 and 1945, View of the camp, Yad Vashem Sered’, between 1941 and 1945, View of the camp, Yad Vashem
Image: Sered’, 2004, Memorial plaque to the victims of the forced labour and concentration camp, Stiftung Denkmal Sered’, 2004, Memorial plaque to the victims of the forced labour and concentration camp, Stiftung Denkmal Between 1941 and 1945, located in the small town of Sered’, 60 km to the east of Bratislava, was one of the three large forced labour camps for Jews established in Slovakia - a close ally of the German Reich. It was set up on the premises of army barracks after the Slovak government had introduced a system of forced labour for Jews. The camp was guarded by members of the Hlinka Guard. From the spring of 1942 on, when the Slovak authorities began mass deportations, the camp was primarily used as a transit camp. About 4,500 Jews were deported from Sered’ to occupied Poland in a total of five transports. The deportations were halted temporarily in 1942, resulting in a consolidation of camp life at Sered’. Towards the end of 1943, about 1,300 people were incarcerated at the camp and deployed in producing goods both for state institutions and for the consumer market. Leisure activities and cultural events were permitted; at the same time, a resistance movement began to form. When the Slovak National Uprising was launched in August 1944, many prisoners were able to flee from the camp and join forces with the insurgents in central Slovakia. After the uprising was suppressed and western Slovakia occupied by German troops, the SS again used Sered’ as a transit camp. Mainly Jews who had been arrested by the SS Einsatzkommando 14 (mobile killing squad) in Bratislava and vicinity were brought to Sered’. Until March 1945, 13,500 Jews were deported from Sered’, the primary destinations being Auschwitz and Theresienstadt. The Red Army liberated the camp on April 1, 1945. Image: Sered’, between 1941 and 1945, View of the camp, Yad Vashem Sered’, between 1941 and 1945, View of the camp, Yad Vashem
Image: Sered’, 2004, Memorial plaque to the victims of the forced labour and concentration camp, Stiftung Denkmal Sered’, 2004, Memorial plaque to the victims of the forced labour and concentration camp, Stiftung Denkmal 4,500 Jews were deported from Sered’ in 1942, and a further 13,500 were deported between 1944 and 1945. Only few survived.
[http://www.memorialmuseums.org/eng/staettens/view/145/Memorial-Plaq...]