"As soon as the material sown in Ravensbrück is large enough for planting, it is transported to Auschwitz" Cross-connections, similarities and differences between the SS agricultural experiments in the Ravensbrück and Auschwitz concentration camps.

Little is known about the agricultural experimental farms of the SS in the vicinity of the Ravensbrück concentration camp and in the so-called Auschwitz area of interest. The two locations were linked by the "Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Ernährung und Verpflegung GmbH" (DVA), which was founded in 1939 and pursued a wide range of interests and research. In addition to research into substitutes/research into self-sufficiency and experiments with near-natural, biodynamic farming methods, the planned expansion to the east with the securing of spheres of influence was an important field of research. Within a very short time, over 30 experimental farms and research stations were established and over 100 farms in the Generalgouvernement and the Soviet Union were administered (in trust).
In the lecture, the agricultural work of the DVA will be presented using the example of the Auschwitz and Ravensbrück sites. Reports and memories of former concentration camp inmates form the basis for an examination of the different series of experiments and living conditions and make it possible to show how the two sites were interlinked and to analyze the different forms of speech in the memoirs themselves.

Lecture by Tanja Kinzel, Kristin Witte (Berlin/Ravensbrück)