HASAG

HASAG
Native name
Hugo Schneider AG
Company typeSlave labour
IndustryArms manufacturing
OwnersJoint venture
Number of employees
16,581 prisoners of Auschwitz, 5,288 at Schönefeld,[1] 1,902 from Buchenwald,[2] 41,800 from Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland[3] as well as at least 13,850 German employees mostly in managerial positions [1] (1942)

HASAG (also known as Hugo Schneider AG, or by its original name in German: Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft Metallwarenfabrik)[3] was a German metal goods manufacturer founded in 1863. Based in Leipzig, it grew from a small business making lamps and other small metal products by hand into a large factory and publicly traded company that sold its wares in several countries. During the Second World War, Hasag became a Nazi arms-manufacturing conglomerate with dozens of factories across German-occupied Europe using slave labour on a massive scale. Tens of thousands of Jews from Poland, and other prisoners, died producing munition for Hasag.[4]

It began making armaments during the First World War, a decision that ultimately increased the company's profitability. The loss of military business after the war resulted in dropping sales. HASAG struggled during the 1920s in the Weimar Republic. As the Nazi Party grew in influence and eventually came to power in 1933, growing militarism led to the company's return to small arms production under the new SS leadership. Following the invasion of Poland at the onset of World War II the company expanded to accommodate thousands of NS-Zwangsarbeiters from concentration camps and ghettos. It was the third largest user of forced labor in Europe, with armaments factories in Germany and Poland. Though HASAG was dismantled after the war, the trademark remained in use until 1974.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference conne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference heart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Mateusz BOLECHOWSKI (July 17, 2014). "Przywrócą prawdę o Hasagu. W skarżyskim obozie pracy w czasie wojny zginęło około 35 tysięcy osób" [Restoring truth about Hasag. At its Skarżysko-Kamienna camp during World War II some 35,000 prisoners perished]. Monograph "Hasag" by Krzysztof Gibaszewski published by Muzeum Orła Białego, Poland. EchoDnia.eu. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.