Auschwitz III - Monowitz Auschwitz III, aka Monowitz, was
established in 1942 at the site of the chemical factories of IG
Farbenindustrie near the small village of Monowitz, which was
located four kilometers from the town of Auschwitz. The IG
Farben company had independently selected this location around
the same time that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler decided, in
April 1940, to locate a new concentration camp in the town of
Auschwitz. The most important factory at Monowitz was the Buna
Werke, which was owned by the IG Farben company. Of the three
Nazi concentration camps located near the town of Auschwitz, the
Auschwitz III camp was the most important to the Nazis because
of its factories which were essential to the German war effort.
The Monowitz industrial complex was built by Auschwitz inmates,
beginning in April 1941. Initially, the workers walked from the
Auschwitz main camp to the building site, a distance of seven
kilometers. The decision to build chemical factories at
Auschwitz transformed both th