Beendorf

Bulldog & Polecat

Echoes of the Beendorf concentration camp

Location: Beendorf Salt Mine Tour duration: approx. 40 mins. Stops: 9 Walking distance: 1.59 km

Dark, cold and difficult to fathom: the underground facilities of the former Bartensleben potash and salt mine were used by the Nazi regime for the production of air force munitions.

Interned at the Beendorf concentration camp, hundreds of forced labourers worked here in two mine shafts codenamed ‘Bulldog’ and ‘Iltis’.

Along the Border Walk, this dark chapter in Beendorf’s history is illuminated through eyewitness accounts and original photographs.

Not in the area?

Parts of the tour are also available online as a virtual tour.

Online from 31 May 2026

To his credit, one can say: he never carried a riding crop.

— Former forced labourer on an SS commander

The tour in Beendorf

The location-based multimedia tour starts next to the sports hall and takes you past several stops, including the "Schacht Marie", which is now part of Germany’s only final repository for nuclear waste, Morsleben (BGE).

Starting point: Rundahlsweg 14, 39343 Beendorf

Local partners

Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial
Beendorf Concentration Camp Memorial
Federal Company for Final Disposal (BGE)

Contributors
Based on
the memories of
Erna Dohse
Filatow Fjiodor
Antje van M.
Eligia Piotrowska
Josef Polacek
Krystyna Razinska
Albert Rohmer
Franz Wecht
Narrated by Sophie Decker
David Steffen
Joana MacLean
Jule Jager
David Ruf
Linda Furker
Max Feldmann
Malte Zenses
Narrator Lisa Stenger
Sound design Emre Nisanci
Drone Maximilian Feldmann
Motion Design Sebastian Zeeden
Concept and production David Ruf
Archival material Beendorf
Concentration Camp Memorial Neuengamme
Concentration Camp Memorial Private archives in Beendorf, including Mr Heissler
Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH
Wikimedia Commons
bpk Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte
Special thanks Claus Hansper (Beendorf)
Swantje Claussen (BGE)