Monowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (Arbeitslager) run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and the Holocaust. [2] .

A sub-camp and from November 1943 a concentration camp to which all the “industrial” sub-camps in the Auschwitz complex were subordinated. It was established at the site of the Polish village of Monowice, whose inhabitants were expelled and buildings razed.

The camp in Monowice was one of the first, and also the largest of the sub-camps of Auschwitz. Over time, it attained the status of headquarters of the “industrial” sub-camps, and its commandant was a manager and administrator, as well as the commander of the SS garrisons that reported to him.

The creation of the Buna sub camp, later renamed Monowitz, is inextricably linked to the plans to build a synthetic rubber plant in Monowice. These plans had their origins in 1937 when the Third Reich considered in the Four-Year Plan the construction of synthetic rubber plants in the eastern areas of Germany.

Monowice – dawniej samodzielna wieś leżąca 5 kilometrów na wschód od Oświęcimia, obecnie osiedle we wschodniej części miasta .

View on Monowice, the post-war village built on the foundations of the Monowitz concentration camp. Collection: Hans Citroen ⌕

Monowice to historicznie ważny obszar, który kiedyś funkcjonował jako niezależna wieś, położona w odległości zaledwie 5 kilometrów na wschód od Oświęcimia. Aktualnie, obszar ten przekształcił się w osiedle miejskie, znajdujące się w wschodniej części Oświęcimia.

In late October 1942, I.G. Farben opened its own corporate concentration camp, Buna/Monowitz, to house the predominantly Jewish prisoners who had to do forced labor on the plant grounds of I.G. Auschwitz. The camp was built on the site of the Polish village of Monowice, whose inhabitants had been made to leave their homes.

Podobóz, a od listopada 1943 r. obóz koncentracyjny, któremu podlegały wszystkie „przemysłowe” podobozy istniejące w ramach kompleksu Auschwitz.

This became the largest camp and in 1944 it gained autonomy and operated as Auschwitz III "Monowitz" (the Monowice village had been located across the road from the camp), in charge of all the other Auschwitz sub-camps (some 47 in total).