House collapses, killing 3
Photo: Gettyimages Imagebank
Nazi factory thought to have caused deadly mudslide
Underground factory that produced Zyklon B gas, used in gas chambers, may have been located beneath house that collapsed in Germany in 2009
A mudslide that caused the collapse of a house in a small German town was caused by an underground factory, Der Spiegel reported Monday. According to the report, a local investigator found evidence that the factory was owned by the Nazi regime.
The mudslide took place during a slew of thunderstorms that hit Europe in July of 2009. On a particularly stormy night the banks of an artificial lake in Nachterstedt gave way, causing a home to plummet 100 meters and killing three.
Site of 2009 mudslide (Photo: Getty Images)
An official investigation of the case yielded no conclusions as to the cause of the erosion, but a short while later a historian appeared claiming he had additional information.
Dirk Finkemeier told Stern magazine he was researching underground Nazi factories, and that he had found testimony by an SS soldier pointing to the existence of one of these factories at the site of the mudslide.
The plot thickened when it was discovered that the factory was owned by IG Farben, producer of the deadly Zyklon B gas used in the Nazi gas chambers.
The soldier, dubbed "rifleman Plumeyer", described the area surrounding the factory to his interrogators immediately after World War II ended, and even drew them a map. On it, the point marked "entrance" correlated with the exact site of the collapsed home.
Der Spiegel said the soldier's testimony could not be officially corroborated, but that all of the information he had supplied matched the evidence gathered.
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