HKP 562 forced labor camp

HKP 562 was a forced labor camp located in two residential buildings at Subačiaus Street 47 and 49 in Vilnius, where German military vehicles were repaired. Prisoners worked in mechanical workshops while families lived in converted rooms within the same structures.

The camp opened in September 1943 under control of a German military engineering unit and operated until July 1944. The SS maintained formal authority over the camp's administration throughout this period.

Major Karl Plagge and a few German officers chose to act with mercy toward the imprisoned workers and their families. Their choices offered a rare moment of humanity during a time of systematic cruelty.

The locations of the former buildings and work areas can still be identified on the streets of Vilnius, though some structures have been modified over the decades. Commemorative plaques and markers help visitors understand what took place at each site.

Approximately 250 people imprisoned at this camp survived the war, making it the largest group of survivors from any single facility in Vilnius during that period. This unusually high survival rate was directly tied to the protection measures put in place by the German military leadership.