One of the three largest labor camps in Estonia. Klooga, established in the summer of 1943, was a sub-camp of the Vaivara concentration camp. It held about 2,000--3,000 prisoners, who mainly arrived in August and September 1943 from the Vilna Ghetto. A smaller contingent came from the Kovno Ghetto, and about 100 Soviet Prisoners of War were also interned there.
The Germans established camps in Estonia in order to take advantage of the local natural resources. The prisoners were made to manufacture goods for the German war effort and build fortifications against the Soviet army, which was drawing near. At Klooga, most prisoners worked in brick and cement factories and in sawmills, while a smaller group worked in a wooden clog factory. The conditions at the camp were brutal; the prisoners received meager food and water rations and were forced to work even when they were ill. A 75-man underground was active in Klooga, but because prisoners were often transferred out of the camp, the underground was unable to organize itself for an uprising.
The Germans began evacuating Klooga in the summer of 1944. On September 19 SS men shot the last 2,500 prisoners in the camp. Only 85 prisoners managed to hide, and survived.
