Monowitz, initially established as a subcamp of
Nazi Germany's
Auschwitz concentration camp, was one of the three main camps in the Auschwitz concentration camp system, with an additional 45 subcamps in the surrounding area. It was named after the town of Monowice upon which it was built which was located in the annexed portion of
Poland. The camp was established in October 1942 by the SS at the behest of
I.G. Farben executives to provide
slave labor for their
Buna-Werke industrial complex. The name Buna was derived from the
butadiene-based synthetic rubber and the chemical symbol for sodium Na, a process of synthetic rubber production developed in Germany. Various other German industrial enterprises built factories with their own subcamps, such as
Siemens-Schuckert's
Bobrek subcamp, close to Monowitz in order to profit from the use of slave labor. The German armanents manufacturer
Krupp headed by SS member
Alfried Krupp also built their own manufacturing facilities near Monowitz.