[13] Two plants in the area, Blechhammer North (south of Sławięcice) and Blechhammer South at Azoty (5 miles (8.0 km) from the[clarification needed] labor camp)[7] were nicknamed "Black Hammer" by Allied bomber aircrews.

[14] The facilities were approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) apart with each occupying a 3,000 × 5,000 ft (914 × 1524 m) area in open country.

[17] In June 1944, the United States Army Air Forces considered Blechhammer one of the four "principal synthetic oil plants in Germany",[18] and after the Fifteenth Air Force had dropped 7,082 tons (14,164,000 lbs; 6,424 tonnes) of bombs on Blechhammer, the Blechhammer plants were dismantled post-war by the Soviets.

[21][verification needed] Some small groups did manage to escape (see František R. Kraus).

[25] Life at Blechhamer and the work parties is described in Captive Plans, the POW diary of Reg Beattie[26] and by a Czech survivor, journalist František R. Kraus.