The proposal to form mobile labor units was first floated by Hans Kammler in 1942 in a paper called Vorschlag fur die Aufstellung von SS-Baubrigaden ("Suggestions for the Establishment of SS Construction").

Under Kammler's proposal, these prisoners would have formed 4,800 man labor detachments that could move between construction sites.

As fighting intensified in 1942, Himmler ordered that the SS-Baubrigaden be deployed to clean up German cities that had been destroyed in the British bombing campaign.

In September 1942 Baubrigaden were deployed to Bremen, Osnabrück, Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Cologne to construct emergency shelters and clear rubble in the aftermath of bombings.

Though working conditions were poor, chances of survival were higher in the Baubrigaden subcamps because prisoners were more likely to find food.