Successful prospecting for uranium immediately after WWII
prompted the Soviet occupation forces in 1947 to establish the state-run
Wismut company in Aue.
Run by the Soviet military, the company's sole aim was the exploitation
of German uranium deposits for the Soviet nuclear programme. This followed
the transfer of Saxon mining companies into Soviet ownership to cover
reparation claims of the war. Employing an enormous workforce, uranium
ore mining quickly spread across the Ore Mountains and to Eastern Thuringia.
During the early "wild" years, uranium ore mining in Saxony
and Thuringia was characterised by poor working conditions, complete
disregard for the environmental concerns of the densely populated areas,
and the destructive exploitation of resources.
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