The following report should convey calmly, clearly and precisely, free from all exaggeration and flights of fancy, that which the writer of these lines has actually seen and heard, so long as he can and also must answer before God and his conscience.
The events which took place during the burning down of the synagogues, the wrecking of homes etc. are indeed sufficiently well-known that there is no need to go into more detail about them.
I
I was arrested on Saturday the 12th November on the street and first of all taken amidst verbal abuse to the appropriate Polizeirevier, where personal details were established and recorded. Then c. 80 Jews were driven in a large bus to the large hall. On our arrival at about 12 noon c. 2,000 Jews were already there. One had to line up in rows of ten. In front of each row stood a table at which a senior police officer was seated who read the names out loud. One had to step forward as one’s name was read out and say, “I am the Saujud so and so, born on, etc.”
Woe betide anyone who forgot to say the word “Saujud”. He was chased throughout the huge hall whilst being beaten. Money, everything one had with one was taken away. Tefillin and tallit were cut to pieces amidst the most mocking remarks by the SS, “You’ll get to heaven very soon, even without the Lord’s prayer.” One rabbi was forced to run throughout the huge hall attired in tallit and tefillin. An opera singer was forced, oh what irony, to sing Sarastro’s aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute “Within these sacred halls one does not know revenge.” We had to shout in chorus, “We are Saujuden, murderers, Rassenschänder" etc. Then one was pitilessly made to do Exerzieren. At the double, crawling on the stomach and with nose touching the dirty ground etc. They carried on with us like this until 10 o’clock in the evening. Of course there was nothing left to eat. At 10 o’clock the order rang out, “Prepare to march off.” We were driven in buses to the railway under heavy SS guard, where the mob greeted us with shouts of “Schlagt die Juden tot [Beat the Jews to death], cut their throats!” Then one was herded into the wagons like cattle.
The journey itself passed relatively peacefully. However at 6 o’clock at the final destination a reception was awaiting us from the SS and the police, which cannot and must not be forgotten for the rest of one‘s life. We were pushed out of the wagons into a tunnel with blows from rifle butts. People who could not run fast enough were simply thrown down the steps by the SS, and they were simply trampled upon. There were very many injured whose blood just flowed from their faces. However they were not permitted to be bandaged. In the tunnel one had to stand again in rows of ten facing the wall, hat pressing into the face, and now the SS again began to beat us at random with rifle butts. Then we were herded into the prison vehicles. One had to raise the knees high and prop heads on them. Blows from rifle butts hailed down on our heads again. At 7 o’clock the vehicles stopped in front of the large gate at Buchenwald concentration camp. One was chased with blows again through the large gate and then had to report on the large Appellplatz.
II
In the camp there were already c. 10,000 arrested Jews and c. 4,000 from Vienna, who have already been in the camp since March. One now had to line up again in rows of ten, and each prisoner received a number, usually accompanied by a kick in the buttocks or a slap in the face. Then one‘s hair was cut. On this Sunday, it was the 13th November, we had to stand from 7 o’clock in the morning until 8 o’clock in the evening on one and the same spot. Of course there was nothing to eat. At 2 o’clock there was whale soup, to which [bicarbonate of] soda had been added. At 8.30 we were chased into the barracks. There were five large barracks in place, and c. 2,500 Jews were crowded in each one alike. Then followed a really insane night. One was not permitted to step outside, as then one would have been shot down by the guard. There was no drinking water. The result of the whale soup was that the majority of the barrack had diarrhoea. Thirst and the other events now caused mass hysteria. People began to shout and rave. Every so often the SS came, seized c. 20 to 30 Jews from each barrack and simply beat them to death in front of the barracks (will be contested!). Some of them were thrown onto the electric wire. The camp is surrounded by an electric wire in fact, which is charged with 360 volts. However in their despair some of the Jews ran into it of their own accord, and almost every day 8 to 10 Jews could be seen hanging lifelessly on the wire. Some in their despair simply let themselves be shot by the SS.
Dawn was breaking on the morning of the 14th November. On the horizon the sun was climbing, blood red. One had to report for Appell again. At 9 o’clock there was some coffee and a small piece of mouldy bread; and then something else happened, which bears witness to the subhuman nature of the SS. From 9 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock in the evening they had us sit on the wet, soggy ground, legs crossed. Being excused to relieve ourselves was forbidden. One simply had to do it in one‘s trousers. No lavatories were in place and so-called latrines were only set up after a few days. There was no water for washing either. During imprisonment one was therefore forced not to wash and one had no other clothes either, so that one never got out of one’s clothes for the whole period of one’s imprisonment. The result of these appalling conditions can be vividly imagined. At 8 o’clock one was again chased into one‘s barrack, and the same sad scenes as during the night of Sunday to Monday were repeated.
Some people were dragged by the SS into the so-called washhouse, which in reality resembled a torture chamber where people were simply tortured and bullied to death. The writer of these lines was also dragged into the washhouse and had the opportunity to see and to hear what actually happened there. People asked themselves, “Is that reality or was it a fantasy brought on by overwrought nerves, what we saw there?” But unfortunately what was happening there was indeed clear from the dead who were carried out. For the cries of the tortured people were in fact no fantasy but harsh reality.
The author of these lines was fortunate to remain unmolested even in the washhouse. After four days, thus from 16th November, this kind of torture was stopped from above. After this time the SS was withdrawn from the Jewish barracks. The Vienna Jews were put in charge, who sacrificed themselves for us. In particular endless thanks are owed to the Viennese doctors who did everything to help the injured and also as far as was possible treated the sick. Medicines were not available at the beginning and Jews were simply not permitted to be treated and some of them had to die in the most dreadful pain, for Jews were not allowed to be admitted to the camp Lazarett. The washhouse was afterwards turned into a sick bay for Jews, i.e. the sick were simply laid on the smooth wooden floor, without straw, without blankets etc. The barrack was open at the ceiling without windows so the wind whistled through. It goes without saying that there was no stove there.
Even when the atrocities by the SS stopped, several hundred people still died of illnesses such as symptoms of cold etc. Also anyone who had a temperature of 40 degrees had to report for Appell in the open air. Then it was merely said, “The Judenschwein can and should perish.” Rations were more than inadequate. In the morning there was some brewed coffee and some mouldy Kommissbrot, one loaf a day between five Jews. Midday one litre of soup, peas or beans etc. In the evening a small piece of sausage or cheese and bread. One had to spend one day after another in this way. One was only permitted to write a card or a letter of ten lines once every 14 days. One was permitted to be sent RM. 10.-, however was not paid all of it and even if one was, it was after a deduction of 25% for administrative expenses.
Jews who are in the camp for political reasons wear camp clothing, as they have to do heavy work, most in the notorious quarries. Each Jew wears a Mogen Dovid in a different colour on his uniform. Red means politischer Häftling, green Rassenschänder etc. The quarry is located c. 25 minutes outside the camp.
The prisoners have to get the rocks to the camp at the double. SS guards are positioned every 20 minutes on the route, they throw large rocks at the poor prisoners and usually also injure them.
There are neither Sundays nor holidays in the camp. The working day is c. 16 hours long. There are so-called Strafkompanien. They have to work in the quarry from noon on Saturday until Monday morning without receiving anything to eat. If a prisoner has done the least thing wrong then he is strapped to the so-called Bock. An Aryan receives 25 strokes of the cane on the buttocks and a non-Aryan 50 strokes. The author once saw the following scene amongst others: “A heavy wooden wagon in boggy ground being pulled by c. 40 to 50 people in a yoke and alongside went the SS guards and relentlessly flogged their victims.”
But in the camp nesting boxes are mounted for the birds and the SS also has a zoo where roe deer, three bears and stags are fed most attentively.
The author was summoned for release after fifteen days. One had to stand again for ten hours without anything to eat until all the formalities had been completed. One was thoroughly examined by the doctor. If anyone had any traces of abuse on his body then he had to stay in the camp until there was nothing left to be seen. When the Entlassungsscheine were given out one had to sign an undertaking not to talk outside about anything that one had seen in the camp. One was officially informed in the political section:
“You must leave Germany as soon as possible. If there is further harassment abroad then all the Jews living in Germany will be incarcerated with their families for life.” And anyone who comes into the camp for a second time will also remain in the camp for life, regardless of whether he can emigrate or not.
The costs of the journey home had to be borne by ourselves.
With me 205 Jews were released on 28th November, amongst them 20 from Frankfurt. Many had not a penny on them, as everything had been taken away from them. So others (it was probably people from Upper Silesia who had money on them) had to pay for our journey home. Then when everybody had their tickets we were released. The Lagerkommandant extorted more money for the Winterhilfswerk from our 205-strong transport. Finally at 7 o’clock one was chased out through the large gate under escort and was in so-called freedom. The result of the stay for the writer of these lines is briefly summarised as follows:
a) In the whole of someone’s life it can never be any worse than in a concentration camp
b) One no longer need fear death
c) Hell is still a paradise compared to a concentration camp.
It must also be added that when one is released from the concentration camp the Gestapo orders one to leave Germany within a few days, under threat of being reincarcerated for life in the concentration camp if the person in question has not left the territory of the Reich by the appointed time.
