Today’s Overcrowded Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Prisoners at Sachsenhausen Nazi prison camp were housed in simple wooden barracks made up of two wings containing dormitories and dayrooms. Bathrooms and toilets were in the middle. As prisoners were brought to Sachsenhausen in ever larger groups, conditions got worse and worse. The barracks were overcrowded and prisoners often had to sleep two-to-a-level on three-tier bunks. In some barracks, prisoners even had to sleep on the floor. Diseases became rampant. The situation became even worse in 1944-45, when thousands of prisoners were sent to Sachsenhausen from camps further east.
Three-tiered prisoner bunk, 1939-45
The dormitories generally contained three-tiered wooden bunks arranged in narrow rows. Prisoners slept on straw palliases, or some on the bare wooden floor. Survivors have reported that the palliases and blankets were teeming with bugs. After mass deliveries of prisoners , up to three prisoners would have to share one bedspace.
“I suddenly moved from the enclosed prison cell to the overcrowded block where it was indescribably crowded; the place was packed and chaotic. There was no room for me at the table. Six prisoners had to store their dishes and towels in one narrow army locker. Everywhere I went I was in the way and was shouted at or pushed.” – Wolfgang Szepansky, c. 1980, a German political prisoner, in Sachsenhausen 1940-45
“In the morningtime, when the Scharführer or a Rottenführer arrived, they ripped up the beds even if we hadn’t slept in them. We had to put them back together, every seam and every edge. […] The work it took! – shaping the straw just so with our cold fingers, and the sheet.” – Walter Schwarze, 1997, a German homosexual, in Sachsenhausen 1940-41
Making beds, checking for lice, gouache by Etienne v. Ploerg, a Belgian, after 1945
“SS men indicated the saying to new arrivals, pointed at the chimneys of the crematorium and said, ‘There is a way to freedom, but only through this chimney!'” – Harry Naujoks, c. 1980, a German political prisoner, in Sachsenhausen 1936-42
Culled from: Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
Torture Instrument Du Jour!
Spiked Collar
This instrument could be either with chains or without; it was equipped with spikes on both the inside and the outside and it was locked around the victim’s neck.
It caused wounds that in the long run became incurable. Torture was progressive and automatic.
Culled from: Torture – Inquisition – Death Penalty
Andersonville Prisoner Diary Entry Du Jour!
This is the continuation of the 1864 diary of Andersonville prisoner Private George A. Hitchcock (see the archived version for all entries up until now).
Here’s today’s entry:
July 2d. Very hot. Found an old tent-mate of the 36th Massachusetts, who was taken near White House Landing, when on his way to his regiment on the 30th of May. Water is very difficult to get, and of poor and filthy quality. We drew two rations, owing to a misunderstanding on the part of the rebels. On account of the low state of our morals we did not return the extra ration.
Culled from: Andersonville: Giving Up the Ghost