KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

by Nikolaus Wachsmann

  189. Meyer and Roth, “Zentrale,” 202, 208. Figures covering the period between March 1933 and July 1934.

  190. LKA Dresden, Vorläufige Bestimmungen, August 5, 1933, in Baganz, Erziehung, 377–86, p. 380.

  191. Comité, Dachau (1978), 204; KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, Gedenkbuch, 19.

  192. Zámečník, Dachau, 52–55.

  193. VöB, August 11, 1932, NCC, doc. 2; VöB, March 13, 1921, NCC, doc. 1 (with a minor correction to the translation). The 1923 Nazi constitution, drafted before the failed beer hall putsch, also envisaged collection camps for opponents; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 13.

  194. See also Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 37. The following section draws partly on Wachsmann and Goeschel, “Before Auschwitz,” especially pages 525, 529–32.

  195. For example, see Arendt, “Concentration Camps,” 748.

  196. For one example, see Eicke order for Lichtenburg camp, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148.

  197. Compare “Grundsätze,” esp. §48 and §139–43, and LKA Dresden, Vorläufige Bestimmungen, August 5, 1933 (in Baganz, Erziehung, 377–86), especially IV and V.16.f. See also Lechner, “Kuhberg,” 86; Hesse, “‘Erziehung,’” 120.

  198. Wachsmann, Prisons, 23, 409; Krohne, Gefängniskunde, 354–57; Hoelz, “Weißen Kreuz” (first published in 1929), 302. For Dachau, see Disziplinar- u. Strafordnung Dachau, October 1, 1933, IMT, vol. 26, 291–96, ND: 778–PS. In 1937, Himmler himself drew attention to the precedent of floggings in Prussian penitentiaries; speech at a Wehrmacht course, January 15 to 23, 1937, NCC, doc. 83.

  199. One prisoner to prosper under this system was the later Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, detained between 1924 and 1928; Wachsmann, Prisons, 26–27, 34–35, 38–39, 50.

  200. Quote in special regulations for Dachau, May 1933, NCC, doc. 8. See also Beimler, Mörderlager, 29. For the stages system in other early camps, NCC, doc. 13; Baganz, Erziehung, 216.

  201. Wachsmann, Prisons, 21–23, 28, 95–99, 102.

  202. Caplan, “Political Detention.” For personnel links between Weimar voluntary labor service camps and later SS camps, see Riedle, Angehörigen, 110–11.

  203. Quote in Bendig, “‘Höllen,’” 104. See also Mühsam, Leidensweg, 33.

  204. Almost all men appointed as KL commandants between 1934 and 1939 had served in the First World War (one exception was Franz Ziereis, born in 1905) and at least four had been POWs (Heinrich Deubel, Karl Otto Koch, Hans Loritz, and Günther Tamaschke). For biographical summaries, see Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 371–96.

  205. Reichardt, Kampfbünde, 458–59, 566–70, 579–89, 702; Siemens, Making, 66–67.

  206. Manuscript by P. M. Neurath, 1943, NCC, doc. 195.

  207. Dillon, “Dachau,” 122–23.

  208. Quotes in BArchB, R 3001/21167, Bl. 62–69: KL Dachau, Dienstvorschriften für Begleitpersonen, October 1, 1933. For roll calls, see Suderland, Extremfall, 190–94. For music, see Fackler, “Cultural Behaviour,” 608, 614–15.

  209. Report of a Jewish “reimmigrant,” August 1936, NCC, doc. 243.

  210. Quote in T. Eicke, special camp order for Esterwegen, August 1, 1934, NCC, doc. 149. See also BArchB, R 3001/21167, Bl. 62–69: KL Dachau, Dienstvorschriften für Begleitpersonen, October 1, 1933, Bl. 63; Wachsmann, Prisons, 24.

  211. Richardi, Schule, 65. This terminology only changed in 1937, not just in Dachau; Baganz, Erziehung, 257.

  212. Springmann, “‘Sport,’” 96–97. More generally, see Euskirchen, “Militärrituale,” 128–34.

  213. Wiedner, “Soldatenmißhandlungen.”

  214. Springmann, “‘Sport,’” 89–95; NCC, doc. 209.

  215. Quote in Sopade report, December 1936, NCC, doc. 192. See also Langhoff, Moorsoldaten, 139–40; Richardi, Schule, 73–74; Sofsky, Ordnung, 84–85.

  216. Caplan, “Political Detention,” 41. See also Raithel and Strenge, “Reichstagsbrandverordnung,” 450.

  217. Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung, May 9, 1933, in Drobisch and Wieland, System, 27. More generally, see Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 87, 113–14. For postwar memory, see Marcuse, Dachau, 74; KL, epilogue.

  218. Quotes in VöB (Berlin edition), August 10, 1933; BArchF, BB (Nr. 5), Deutsche Wochenschau, 1933; Rudorff, “‘Privatlager,’” 150; Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 51, 44. More generally, ibid., 30–31, 36–39, 57; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 88–94.

  219. For example, see Gellately, Backing, 60, 257.

  220. Kershaw, Hubris, 456; idem, Popular Opinion, 73.

  221. Schleswig-Holsteinische Landeszeitung, August 28, 1933, in Jenner, “Trägerschaft,” 119.

  222. On these difficulties, see Kershaw, Popular Opinion, 6.

  223. See also Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 129.

  224. Sonnenburger Anzeiger, April 7, 1933, in Nürnberg, “Außenstelle,” 86. For other examples, see Rudorff, “‘Privatlager,’” 154–55; Borgstedt, “Kislau,” 220–21. For photos of a public procession in Kislau, see Hesse and Springer, Augen, 55.

  225. Seger, “Oranienburg,” 55–56. See also NCC, doc. 65; Baganz, Erziehung, 185–87; Krause-Vilmar, Breitenau, 138–39.

  226. Rudorff, “Misshandlung,” 55; Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 154–55; Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 132.

  227. Aders, “Terror,” 184; Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 105–107. On contacts between towns and camps, see also Steinbacher, Dachau, 125–80.

  228. Oberstes Parteigericht, Beschluss, April 1, 1935, in IfZ, Akten, vol. 1, 56. More generally on Kemna, see Mintert, “Konzentrationslager.”

  229. Langhoff, Moorsoldaten, 302.

  230. Report of the Prussian Central State Prosecutor’s Office, June 21, 1934, NCC, doc. 113.

  231. Quotes in Asgodom, “Halts Maul,” 16; Steinbacher, Dachau, 150. Local variations were in use elsewhere; Rudorff, “‘Privatlager,’” 166. More generally, see Hüttenberger, “Heimtückefälle,” 478–79, 503; Kempowski, Haben, 24–26.

  232. Litten, Mutter, 24.

  233. Hett, Crossing, 163, 173. Some of Litten’s letters went to his friends, not his mother. For regulations on letters, Krause-Vilmar, Breitenau, 138; Baganz, Erziehung, 171.

  234. Seger, “Oranienburg,” 70; Baganz, Erziehung, 171–72; Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 132; ITS, ARCH/HIST/KL Kislau, Bl. 59–72: Wachvorschrift, July 12, 1933, Bl. 67–68.

  235. Litten, Mutter, 29. See also Mühsam, Leidensweg, 26–29, 36.

  236. Quote in Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 133. For other cases of relatives forcing their way into camps, NCC, doc. 51; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 175.

  237. Mühsam, Leidensweg, 29; Wollenberg, “Gleichschaltung,” 267.

  238. Cited in Drobisch and Wieland, System, 176.

  239. For examples from 1934–45, ibid., 236–37.

  240. Litten, Mutter, 22, 37, 59, 70.

  241. Rudorff, “‘Privatlager,’” 167; NCC, doc. 50.

  242. Hett, Crossing, 187.

  243. L. Ebert to Hindenburg, July 14, 1933, NCC, doc. 47. See also Gestapa to Hitler, September 27, 1933, in Repgen and Booms, Akten, vol. I/2, 840–41.

  244. While some prisoners who left Oranienburg were transported to another camp, most were released; Knop et al., “Häftlinge,” 56. More generally, see Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 103; Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 158–59; Langhoff, Moorsoldaten, 24, 46. For mass releases for propaganda purposes, see Drobisch and Wieland, System, 133.

  245. Quote in DaA, 550, M. Grünwiedl, “Dachauer Gefangene erzählen,” summer 1934, p. 30. See also ibid., 5670, Grünwiedl to VVN, August 20, 1947; Richardi, Schule, 26–47.

  246. Schneider, Hakenkreuz, especially pages 905–908.

  247. K. G. Saur Verlag, Tarnschriften, doc. BTS-0064. More generally, see Gittig, Tarnschriften.

  248. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 171.

  249. Ehret, “Schutzhaft,” 256; Stöver, Berichte, 38.

  250. For background, see Johe, “Volk,” 334.

  251. Szalet, Baracke, 11.

  252. “Bericht über die Lage in Deutschland,” February 1934, i
n Stöver, Berichte, 69–70; Lüerßen, “‘Wir,’” 157.

  253. Union, Strafvollzug, 18–20; Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 162–64.

  254. HStAD, Rep. 29, Nr. 302, Krankenanstalten Wuppertal-Barmen, Anamnese, October 5, 1933. More generally, Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 115–19; Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 161.

  255. For one case, see Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 151.

  256. Quote in Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 112. For other examples, see ibid., 103; Deutschland-Berichte, vol. 1 (1934), 233, 302.

  257. Klemperer, LTI, 41.

  258. For the Nazi vote, see Falter, Wähler.

  259. Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 162.

  260. Quote in Fritzsche, Life, 31.

  261. Quote in Mayer-von Götz, Terror, 155. See also Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 78, 161–62.

  262. Himmler speech to Reichsleiter and Gauleiter, October 6, 1943, in Smith and Peterson, Geheimreden, 168.

  263. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 27.

  264. Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 159–60.

  265. K. Tucholsky to W. Hasenclever, April 20, 1933, in Directmedia, Tucholsky, 11678.

  266. Braunbuch, 270–302, quote on 270. See also Drobisch and Wieland, System, 168–71; Rabinbach, “Antifascism”; Milton, “Konzentrationslager,” 142–43; Nürnberg, “Außenstelle,” 89 (n. 25). For exile collections of eyewitness reports, Deutschland-Berichte; Stöver, Berichte.

  267. Baganz, Erziehung, 241–44.

  268. “Malice against Ebert’s Son,” Manchester Guardian, October 13, 1933. See also Klausch, Tätergeschichten, 90–91; Meyer and Roth, “‘Wühler,’” 236.

  269. Diekmann and Wettig, Oranienburg, 12.

  270. Milton, “Konzentrationslager,” 138–42, quote on 138. See also Dörner, “Ein KZ,” 133–34.

  271. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 180–81, quote on 180. See also Mühsam, Leidensweg, 41.

  272. Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 29–31, quote on 30. See also Heiß, Deutschland, 101. On German war crimes in 1914, see Kramer and Horne, German Atrocities.

  273. NCC, 304.

  274. For German foreign policy, see Kershaw, Hubris, 490–93.

  275. Zámečník, Dachau, 91; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 88.

  276. Baganz, Erziehung, 236–37.

  277. Quotes in The Times, readers’ letters, September 29, 1933, October 4, 1933, NCC, docs. 54 and 55.

  278. Zámečník, Dachau, 96–97; Kersten, “‘The Times.’”

  279. Quotes in NAL, FO 371/16704, Bl. 363–65: report on a visit to Hohnstein, October 10, 1933. For Hohnstein, OdT, vol. 2, 129–34.

  280. For example, Hett, Crossing, 189; German Foreign Ministry to embassies, July 1933, NCC, doc. 48.

  281. Quotes in Favre, “‘Wir,’” translation in NCC, doc. 56.

  282. Oranienburger Generalanzeiger, March 28, 1933, in Longerich, “Straßenkampf,” 30–31.

  283. “Sie können sich nicht beklagen,” Kasseler Neueste Nachrichten, June 23, 1933, in Krause-Vilmar, Breitenau, 104. More generally, see Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 53–54, 66, 73, 77–78.

  284. For films, see Drobisch, “Oranienburg,” 19.

  285. For a photo essay, see “Im Konzentrationslager Oranienburg bei Berlin,” Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, April 30, 1933. More generally, see Drobisch and Wieland, System, 88–92.

  286. Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 52–53. More generally, see Caplan, “Political Detention,” 33.

  287. NS-Nachrichten für Nieder-Barnim, August 19, 1933, NCC, doc. 49.

  288. IfZ, Fa 199/29, Bl. 51: Schäfer to Hitler, March 24, 1934; ibid., Bl. 52: Dr. Meerwald to Schäfer, April 3, 1934; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 93; “Dokumentation der Ausstellung,” 182. For Schäfer’s book, see also P. Moore, “‘What Happened.’”

  289. Schäfer, Konzentrationslager, quotes on pages 25, 63, 40, 238–39.

  290. For example, see Longerich, “Straßenkampf,” 31; Wollenberg, “Gleichschaltung,” 262–64.

  291. Kershaw, “Myth,” 63; idem, Hubris, 494–95.

  292. Ecker, “Hölle,” 48; DaA, 550, M. Grünwiedl, “Dachauer Gefangene erzählen,” summer 1934, 23–25. Not everywhere did intimidation work as well as in Dachau: in Sachsenburg, only twenty-seven percent of prisoners voted for the Nazis; Baganz, Erziehung, 181.

  293. Bendig, “‘Höllen,’” 107.

  294. Schäfer, Konzentrationslager, 16.

  295. Quotes in Longerich, “Straßenkampf,” 30. See also “Konzentrationslager für Schutzhäftlinge in Bayern,” VöB, March 21, 1933, in Comité, Dachau (1978), 43.

  296. Bettelheim, “Individual,” 426.

  297. Klemperer, Zeugnis, vol. 1, 69.

  298. Schäfer, Konzentrationslager, 23, 25, 27–28. For other examples, see Drobisch and Wieland, System, 92; Baganz, Erziehung, 237.

  299. Wollenberg, “Gleichschaltung,” 260.

  300. For Dachau, see Steinbacher, Dachau, 186–87.

  301. Amper-Bote, June 2, 1933, NCC, doc. 42 (with minor adjustment to translation). More generally, see Steinbacher, Dachau, 187–88.

  302. Wollenberg, “Gleichschaltung,” 263, 267–68; Wieland, “Bremischen,” 282–87.

  303. Dörner, “Konzentrationslager,” 72; Longerich, “Straßenkampf,” 31.

  304. The decree is reprinted in Hirsch et al., Recht, 90–91. It was replaced on December 20, 1934, by the even more expansive Law against Malicious Attacks on State and Party. For background, see Dörner, “Heimtücke,” 17–25.

  305. LaB, A Rep. 339, Nr. 702, Bl. 334–36: Sondergericht Berlin, Urteil, November 24, 1933. See also Hüttenberger, “Heimtückefälle,” 478–79; Dörner, “Konzentrationslager,” 71–73.

  306. StAMü, StA Nr. 7457, Sondergericht München, Urteil, August 19, 1933. See also Drobisch and Wieland, System, 177.

  307. Cited in Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 110–11.

  308. Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 68–69.

  309. Quote in “Life in Nazi Prison Camp,” Daily Telegraph, March 19, 1934. See also “Baby Labelled ‘Political Prisoner No. 58,’” Daily Herald, April 23, 1934; “Frau Seger Free,” Manchester Guardian, May 25, 1933; IfZ, Fa 199/29, Bl. 69–71: ORR Volk to RK, April 30, 1934.

  310. Quotes in Ecker, “Hölle,” 15; Zámečník, Dachau, 45; Disziplinar- u. Strafordnung für Dachau, October 1, 1933, IMT, vol. 26, 291–96, ND: 778–PS, p. 294. See also Zámečník, Dachau, 43–46 (though Wilhelm Franz is wrongly identified here as a Jewish prisoner; Wünschmann, “Jewish Prisoners,” 112).

  311. Améry, Jenseits, 38, 54, 58. For a similar point in reference to Jewish victims, see Wildt, “Violent Changes”; K. Wünschmann, “Konzentrationslagererfahrungen,” 56–57.

  312. Mitteilungen des Gestapa, August 24, 1933, in Boberach, Regimekritik, doc. rk 21.

  313. For example, see Kershaw, Popular Opinion, 79–80.

  314. Eley, “Silent Majority?,” 558.

  315. See also Wachsmann, “Dynamics,” 20.

  2. The SS Camp System

      1. For Röhm’s murder, see especially StAMü, GStA beim OLG München Nr. 2116, LG München, Urteil, May 14, 1957, quote on page 46; the coup de grâce was undoubtedly delivered by Lippert, although the judges felt unable to establish this with absolute certainty. See also ibid., Nr. 6237, Vernehmung W. Kopp, May 27, 1953; ibid., StA Nr. 28791/40, Dr. Koch, Niederschrift, July 1, 1934; ibid., Nr. 28791/1, Bl. 13–16: Vernehmung Dr. Koch, January 25, 1949; ibid., Nr. 28791/3, Bl. 72–75: Vernehmung W. Noetzel, June 28, 1949. Eicke is said to have shot a Dachau prisoner in summer 1933 (Richardi, Schule, 187), but this would have been a rare case of him committing murder himself.

      2. For this and the previous paragraph, see Kershaw, Hubris, 499–517. See also Longerich, Himmler, 180–84; Höhne, Orden, 90–124.

      3. For the quote and Hitler’s speech, see Kershaw, Hubris, 514. For the Dachau SS and the purge, see StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/3, Bl. 5–7: Vernehmung M. von Dall-Armi, May 5, 1949; ibid., Bl. 61–64: Vernehmung J. Hirsch, June 27, 1949; ibid., Bl. 103:
Vernehmung M. Müller, July 19, 1949; ibid., Nr. 28791/6, Bl. 406–409: Vernehmung R. Dirnagel, June 3, 1953; ibid., Bl. 441–42: Vernehmung X. Hammerdinger, July 9, 1953; ibid., Nr. 28791/28, Bl. 36: Vernehmung T. Dufter, May 6, 1949; ibid., GStA beim OLG München Nr. 2116, LG München, Urteil, May 14, 1957, 18–19; Höhne, Orden, 101.

      4. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/28, Bl. 53–54: KOK Schmitt, Schlussbericht, June 17, 1949; Kershaw, Hubris, especially pages 159, 208–209.

      5. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/28, Bl. 39–41, 42–44: Vernehmung J. Steinbrenner, May 12, 1949, May 25, 1949; ibid., Nr. 28791/6, Bl. 398–402: Vernehmung J. Steinbrenner, June 1, 1953.

      6. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/3, Bl. 5–7: Vernehmung M. von Dall-Armi, May 5, 1949; ibid., Bl. 57–58: Vernehmung A. Pleiner, June 22, 1949; ibid., Nr. 28791/6, Bl. 398–402: Vernehmung J. Steinbrenner, June 1, 1953.

      7. DaA, Nr. 24658, Bestattungsamt Munich, Ordner: Poliz. Opfer allg., n.d., Abschrift.

      8. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/46, GStA Munich, EV, January 28, 1952, p. 11; ibid., Nr. 28791/6, Bl. 403–405: Vernehmung W. Noetzel, June 2, 1953; ibid., Nr. 28791/28, Bl. 35: Vernehmung A. Stadler, May 5, 1949; BayHStA, StK 6299/2, Bericht des Politischen Polizeikommandeurs Bayerns, May 7, 1935 (I am grateful to Kim Wünschmann for this reference).

      9. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/3, Bl. 61–64: Vernehmung J. Hirsch, June 27, 1949; ibid., Bl. 68–69: Vernehmung H. Reis, June 21, 1949; ibid., Bl. 70: Vernehmung L. Schmidt, June 30, 1949.

    10. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/6, Bl. 441–42: Vernehmung X. Hammerdinger, July 9, 1953; ibid., Nr. 28791/3, Bl. 5–7: Vernehmung M. von Dall-Armi, May 5, 1949; ibid., Bl. 12–13: Vernehmung J. Lutz, May 11, 1949; ibid., Bl. 72–75: Vernehmung W. Noetzel, June 28, 1949; ibid., Bl. 92: Vernehmung J. Klampfl, July 15, 1949.

    11. Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, 405. For the murders on July 2 in Dachau, StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/46, GStA Munich, EV, January 28, 1952, p. 11.

    12. Twenty-two victims are known by name; Zámečník, Dachau, 70. At least another three men are known to have been murdered not far from the camp, probably by Dachau SS men; StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/46, GStA Munich, EV, January 28, 1952, pp. 13–15.

    13. StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/46, GStA Munich, EV, January 28, 1952, pp. 11–16; ibid., Nr. 28791/32, KOK Schmitt, Schlussbericht, June 20, 1949.