KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

by Nikolaus Wachsmann

    14. Kershaw, Hubris, 517–26. See also idem, “Myth,” passim.

    15. USHMM, 1998.A.0247, reel 15, Bl. 184–93: statement H. Aumeier, December 15, 1947 (translation from Polish by Katharina Friedla). See also BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Aumeier, Hans, 20.8.1906.

    16. Eicke order for Lichtenburg, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148.

    17. Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936, NCC, doc. 152.

    18. Endlich, “Lichtenburg,” 32; Schilde and Tuchel, Columbia-Haus, 35, 123–25; StAMü, StA Nr. 28791/7, Vernehmung K. Launer, May 23, 1949.

    19. StAMü, GStA beim OLG München Nr. 2116, LG München, Urteil, May 14, 1957, 56–59, quote on 55.

    20. Quote in IMT, vol. 29, Rede bei der SS Gruppenführertagung in Posen, October 4, 1943, ND: 1919–PS, p. 145. See also Longerich, Himmler, 184; von Papen, Papen, 30–31. The exact date of Eicke’s promotion in July 1934 is unknown; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 181.

    21. Quote in Breitman and Aronson, “Himmler-Rede,” 345.

    22. Longerich, Himmler, 165–79, 192–96; Gerwarth, Heydrich, 102.

    23. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 319.

    24. The first nationwide rules for protective custody by the Reich Ministry of the Interior in April 1934 confirmed the central role of the Gestapo in imposing KL detention; Wachsmann, “Dynamics,” 20–21.

    25. Quote in Himmler to district president in Merseburg, June 15, 1934, in Tuchel, “Theodor Eicke,” 65. For the dating of Himmler’s instruction, BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Eicke, Theodor, 17.10.1892, Lebenslauf, March 15, 1937.

    26. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 162–63; Mette, “Lichtenburg,” 144; BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Eicke, Theodor, 17.10.1892, Eicke to Chef des SS-Amtes, June 2, 1934.

    27. Eicke order for Lichtenburg, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148.

    28. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Schmidt, Bernhard, 18.4.1890, Eicke to Chef des SS-Amtes, June 21, 1934.

    29. For Sachsenburg and Hohnstein, see Baganz, Erziehung, 251–52; OdT, vol. 2, 132. The takeover date of Esterwegen is unclear: the new commandant, Loritz, was scheduled to take charge on July 9, 1934 (Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 98) but may have arrived earlier (Drobisch and Wieland, System, 189).

    30. For Eicke’s title, BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Eicke, Theodor, 17.10.1892, Gesamtdienstbescheinigung, March 30, 1943.

    31. Von Papen, Papen, 25–30; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 184–86; Mühsam, Leidensweg, 43–48; Kreiler, “Tod,” 106; Hirte, Mühsam, 311.

    32. OdT, vol. 2, 132, 180. For Himmler’s involvement in closing Oranienburg, BArchB, NS 4/Sa 18, Bl. 118: KL Oranienburg to Bürgermeister Fuchs, July 14, 1934.

    33. For Eicke’s dominant role, see BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Loritz, Hans, 21.12.1895, Kommandantur Dachau to H. Loritz, June 29, 1934.

    34. Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 113. In Sachsenburg, the Dachau regulations were apparently introduced in 1935; Baganz, Erziehung, 266–69.

    35. Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 85–116, quote on 116. In Dachau, Loritz had impressed Eicke as the head of the adjacent “SS-Hilfswerk,” a camp for Austrian SS men.

    36. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946, Bl. 372.

    37. Himmler directive, December 10, 1934, NCC, doc. 72; Rürup, Topographie, 13; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 209–10, 220, 294, 347–48. Eicke and Heydrich reported to Himmler, both as SS officers and as state officials.

    38. Himmler memorandum to the Gestapo, July 8, 1935, NCC, doc. 73; Sydnor, Soldiers, 21–22; BArchB, R 58/264, Bl. 50–52: Heydrich Anordnung, May 31, 1934. KL commandants could appeal to Himmler if they objected to a Gestapo release order; ITS, ARCH/HIST/KL Lichtenburg 2, Bl. 86: IKL to LK, November 6, 1936.

    39. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 210, 223–25, 229, 238–40; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 59–60.

    40. The five camps were Dachau, Lichtenburg, Esterwegen, Sachsenburg, and Columbia House (Berlin); see also map 2.

    41. Herbert, “Gegnerbekämpfung,” 60–61. See also memorandum by Reichsbank president Schacht, May 3, 1935, in Hockerts and Kahlenberg, Akten, 567–70; German ambassador to Great Britain report, January 26, 1935, NCC, doc. 278; Longerich, Himmler, 203; Gruchmann, Justiz, 545–47.

    42. See PMI, circular, April 24, 1933, NCC, doc. 6; Krause-Vilmar, Breitenau, 107.

    43. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 93–94; Kube, “Göring,” 78.

    44. Quote in Prussian MPr, announcement, December 9, 1933, NCC, doc. 18. See also Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 104–105; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 136–37. For amnesties elsewhere in Germany in late 1933, see Baganz, Erziehung, 223–24.

    45. For general background, see Pingel, Häftlinge, 25, 51.

    46. Schumacher, M.d.R., 302. Ebert survived and became a senior SED politician in the GDR.

    47. Frick’s views are reflected in RdI to Landesregierungen et al., April 12, 1934, in Repgen and Booms, Akten, vol. I/2, 1235–38. See also ibid., 1200; Gruchmann, Justiz, 547–49; FZH, 353-31, “Schutzhaft,” Frankfurter Zeitung, March 13, 1934.

    48. BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Frick to Sk Bayern, October 5, 1934; BArchB, R 43 II/398, Bl. 92: Übersicht Schutzhaft, n.d.; Langhoff, Moorsoldaten, 315.

    49. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 140.

    50. GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 77, Nr. 484, Bl. 115: Hitler to Landesregierungen et al., August 7, 1934; Gruchmann, Justiz, 334–36.

    51. BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Frick to Sk Bayern, October 5, 1934; Hett, Crossing, 205–207. For SS guards, ITS, ARCH/KL Sachsenburg 1, Bl. 6: Beurteilung A. Cieslok, September 7, 1934. For Esterwegen, see Lüerßen, “‘Wir,’” 465.

    52. GStAPK, I. HA, Rep. 90P, Nr. 137, Bl. 63: “Weitere Schutzhaftentlassungen,” n.d. See also Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 187.

    53. Wachsmann, Prisons, 68–71, 112–18, 372–75, 392–93.

    54. Quote in Sarodnick, “‘Haus,’” 347. More generally, see Wachsmann, Prisons, 83–101, 375–76.

    55. Wachsmann, Prisons, 101–11, 398–99. See also Knoch, “‘Willkür,’” 39–44.

    56. Wachsmann, Prisons, 168.

    57. RJM proposal, n.d. (1935), IMT, vol. 26, ND: 785–PS, quotes on 308; Baganz, Erziehung, 286–89; Gruchmann, Justiz, 368–71.

    58. Quote in Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, 422. Hitler did not mention the Stettin camp by name. Among the executed men was the former commandant. More generally, see “Ein Interview Ministerpräsident Görings über die Sicherheit in Deutschland,” VöB, April 22–23, 1934; Rudorff, “Misshandlung,” 62–63; Gruchmann, Justiz, 348–52; RJM proposal, n.d. (1935), IMT, vol. 26, 311, ND: 785–PS.

    59. Gruchmann, Justiz, 364–65; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 83, 163, 181–83, 387.

    60. To coordinate the SS response, Himmler ordered commandants to inform him personally about unnatural prisoner deaths; BArchB, NS 4 Bu/12, Eicke to LK, May 24, 1935.

    61. Himmler speech at the Reich Peasant Congress, November 12, 1935, in Noakes and Pridham, Nazism, vol. 2, 301–302. The Gestapo accused foreign newspapers of trying to create an “atmosphere for the abolition of the camps in Germany”; Gestapo to Foreign Ministry, March 12, 1935, NCC, doc. 263.

    62. Eicke quote in Best to Göring, September 27, 1935, NCC, doc. 120. See also Gruchmann, Justiz, 647; Dillon, Dachau, chapter 4.

    63. Gruchmann, Justiz, 564–70. See also BArchB, R 3001/alt R 22/1467, Bl. 74–75: Evangelische Kirche to RJM, May 4, 1935. For Eicke’s view of Gürtner, BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Eicke, Theodor, 17.10.1892, Lebenslauf, March 15, 1937.

    64. Himmler to Göring, December 6, 1934, NCC, doc. 71.

    65. See also Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 212, 306.

    66. Quotes in Himmler speech to Staatsräte, March 5, 1936, NCC, doc. 78 (the first quote was deleted from Himmler’s manuscript). More generally, see Wachsmann, “Dynamics,” 2
2; Longerich, Himmler, 204–207.

    67. See especially Herbert, “Gegnerbekämpfung.” For the quotes, idem, Best, 163, 178. See also Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 297–307.

    68. See also Thamer, Verführung, 376–78.

    69. Himmler speech at a Wehrmacht course, January 15–23, 1937, NCC, doc. 83.

    70. BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Bl. 174–77: Reichstatthalter to Bay. MPr, March 20, 1934. See also ibid., Bl. 215: Aktennotiz, March 12, 1934, March 15, 1934; Bauer et al., München, quote on page 230; BArchB, R 43 II/398, Bl. 92. More generally, see Fraenkel, Dual State, passim; Wachsmann, Prisons, 3, 379–83.

    71. BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Bl. 132–41: MdI to Bay. MPr, April 14, 1934. See also Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 303.

    72. The overall number of protective custody prisoners in Bavaria fell from 3,500 (February 1934) to 2,343 (April 1934); Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 155.

    73. BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Bl. 23: Frick to Sk Bayern, October 5, 1934.

    74. BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Bl. 9–12: Himmler to Sk Bayern, November 15, 1934.

    75. Longerich, Himmler, 201.

    76. Gestapa, Lagebericht Marxismus, August 23, 1935, in Boberach, Regimekritik, doc. rk 127; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 95, 106.

    77. Frick to Bavarian Sk, January 30, 1935, NCC, doc. 114; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 307–308.

    78. Figures for autumn 1934: Dachau: 1,744 (October 1934); Esterwegen: 150 (October 1934); Lichtenburg: 369 (August 8, 1934); Sachsenburg: less than 200 (October 1934). See Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 155; Lüerßen, “‘Wir,’” 465; Mette, “Lichtenburg,” 154; Baganz, Erziehung, 254.

    79. For isolated Hitler references to camps, see Domarus, Hitler, vol. 2, 527; ibid., vol. 3, 1459; ibid., vol. 4, 1658.

    80. Speech on the Day of the German Police, January 29, 1939, NCC, doc. 274. Himmler added that such criticism came “especially [from] abroad.” It was a common tactic by Nazi leaders to blame foreigners for spreading “atrocity stories,” to avoid having to openly criticize Germans who did the same. For continuing unease about the KL in Germany, see Schley, Nachbar, 90–91; Gestapa II A 2, Bericht, June 27, 1938, in Kulka and Jäckel, Juden, doc. 2461.

    81. Kershaw, “Myth,” especially pages 257–58.

    82. For an early private conversation about the camps, see Fröhlich, Tagebücher, I/2/III, October 12, 1933.

    83. Hitler had originally made these comments to a reporter of the Daily Mail; VöB, February 19, 1934, in Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, 364–65.

    84. GStAPK, I. HA, Rep. 77, Nr. 484, Bl. 115: Hitler to Landesregierungen et al., August 7, 1934; BayHStA, Staatskanzlei 6299/1, Frick to Sk Bayern, October 5, 1934. For foreign reports, “Prisoners in Germany,” The Times, September 3, 1934.

    85. Early on, Hitler repeatedly made tactical concessions to present himself as a man of moderation, not least to his national-conservative allies. For examples, see Repgen and Booms, Akten, vol. I/2, 840 (n. 1); Broszat, “Konzentrationslager,” 350.

    86. Cited in Broszat, “Konzentrationslager,” 352. For Himmler’s inspections, see BArchK, N 1126/7, Bl. 16: Himmler diary entries for February 15 and 16, 1935.

    87. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 309–10.

    88. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 82–87.

    89. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 225–26, 324–25. For the timing of Hitler’s decision, Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936, NCC, doc. 152. Its implementation took some time; Pohl to Grauert, December 4, 1935, NCC, doc. 75.

    90. Eicke to Sauckel, June 3, 1936, in NMGB, Buchenwald, 55–56.

    91. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 230, 258, 261; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 260.

    92. Broszat, “Konzentrationslager,” 353. In spring 1936, Himmler made a concession to the Reich Ministry of Justice regarding legal representation, but this had no practical implications; Longerich, Himmler, 209.

    93. Baganz, Erziehung, 291–92; Gruchmann, Justiz, 373–74. This was not the first time Hitler intervened in such a case; ibid., 365–66.

    94. For an exception, see the case of Friedrich Weissler, below.

    95. For SS obstruction, BArchB, R 3001/21522, Bl. 9–18: AG-Rat Hans, Dienstliche Äusserung, July 26, 1938.

    96. Tuchel and Schattenfroh, Zentrale, 89–92, 112, 118–25; Longerich, Himmler, 204, 207–209; Herbert, “Gegnerbekämpfung,” 66–67, 72–73; Heydrich decree, January 16, 1937, NCC, doc. 84. As chief of police, Himmler was formally subordinated to Frick, as Reich minister of the interior.

    97. Wachsmann, Prisons, 68–69, 212–15; Neliba, “Frick.”

    98. Kube, “Göring,” 73–75.

    99. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 309.

  100. Quote in BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Eicke, Theodor, 17.10.1892, Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936. See also ITS, HIST/SACH, Sachsenburg, Ordner 1, Bl. 7: KL Sachsenburg, Zusatzbefehl, August 10, 1935; ibid., Bl. 24: Wachtruppenbefehl, August 24, 1935; ibid., Bl. 33: Befehl, August 1935 (I am grateful to Stefan Hördler for sharing these and other documents).

  101. Himmler to RJM, November 6, 1935, in Tuchel, Inspektion, 43.

  102. For example Bormann to Wernicke, January 29, 1940 and November 26, 1940, in IfZ, Akten, vol. 1, 481, 539.

  103. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 309–10, 324.

  104. Quotes in BArchB, R 58/264: Bl. 142: Heydrich to Stapostellen, July 29, 1935. German police forces had stepped up arrests of Communist suspects since spring 1935, following Himmler’s lead; Longerich, Himmler, 202–203; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 311–12.

  105. BArchB, NS 19/1447, Bl. 17: Führervortrag, October 18, 1935. More generally, see Herbert, “Gegnerbekämpfung,” 72.

  106. See chapter 3.

  107. Deutsches Recht, April 15, 1936, NCC, doc. 123.

  108. For the term, see Hüttenberger, “Polycracy.”

  109. Prisoner figures for summer 1935: Columbia House 400 (estimate); Dachau 1,656 (July 1935); Esterwegen 322 (June 10, 1935); Lichtenburg 706 (June 10, 1935); Sachsenburg 678 (June 10, 1935). See Schilde, “Tempelhofer,” 77; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 203; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 204.

  110. Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 339.

  111. For some flash points, see Gruchmann, Justiz, 599–602.

  112. In practice, this division was not always strictly enforced. The police sometimes dragged lawbreakers straight to the KL, and regular prisons still held hundreds of protective custody prisoners, at least in the mid-1930s; Wachsmann, Prisons, 171–72.

  113. Wachsmann, Prisons, 171, 175–83, quote on 179.

  114. GStA Jena to RJM, September 30, 1937, NCC, doc. 129.

  115. Kershaw, Nemesis, 5–9; Domarus, Hitler, vol. 2, 632–33.

  116. Morsch, “Formation,” 87–89, 101; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 139–41.

  117. OdT, vol. 2, 58. See also Georg et al., “Why.”

  118. Sachsenhausen Song, NCC, doc. 224. For background, see Fackler, “Lagers Stimme,” 336–38.

  119. Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 111–17, 129–33, 138–41, 191–93; Morsch, “Formation,” 126–29, Heilmann quote on 127; Wachsmann, Prisons, 104; Danckwortt, “Jüdische ‘Schutzhäftlinge,’” 156; Schilde, “Tempelhofer,” 77–80. Another factor in favor of the new Sachsenhausen site was the presence of SS guards (from the Columbia House) stationed at the nearby Oranienburg castle. The Columbia House was later demolished to make way for the Tempelhof airport, one of the reasons behind its closure.

  120. During this period, the last remaining early camps outside Eicke’s IKL were taken over or redesignated: Bad Sulza, established in 1933 by the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior, was taken over by the IKL on April 1, 1936 (Wohlfeld, “Hotel”); Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel became a police prison in 1936 (Diercks, “Fuhlsbüttel,” 305); Kislau, an early camp in Baden, operated as a “detention camp” until the late 1930s (Hörath, “Terrorinstrument,” 529
–30). Himmler’s appointments diary for 1937 records nine meetings with Eicke (there may have been more); IfZ, F 37/19.

  121. OdT, vol. 3, 301–303; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 335–38; Eicke to Himmler, July 24, 1937, NCC, doc. 89; Koch to Gommlich, July 28, 1937, in Schnabel, Macht, 125; Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 223; Burkhard, Tanz, 138. Eicke visited the Ettersberg on May 18, Himmler on May 22; Wildt, “Terminkalender,” 686–87 (n. 68).

  122. The first prisoner transport to Buchenwald arrived from Sachsenhausen, which had also absorbed many former Sachsenburg prisoners. The last Sachsenburg prisoners left for Buchenwald on September 9, 1937. Bad Sulza officially closed on August 1, 1937. Lichtenburg closed as a men’s camp on August 18, 1937. See OdT, vol. 3, 302; NMGB, Buchenwald, 698; Wohlfeld, “Hotel,” 275; Baganz, Erziehung, 283; Endlich, “Lichtenburg,” 20–21; Morsch, “Formation,” 133–34; Hett, Crossing, 210–19.

  123. The same was true for the surrounding SS buildings; OdT, vol. 3, 303.

  124. Zámečník, Dachau, 86–88; Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 188–89.

  125. For references to the “modern” camp, see Eicke to Sauckel, June 3, 1936, in Schnabel, Macht, 121–22; Himmler to RJM, February 8, 1937, NCC, doc. 85.

  126. Morsch, “Sachsenhausen—ein neuer Lagertypus?”; Kaienburg, “Systematisierung.” These continuities mean that the SS did not create an entirely new type of concentration camp in 1936–37; cf. Orth, System, 35–36.

  127. On November 1, 1936, the KL apparently held 4,761 prisoners; German Foreign Ministry to diplomatic missions, December 8, 1936, NCC, doc. 82. For projections for the two camps, Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 193; Eicke to Thür. MdI, October 27, 1936, in Schnabel, Macht, 123. On camp architecture, see Gabriel, “Biopolitik,” especially page 207.

  128. Himmler made this reference in regard to Sachsenhausen; Himmler to RJM, February 8, 1937, NCC, doc. 85. He had inspected the camp on January 20, 1937; IfZ, F 37/19, Himmler diary. For space restrictions in older KL, ITS, ARCH/HIST/KL Lichtenburg 2, Bl. 54: Helwig to IKL, April 18, 1937.

  129. Morsch, “Formation,” 102; OdT, vol. 3, 302–303.