130. OdT, vol. 1, 210–29; ibid., vol. 3, 303–305, 321; Neurath, Gesellschaft, 37–44; Naujoks, Leben, 48, 52, 68, 98–100; Morsch, “Formation,” 93–101; Gabriel, “Biopolitik,” 207, 210–11.
131. Steinbacher, Dachau, 174, 178–9, 205–206.
132. For example, see Künstler to Salpeter, March 9, 1939, NCC, doc. 292; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 130. Even Dachau, which had been on the same site since 1933, became more concealed; Steinbacher, Dachau, 132–34.
133. Steinbacher, Dachau, 93–100, 126–29, 137–44, 181; Schley, Nachbar, 43–63, 79–86; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 150–51, 181, 275–80; idem, Wirtschaft, 123–29; Moore, “Popular Opinion,” 144–57. For Lichtenburg, LBIJMB, MF 425, L. Bendix, “Konzentrationslager Deutschland,” 1937–38, vol. 4, 27; Decker, “Stadt,” 210–11.
134. Most locals kept away anyway, nervous to even discuss the camps in public. See Steinbacher, Dachau, 181, 185; Litten, Mutter, 189–90; A. Bettany, Reader’s Letter, The Times, April 21, 1945.
135. Speech on the Day of the German Police, January 29, 1939, NCC, doc. 274.
136. The slogan was added, with small variations, in Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Mauthausen, and other camps; Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 206; Naujoks, Leben, 135–36; Maršálek, Mauthausen, 66.
137. Riedel, “‘Arbeit.’” In Gross-Rosen, the SS apparently also displayed the motto “Work Makes Free” at the entrance of the prisoner compound. In Buchenwald, the SS chose a different slogan, adding the words “To Each His Own” to the iron gates. For the significance of the main gate in the KL, see Sofsky, Ordnung, 75–77.
138. Naujoks, Leben, 136.
139. For a different view, dismissing all SS talk of “reform,” see Sofsky, Ordnung, 317.
140. Quote in special camp order for Esterwegen, August 1, 1934, NCC, doc. 149. See also Longerich, Himmler, 327–64; Himmler to A. Lehner, May 18, 1937, NCC, doc. 226. For the use of Nazi camps to educate “national comrades,” see Patel, “‘Auslese’”; Buggeln and Wildt, “Lager,” 227–33.
141. Several tens of thousands of KL prisoners were released in this period, including most Jewish men arrested after the November 1938 pogrom; see chapter 3.
142. Quotes in speech on the Day of the German Police, January 29, 1939, NCC, doc. 274; speech at a Wehrmacht course, January 15–23, 1937, NCC, doc. 83.
143. Quotes in speech at SS Gruppenführer conference, November 8, 1937, NCC, doc. 94. For German criminological thinking, see Wachsmann, Prisons, 22–27, 46–54; Wetzell, Inventing, 107–289.
144. Speech at a Wehrmacht course, January 15–23, 1937, NCC, doc. 83.
145. For example, see Sydnor, Soldiers, 30; Shirer, Rise, 271–72.
146. For a typical example, see Kogon, Theory.
147. AdsD, KE, E. Büge, Bericht, n.d. (1945–46), 208, last sentence in capital letters in original.
148. Quote in Eicke to commandant offices, December 2, 1935, NCC, doc. 151. In the historical literature, the term SS Totenkopfverbände is often used with reference to the SS Guard Troops only (Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 225; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 256). However, SS men serving in the KL Commandant Staffs and the IKL (including Eicke) came under this rubric, too, and wore the skull and crossbones (IfZ, Fa 183, Bl. 30–31: SS-Hauptamt, Abzeichen der SS-Wachverbände, March 9, 1936; Statistisches Jahrbuch 1938, 83; MacLean, Camp, 312). For the origin of the term “Camp SS,” Orth, SS, 12.
149. Broszat, Kommandant, 84. For the term “political soldier,” see also Eicke order for Lichtenburg, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148.
150. Reichardt, Kampfbünde, 570–74.
151. Himmler described himself as a soldier in his first interview as acting Munich Police President; “Der neue Geist im Münchner Polizeipräsidium,” VöB, March 15, 1933.
152. VöB, March 4, 1943. For Eicke’s death, see Sydnor, Soldiers, 271.
153. Quotes in Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936, NCC, doc. 152. See also Kühne, Kameradschaft, 271–79; Reichardt, Kampfbünde, 590–93, 671–73; Dillon, “Dachau,” 94–97.
154. Eicke order for Lichtenburg, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148.
155. Quote in regulations for Esterwegen, August 1, 1934, NCC, doc. 150. See also IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946.
156. Eicke to commandant offices, December 2, 1935, NCC, doc. 151. See also Broszat, Kommandant, 84.
157. For masculinity and the Camp SS, Dillon, “Dachau,” 98–126.
158. For Himmler inspections, see OdT, vol. 4, 20, 293–94; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 303–304; Baganz, Erziehung, 278. For meetings with Eicke, see Wildt, “Terminkalender,” 685–86.
159. Quotes in Dicks, Mass Murder, 104. See also AS, J D2/43, Bl. 146–54: Vernehmung G. Sorge, May 6, 1957.
160. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946.
161. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 195, 256; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 218–20, 230–31.
162. IfZ, Fa 127/1, for the issues 1 to 6, covering the period from February to July 1937.
163. Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 146–47, 160, 195. See also Tuchel, Inspektion, 50; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 256; Segev, Soldiers, 153.
164. Eicke order for Lichtenburg, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148. For Nazi hostility to bureaucracies, Caplan, “Civil Service,” especially page 49.
165. Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936, NCC, doc. 152.
166. Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 150; Morsch, Sachsenburg, 353.
167. For Max Weber’s concept of charismatic leadership and its application to Nazi rule, Kershaw, “Myth,” 8–10.
168. Rudolf Höss, for one, believed that Eicke had fought gallantly on the battlefronts of the First World War and had later been sentenced to death by the French for resistance to the occupation of the Rhineland; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946.
169. Ibid.; Segev, Soldiers, 133–36; Dicks, Mass Murder, 104. Quote in Eicke order for Lichtenburg, June 2, 1934, NCC, doc. 148.
170. Quote in Segev, Soldiers, 149. See also BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Eicke, Theodor, 17.10.1892, Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936; Dicks, Mass Murder, 99; Dillon, “Dachau,” 97, 197.
171. Quote in Segev, Soldiers, 149. For Hassebroek, see Orth, SS, 118–24. For Junkerschulen, see Wegner, Soldaten, 149–71.
172. Quote in IfZ, MA 312, Rede bei SS Gruppenführerbesprechung, November 8, 1938. More generally, see Longerich, Himmler, 319–22.
173. For example, see Commandant’s order, Buchenwald, August 30, 1937, NCC, doc. 168.
174. Ehrenwörtliche Verpflichtung, September 7, 1938, cited in Dillon, “Dachau,” 140. Such declarations were still signed by Camp SS staff during the Second World War; Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 147.
175. Order of the SS Death’s Head units, March 1, 1937, NCC, doc. 155. For an earlier warning by Himmler, BArchB, R 58/264, Bl. 69: Gestapa to Dienststellen, September 5, 1934.
176. Order of the SS Death’s Head units, June 4, 1937, NCC, doc. 157. At times, Eicke also privately censured Camp SS men for prisoner abuse; Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 156.
177. Quote in BArchB, R 58/264, Bl. 69: Gestapa to Dienststellen, September 5, 1934.
178. OdT, vol. 1, 59–61.
179. For a vivid description, see IfZ, F 13/7, Bl. 397–420: R. Höss, “Lagerordnung für die Konzentrationslager,” October 1946.
180. ITS, ARCH/HIST/KL Lichtenburg 2, Bl. 74: IKL to Kommandanturen, October 9, 1935.
181. Buggeln, Arbeit, 352.
182. StAMü, StA Nr. 34479/1, Bl. 93–97: Lebenslauf H. Steinbrenner, n.d. (c. late 1940s), Bl. 95; ibid., Nr. 34430, Bl. 21–22: LG München, Urteil, July 8, 1948.
183. Disziplinar- u. Strafordnung für Dachau, October 1, 1933, IMT, vol. 26, 291–96, ND: 778–PS; Drobisch and Wieland, System, 193.
184. Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 182; NCC, doc. 208; OdT, vol. 3, 335; Union, Strafvollzug, 26–27. Officially, prisoners were not supposed to be whipped on the naked body, though this rule was not always observed
.
185. The status of this torture is disputed. It was not listed on some official SS forms for recording punishments (YVA, O-51/64, Bl. 16–17: Strafverfügung), which has led historians to assume that it was not officially sanctioned (OdT, vol. 3, 337). However, it was included in Eicke’s punishment regulations from 1933–34, which formed the basis for official regulations in other KL (Disziplinar- u. Strafordnung für Dachau, October 1, 1933, IMT, vol. 26, 295, ND: 778–PS; USHMM, RG-11.001M.20, reel 91, 1367–2–19, KL Esterwegen, Disziplinar- u. Strafordnung, August 1, 1934).
186. Drobisch and Wieland, System, 210; Richardi, Schule, 136; Lüerßen, “‘Wir,’” 125. For medieval roots, see Schmidt, “Tortur,” 212–13.
187. Pretzel, “Vorfälle,” 133–35, quote on 148–50. See also DaA, 9394, A. Lomnitz (later A. Laurence), “Heinz Eschen zum Gedenken,” July 3, 1939; Richardi, Schule, 136–39; NCC, docs. 216 and 217; Kohlhagen, Bock (written in 1945), 20, 136–37.
188. Disziplinar- u. Strafordnung für Dachau, October 1, 1933, IMT, vol. 26; YVA, O-51/64, Bl. 16–17: Strafverfügung; NCC, doc. 217.
189. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946.
190. Neurath, Gesellschaft, 134–35; anonymous report, c. 1936, NCC, doc. 208.
191. Order of the SS Death’s Head units, March 1, 1937, NCC, doc. 155.
192. Naujoks, Leben, 67.
193. For one example, see Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 189. More generally, see Kaienburg, “Systematisierung,” 59–60.
194. See Fraenkel, Dual State.
195. M. Simon to Führer der Sturmbanne, June 10, 1938, in Merkl, General, 119. See also Zámečník, Dachau, 100–101.
196. The only other Sachsenhausen guard charged with the abuse of Weissler, Scharführer Guthardt, committed suicide before sentencing. LaB, A Rep. 358–02, Nr. 1540, Notiz, April 5, 1937; ibid., GStA Berlin to RJM, June 3, 1937; ibid., Justizpressestelle to GStA Berlin, November 17, 1938; Morsch, Mord, 71–77; The Times, Letters to the Editor, March 11, 1937, p. 12. Among the SS men who prospered was Oberscharführer Jarolin, who had been on duty in the bunker when Weissler was murdered; Riedle, Angehörigen, 69, 78; Zámečník, Dachau, 305–306; JVL, JAO, Review of Proceedings, United States v. Weiss, n.d. (1946), 22–24.
197. Statistisches Jahrbuch 1937, 51; Statistisches Jahrbuch 1938, 83.
198. IfZ, Fa 183, Bl. 30–31: SS-Hauptamt, Abzeichen der SS-Wachverbände, March 9, 1936. By late 1937, each KL employed, on average, 112 men in the Commandant Staff; Statistisches Jahrbuch 1937, 51 (excluding the women’s camp Lichtenburg).
199. Service Regulations for Escorts, October 1, 1933, NCC, doc. 146; Orth, SS, 34–35; idem, “Personnel,” 45–46; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 37–40, 62–64, 172–77; Burkhard, Tanz, 99–100, 103–104. From April 1937, there were three Death’s Head regiments (SS-Totenkopfstandarten), stationed at Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and Buchenwald. A fourth was added in Mauthausen in 1938. Initially, there was no separate battalion in Flossenbürg.
200. Orth, SS, 35; Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 143, 150; Riedle, Angehörigen, 43–47, 54, 130.
201. Statistisches Jahrbuch 1937, 51 (excluding Lichtenburg).
202. Longerich, Himmler, 312–13; Dillon, “Dachau,” 112–13; IfZ, Fa 127/1, Bl. 4–5: Merkblatt für die Einstellung in die SS-TS, 1939.
203. Dillon, “Dachau,” 142–47.
204. Quotes in Order of the Death’s Head units, July 6, 1937, NCC, doc. 159; order of the SS Death’s Head units, May 4, 1937, ibid., doc. 156; BArchB, NS 19/1925: Bl. 1–9: Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936; IfZ, MA 312, Himmler Rede bei der SS Gruppenführerbesprechung, November 8, 1938. See also Himmler speech at a Wehrmacht course, January 15–23, 1937, NCC, doc. 83.
205. Statistisches Jahrbuch 1938, 87. See also Dillon, “Dachau,” 149.
206. Dillon, “Dachau,” 142–46. See also NCC, doc. 159.
207. Statistisches Jahrbuch 1938, 87. Apparently, the great majority of applicants were admitted into the Camp SS; Riedle, Angehörigen, 75; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 58.
208. Dillon, “Dachau,” 142, 150–52; IfZ, Fa 127/1, Bl. 4–5: Merkblatt für die Einstellung in die SS-TS, 1939; Steiner, “SS,” 432.
209. Quote in Dicks, Mass Murder, 135. See also Sydnor, Soldiers, 25; Orth, SS, 76, 129–32; Dillon, “Dachau,” 114–15, 145, 170; Kaienburg, Wirtschaftskomplex, 169–72; DAP, Vernehmung R. Baer, December 29, 1960, 3035.
210. Quote in Neuer Vorwärts, February 14, 1937, NCC, doc. 180. See also Dillon, “Dachau,” 109–11, 115, 139–40, 161–63, 180–81; OdT, vol. 3, 40–41; Eicke to Himmler, August 10, 1936, NCC, doc. 152.
211. Quotes in Arbeiter-Illustrierte Zeitung, May 23, 1935, NCC, doc. 177; Eicke order, April 29, 1936, in ibid., doc. 153. For discontent among the Camp SS, see also LBIJMB, MF 425, L. Bendix, “Konzentrationslager Deutschland,” 1937–38, vol. 4, 63–64.
212. Boehnert, “Sociography,” 116, 239–40; Riedle, Angehörigen, 102–13.
213. OdT, vol. 1, 131–32; Riedle, Angehörigen, 134; Dillon, “Dachau,” 140, 190. By 1942, KL commandants could personally transfer men from the Guard Troop to the Commandant Staff; NAL, HW 16/21, GPD Nr. 3, October 17, 1942.
214. Orth, SS, 105–15; Broszat, Kommandant, passim; BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Höss, Rudolf, 25.11.1900.
215. KL Dachau, Protokoll, April 18, 1934, in Friedlander and Milton, Archives, vol. XI/2, doc. 17. See also Riedle, Angehörigen, 72, 79–83; Dillon, “Dachau,” 191–92; Morsch, “Formation,” 170–74.
216. Based on a survey of serving SS commandants (1934–39), largely using the data in Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 371–96. See also Orth, SS, 79–81.
217. Orth, SS, 39–40; OdT, vol. 1, 61–63. For more detail, see BArchB, NS 3/391, Bl. 4–22: Aufgabengebiete in einem KL, n.d. (1942), Bl. 4–9.
218. OdT, vol. 1, 59; ibid., vol. 3, 41.
219. OdT, vol. 1, 61.
220. BArchB, NS 3/391, Bl. 1–2: Zweck und Gliederung des Konzentrationslagers, n.d.; JVL, JAO, Review of Proceedings, United States v. Weiss, n.d. (1946), 86. Oranienburg had developed a rather similar organizational structure to Dachau in 1933 (OdT, vol. 1, 58).
221. Quote in Kogon, Theory, 53. See also Tuchel, “Registrierung”; OdT, vol. 1, 65–66; Orth, SS, 46–48, 66–71.
222. Hahn, Grawitz, 42–57, 96–106, 154–55; Orth, SS, 45; Morsch, “Formation,” 166–67.
223. Orth, SS, 41–44, 71–75.
224. Quote in Broszat, Kommandant, 139. See also BArchB, NS 3/391, Bl. 4–22: Aufgabengebiete in einem KL, n.d. (1942), Bl. 17–21; Orth, SS, 40–41, 63; OdT, vol. 1, 66–68; DaA, 9438, A. Hübsch, “Insel des Standrechts” (1961), 268; StAMü, StA Nr. 34588/2, Bl. 95–106: Vernehmung K. Kapp, November 14–16, 1956, Bl. 98.
225. Quote in Broszat, Kommandant, 134. See also ibid., 84–85, 266; BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Höss, Rudolf, 25.11.1900; Hördler, “Ordnung,” 39, 44; Riedle, Angehörigen, 56.
226. Eicke to commandant offices, December 2, 1935, NCC, doc. 151.
227. ITS, ARCH/HIST/KL Lichtenburg 2, Bl. 104–15: Befehlsblatt SS-TV/IKL, April 1, 1937; Morsch, “Formation,” 114–16, 120–22; Schwarz, Frau, 112–15; KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg, Flossenbürg, 50–51; Dillon, “Dachau,” 111.
228. For one example, see Broszat, Kommandant, 103–104, 132–34.
229. Commandant’s order for Buchenwald, August 3, 1937, August 30, 1937, NCC, docs. 167 and 168; BArchB, NS 31/372, Befehlsblatt SS-TV/IKL, June 1937, Bl. 69; ITS, HIST/SACH, Sachsenburg, Ordner 1, Bl. 73: Wachtruppenbefehl, October 21, 1935.
230. Naujoks, Leben, 64, 68, 131, quote on 150; instruction by Himmler, July 21, 1938, NCC, doc. 161; OdT, vol. 3, 33.
231. Quote in Dicks, Mass Murder, 103, “KZs” in the original. See also ibid., 138; Orth, SS, especially pages 151–52; Broszat, Kommandant, 49, 233–34; Warmbold, Lagersprache, 122–43. More generally, see Rouse, “Perspectives”; Gioia et al., “Organizational identity.”
232. Riedel, Ordnungshüter, 175, 205–209; BArchB, R 2/28350, Chronik der SS
-Lageranlage Dachau, March 1, 1938; Dillon, “Dachau,” 105; Orth, SS, 88, 145.
233. Orth, SS, 151. See also Sofsky, Violence, 24–27; Kühne, Belonging, 91, 168–69.
234. Steinbacher, Dachau, 179–80; Dillon, “Dachau,” 81–84.
235. Buggeln, Arbeit, 344–48; APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 129–312: Vernehmung O. Wolken, April 17–20, 1945, Bl. 297.
236. For example, see Naujoks, Leben, 38–39, 62–64.
237. The 1937 mortality figure is the combined monthly average across the three big camps (Dachau: forty-one deaths; Sachsenhausen: forty-four deaths, including prisoners who died in Berlin State Hospital; Buchenwald: fifty-three deaths between July and December 1937); KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, Gedenkbuch; AS, Totenbuch des KZ Sachsenhausen; http://totenbuch.buchenwald.de.
238. This estimate includes victims of the Röhm purge in Dachau. For suicides, see Goeschel, “Suicide,” 630–32.
239. Quote in Broszat, Kommandant, 98. See also ibid., 97–98, 101; Sydnor, Soldiers, 27–28; NCC, doc. 174; ITS, HIST/SACH, Sachsenburg, Ordner 1, Bl. 22: Wachtruppenbefehl, August 21, 1935; Dillon, “Dachau,” 178–80; Van Dam and Giordano, KZ-Verbrechen, 28.
240. Sofsky, Ordnung, 134; Neurath, Gesellschaft, 117.
241. Broszat, Kommandant, 81–83; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946, Bl. 370. In 1937, Eicke relaxed his orders: instead of the entire platoon, only selected long-term members (with two years or more of experience) of the Commandant Staff had to attend floggings; order of the SS Death’s Head units, March 1, 1937, NCC, doc. 155.
242. Dicks, Mass Murder, 100–101.
243. For example, see Broszat, Kommandant, 85–86.
244. For example, see NCC, doc. 180; Lüerßen, “‘Wir,’” 119–20; DAP, Vernehmung F. Hofmann, April 22, 1959, 3850.
245. For the quotes, see AS, J D2/43, Bl. 59–72: Vernehmung G. Sorge, April 23, 1957, Bl. 71; Lüerßen, “‘Moorsoldaten,’” 195. More generally, see Dillon, “Dachau,” 125, 190, 233, 241; Broszat, Kommandant, 83; Hördler, “Ordnung,” 49; Trouvé, “Bugdalle,” 33; Sofsky, Ordnung, 262–63; Springmann, “‘Sport,’” 91–92.
KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps Page 94
