KZ Buchenwald. Konzentrationslager Buchenwald - Geschildert von Buchenwalder Häftlingen - Early testimony from Jewish prisoners of Austrian origin about the atrocities committed by the Nazis against them and their friends, the Jews of Vienna and Austria, in the Buchenwald death camp. Published by Stern. Vienna, 1945 - first edition. German. Accompanied by harsh photographs from the camp.
"Everything we knew from rumors about the concentration camps was dwarfed by reality, our wildest imagination did not come close to the truth. We have seen the mass murder of thousands of Poles, Jews, Russians, French, and members of other nations...". Early testimonies taken from Austrian prisoners from Buchenwald at the end of the war.
The prisoners tell of the first transport of 2010 Jews who arrived in Buchenwald from Dachau in September 1938, as well as the arrest of over 1,000 Jews between September 9 and 11, 1939 in Vienna and their deportation to Buchenwald in cattle cars, without food or water, many of whom died on their way to the camp. On November 9, 1938, 12,000 upper-class Jews from all over Germany were brought to Buchenwald, after being beaten with clubs by the SS in already in German cities, and arrived at the camp bruised.
The prisoners describe the daily ration of food in the camp, and the harshest conditions for Jews – Jews were not given food for three consecutive days, and some were even starved for more than ten days. They describe forced labor at a temperature of 20 degrees below zero in the quarry – the "quarry" they write, "is one of the bloodiest terms... It was synonymous with death, murder, sadistic torment...", they describe executions by shooting them in the neck, executions by hanging, the experiments carried out by the SS on prisoners, the way the crematorium operated, the painful and humiliating punishment of flogging in front of all the camp inmates, and more.
A special chapter in the book is dedicated to children in the camp. "They didn't know toys... Tens of thousands of children and babies were murdered. They were thrown alive into the crematorium, huddled in their mothers' arms, clinging...". The children were housed in special blocks for children set up by the political prisoners. The block commander was in charge of them. The prisoners say that on one occasion the commander of the block asked them what they were talking about. The children replied: "We are discussing the best way to die in the concentration camp, hanging, gassing, poisoning, beatings, or shooting...".
In the last section, the prisoners excitedly describe the days of liberation of the camp, and the weeks preceding them. and express hope for Austria's reconstruction from what the Nazi occupier did to it.
During the summer of 1938, some 2,400 Jews were deported from Austria to Buchenwald; Some were expelled from Vienna after its annexation to Germany, the Anschluss, which occurred in March of that year. They were initially deported to Dachau, and from there to Buchenwald. After Kristallnacht, some 10,000 Jews were deported to Buchenwald, where they were housed in very harsh conditions and tortured. Many of them died due to the abuse and living conditions. Of approximately 10,000 Austrian Jewish prisoners sent to Buchenwald, only about 2,000 survived. The vast majority were murdered by the Nazis.
30 [1] pages. 21 cm. Very good condition.
