KZ Buchenwald – Erlebnisbericht von M. Zahnwetzer – Buchenwald Concentration Camp, an eyewitness account by former mayor of Sondershausen, Moritz Zahnwetzer. Self-published by the author, Kassel, Germany, 1946 – First edition. A rare booklet considered one of the earliest testimonies published in Germany about concentration camps in general. In German. Cover design by Rupert Walter.
“It is my duty to report on the Buchenwald concentration camp… We lack the language to express in words the horror and suffering of the people in this camp…”.
Zahnwetzer was born in 1884 and worked in his youth as a print shop owner and librarian. Before the war, he served as mayor of Sondershausen representing the Social Democrats. He was arrested by the Nazis in January 1938 on charges of preparing to commit treason and was transferred from Weimar to Buchenwald in a freight car together with 16 other prisoners, where he was assigned inmate number 1407. In the camp, he encountered several former members of the German Reichstag who had also been arrested for opposing the regime, as well as Hitler Youth members accused of possessing anti-Nazi materials. He worked in the camp as a Steinträger (stone carrier) in the mining zone — the camp’s “mountains of death.” Moritz describes how large numbers of prisoners were forced into backbreaking labor in digging, hauling stones, construction work, and quarrying. The individual labor units were guarded by SS soldiers with loaded rifles. There were two lines of guards — inner and outer — both lying in wait for the prisoners. Throughout the booklet, he details methods of torture employed by the Nazis, such as the tying of prisoners to trees (he explains the method in detail: “The tying is done as follows: the prisoner is positioned with his back against a tree and must stretch both arms behind him. A standard rope is wound around his wrists and attached to a sturdy nail driven into the back of the tree slightly above head height. The bound prisoner is then hoisted up by another inmate so that only his toes touch the ground. The squad commander then tightens the torture rope so that the prisoner hangs by his arms. This method of torture is extremely painful and leaves a horrifying impression. The duration of the hanging depends on the torturer’s will — or more accurately, on the pleasure he derives from it. It can last a quarter of an hour or even several hours. The screams of the prisoners are silenced by buckets of water poured over their heads, even in sub-zero temperatures.”). He also describes forced labor in freezing cold, deliberate starvation, abuse of physically disabled inmates, torture to the point of death — with the SS’s primary mission being the destruction of the regime’s opponents. Moritz was even a witness to the execution of a prisoner named Bergetzki who had attempted to escape the camp, and he describes the horrifying event in detail. After the execution, the body was left hanging for 24 hours to instill fear among the inmates and deter any thoughts of escape.
Among other things, Moritz describes the arrival of Jews at the camp. In June 1938, a transport of Jews arrived — most of them lawyers and doctors from Berlin: “The sadistic torture of the Jews surpasses everything we had previously seen, ” he writes. He also recounts another arrival of 2,500 Jewish prisoners in September, followed by further transports in the subsequent months: “A campaign of Jewish deportation throughout the Reich begins and grows to massive proportions. Cars, trucks, and buses continuously bring groups of Jews to Buchenwald — far beyond the camp’s capacity and existing facilities, so that proper accommodation is impossible from the outset. Five barracks were hastily erected to house 10,000 Jews. They were marked by number. These five barracks later took on critical significance, as the mere fact that people were kept in such cramped quarters for weeks at a time was in itself a testament to the horror and inhumanity of the existing tyranny… Crowds of Jews stand and lie under constant abuse by the SS…”
At the morning roll call on June 20, 1940, Moritz’s name was called for the first time as one designated for release, together with three other prisoners who were freed that day. His prison uniform was removed, and he was told he was being released. An SS guard accompanied him to the camp gate as the remaining inmates called out: “Don’t forget us.” After his release in 1940, he served as a local council member and held various public positions until his death in 1951.
38 pages. Very good condition.
