Hölle Buchenwald 257871. Das eiserne Tor zur Hölle Buchenwald: Viele gingen hinein - wenige kamen heraus! - "Hell Buchenwald 257871. The Iron Gate to Buchenwald Hell: Many entered - few got out!", published by the Provincial Administration of Saxony (Provinzialverwaltung Sachsen). Testimony of Buchenwald concentration camp inmate German resistance fighter Karl Brauer and testimony of prisoner Kurt Beyer - both witnessed the severe atrocities committed in the camp and document the horrors committed against Jews in particular. Preface by Fritz Lessig. Halle (Germany) 1945 - first edition. German. Accompanied by harsh photos of former emaciated prisoners, corpses of Buchenwald victims, and more. Rare.
"Me, the political prisoner Karl Brauer from Halle, was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar for three years and nine months, long enough to experience all the acts of violence and terrible atrocities... There are no words to describe the cruel tortures" - documentation of the period of imprisonment of the German political prisoner and resistance fighter Karl Brauer. Brauer was arrested in his apartment by Gestapo men on charges of "maintaining external relations with hostile elements". After ten days of exhausting interrogation he was acquitted of the charges, but on the same day he realized his joy was premature and he was taken to Buchenwald. And from there he documents everything that happened to him in the camp from the day of his arrival until his release, the beatings he and his friends received during daily roll calls, forced labor, humiliating treatment, and more. Brauer also witnessed the horrifying medical experiments the Nazis performed on prisoners' bodies and describes them here.
In one of the chapters in the booklet under the headline: "Torture of Jews by true sadists" , he describes an event when about 10,000 Jews arrived at the camp in November 1938: "The cruel sadism of the Nazi executioners celebrated its most terrible victories over the Jews... In the first days after their arrival, all the Jews (imagine the huge number! - emphasis in the original) had to sit in the corridor for more than twelve hours without being allowed to get up and go to the bathroom, there was no talk of eating and drinking, the camp office had decided from the outset to deal with Jewish prisoners with particular severity... The number of illnesses and deaths grew more and more... It was as if death incarnate sent his assistants to earth to gather the dead souls around him in a frightening dance of madness... The guards beat the wretched with clubs and whips... The blows caused cerebral hemorrhaging and death. The corpse bearers were busy all the time piling up the dead..." . Brauer summarizes his testimony: "I have tried to give only a brief summary of my experiences in Buchenwald. I must confess that my lines pale in comparison to reality, a reality that turned the horrors of the depraved SS tyrants into a bloody hell...". In the second part of the booklet is the testimony of prisoner Kurt Beyer, documenting the abuse of prisoners and the atrocities committed by camp commander Koch and his wife, on prisoners' skins, as well as the horrors they committed against Jews more than other prisoners.
The booklet was published shortly after the liberation of the camp when prisoners who had disappeared were still being searched for, and evidence was being collected to prosecute Nazi war criminals. On page 21 of the booklet there is a notice: "All coordinators and political prisoners, as well as surviving family members of Nazi victims, must immediately report to the local police authority, indicating the punishment and political offense for which they were arrested. In cooperation with the local self-government and the anti-fascist committee of the democratic parties, the reports must be forwarded to the Provincial Administration of Saxony, Department 7 "Victims of Fascism", there must be a complete registration of the above...".
Karl Brauer born 1909 was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism. In the 1920s he was a member of the Communist Youth League of Germany (KJVD). After the Nazis came to power in 1933, communist activity was banned, but Brauer continued his party activities illegally. He was arrested in Berlin and sentenced to two years in prison for "planning high treason", which he served in Brandenburg Prison. After his release he continued resistance activity until 1937, when he was arrested again. He was charged with "planning significant treason" and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp until 1945. After the war he held various public positions in Halle, and between 1954-1976 he served as chairman of the Financial Control Committee of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR) and a member of the central board of the Anti-Fascist Resistance Fighters Committee. He died in Berlin in 1982.
Rare! Only two entries in the world library catalog WorldCat.
32 p. 21 cm. Good condition.
