La prova: Storia di un campo di concentramento – “The Testimony: The Story of a Concentration Camp” – The Harrowing Account of Political Prisoner Willi Bredel, One of the First Opponents of the Nazi Regime Arrested and Sent to a Concentration Camp in March 1933, Shortly After Hitler’s Rise to Power. Published by Orma Editrice, Turin, 1945 – First Edition. Italian.
The story of Willi Bredel, documenting his personal experiences as a political prisoner in Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp, after being arrested in the first Nazi crackdown following Hitler’s rise to power. Bredel was detained on March 1, 1933, after delivering a speech in support of anti-fascist unity. Bredel was a German writer, journalist, and Communist activist, a member of the German Communist Party (KPD), persecuted for his beliefs.
He was imprisoned in Fuhlsbüttel for thirteen months, during which time the facility transitioned from a regular prison into a Nazi concentration camp. For a significant portion of his detention, he was held in complete isolation. In the introduction, he explains the reason for publishing his story: “In the cell next to mine was a comrade with whom I had once been part of ‘The Working Youth of Hamburg’ during the war and revolution. I remember that one day, after enduring brutal mistreatment, he told me with conviction that I must endure so that I could later publish the truth about how the Nazis treated defenseless workers. A few days later, to escape further torment, this comrade hanged himself.”
Bredel personally experienced the transformation of Germany from a free state into a totalitarian regime that persecuted political dissidents. He endured countless acts of torture and witnessed the brutal mistreatment of his fellow prisoners, which he describes in detail in his book. Bredel was among the first detainees interrogated under torture by the Nazi SS forces and one of the first individuals imprisoned solely for his political views. He also became one of the first to witness firsthand the Nazis’ deep-seated hatred for Jews. Though he was not Jewish, he was repeatedly questioned during interrogations about whether he was Jewish or had any connections to Jews. While in prison, the Nazi guards used “Jew” as a derogatory term for the prisoners, and throughout his imprisonment, he was obsessively asked by his interrogators, “Are you Jewish?” and overheard them saying among themselves, “We must beat these Jews to death.” In his book, Bredel details his experiences of continuous starvation, beatings, and severe physical and psychological torture. He was repeatedly forced to recite statements praising the Führer and denouncing the Communist Party, of which he was a member. Additionally, he describes the horrific torture endured by fellow prisoners, providing a detailed account of the atrocities that took place in the interrogation rooms. Throughout his time in the camp, the Nazis persistently sought information from him and his fellow inmates about individuals who had not yet been arrested but were suspected enemies of the regime. Despite relentless pressure, Bredel displayed remarkable courage and refused to reveal any compromising details.
He was released from prison in 1934, largely due to campaigns led by Communist organizations and human rights movements operating outside Germany. Shortly after his release, he fled to Denmark and later to the Soviet Union, where he continued his literary and political activism against the Nazi regime. After World War II, Bredel returned to East Germany, where he held senior positions in the country’s literary and cultural institutions.
Between 1933 and 1945, tens of thousands of opponents of the Nazi regime were imprisoned in Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp and Fuhlsbüttel prison.
Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp, which opened on September 4, 1933, and became known as “KolaFu”, quickly gained notoriety as one of the most feared terror institutions in Nazi Germany. By 1936, Fuhlsbüttel functioned as a “police prison”, from which prisoners were deported to other concentration camps. Between October 26, 1944, and February 15, 1945, Blocks A and B of Fuhlsbüttel prison served as a satellite camp of Neuengamme concentration camp, housing over 1,300 prisoners. These individuals were brought to Fuhlsbüttel after the Hamburg-Wedel satellite camp at Dessauer Ufer was largely destroyed by Allied bombing raids. As part of “Geilenberg Program”, an emergency initiative aimed at salvaging Germany’s collapsing mineral oil industry, the prisoners were forced to clear debris at refineries and other industrial facilities in the Hamburg port. Some prisoners were also deployed to dig anti-tank trenches and remove rubble and corpses from the city. In February 1945, the SS transferred the concentration camp prisoners back to Hamburg-Dessauer Ufer, but they continued their forced labor at the same sites.
Rare. Only three copies listed in the WorldCat global library catalog.
249 [6] pages. Fragile paper. Good-moderate condition.
