CONCENTRATION CAMP

Evening Star, Issue 23093, 20 October 1938, Page 1

CONCENTRATION CAMP

COKDITIOHS ARE DESCRIBED

High above Weimar, in the dark forest of the Ettersberg, is the Buchenwald, the concentration camp, where it is said (Reuter correspondent some thousands of Jews suffer just be* cause they are Jews. Everybody in Weimar knows of the Buchenwalt. and will readily indicate in general terms where it is, but no one mentions thar dread words “concentration camp.” On the long hill rising from Weimat! northward in the direction of Buttelstedt the road is full of soldiers and Black Guards, who guard the concentration camps. At the top of the hill a rough road branches off westward, the signpost indicating the direction of Ettersberg. Half a mile brings us to tha village of Ettersberg. , Here an old woman was asked thV> way to Buchenwald. With obvious nervousness, she replied: “ Buchenwald You won’t get there. Nobody is allowed there; not evfen the people id the village. No, it isn’t a village. Wa don’t know what there is there.”

Another woman replied: “You can’fj go to Buchenwald; but you can sea the sentries everywhere.” The paths through the forest have apparently been ploughed up to. deter; visitors, but what is more forbidding is a great signpost with the words “ danger zone ” in white on a red background, surmounted by a skull and crossbones. Where the forest, ends caa be seen about 200yds from the road a high, barbed-wire fence } apparently, ah least 12ft tall. Guarding it are two watch towers commanding views of tho whole, country. , This is all that can be observed of the camp from this side, but from tho main road to Weimar, which runs along a high ridge, half a dozen large buildings with tiled roofs, he seen in the forest. Of the itoeaqu in es where the Jews are reputed ttcfre >et at forced labour nothing can bl? 1 se n. . Notices are displayed prohibiting m )tc ;ists from parking their cars aidhg 11 is road. ■ The pressure whislafoie B eic i authorities are {tile Jews has greatly increased ojTScehtj m inths. But more poignaflPtljftm lo s of work or business is the fi [ends who suddenly disappear ciyl p« ' engulfed into the great camp of Buchenwald. From,E3s fire id spot, in the heart of beautiful Tht ringia tha relatives of those interned here hava sometimes received a_xudb official intimation that the prisoner jhas certain date, that he has and the ashes may be times these notices reacp very soon. The healthy pjsjj'a. The prisoner? special correspondent Chester Guardian ’ says). are Social Democrats Jews and “ Bible so-called “ Bibelforschcr persecuted of all the in Germany, because they say “ Heil, Hitler,” on the ground only the Supreme Being is entitle . to* such an honour. There are also vimd S.A, and S.S. men at Buchenwald who have been arrested as being politically “ unreliable.”

FLOGGING OF PRISONERS.

The prisoners have to parade at 4 o’clock in the morning. They work oa the roads and in. the quarries. Many are in a weak condition because of tha bad food, the ill-treatment, and overwork. Those who fail, in the opinion of their guards, who are S.S. men, to do the required amount of work ara punished with 25 of the lash* which is a heavy, tapering thong oj cowhide. These floggings occur daily* the victim being strapped on a trestle.

Last October, when two prisoners escaped, the other prisoners were made to stand on parade from 6 o’clock in the evening until 11 _ the following morning. Several prisoners collapsed and were punished by being deprived of food for three days. One prisoner, named Weinreiter, was found to ba hiding in. the carpenter’s shop, and ba was executed. Of the two who escaped, one got away altogether, the other was recaptured, and as ha had killed his guard, in making his escape, he was handed over to the police* tried for milrdcr, sentenced to death, and beheaded.

One morning the camp commandant asked for seven volunteers for soma special job. Not one responded, whereupon five men were selected and marched off to the front of the camp. Shots were heard. The' men vcra never seen again, only their clothes* bloodstained 1 and pierced with bullets, were returned to the camp. Tha names of two of the victims ' ara Bischof, a Social Democrat and formermunicipal councillor, and Fischer. Tha names of the other three are unknown. The death of the lawyer Hans Lit* ten, which occurred _ at Buchenwald,was reported some time ago. A load of heavy stones was tipped over him. He was carried off with a broke a thigh and a damaged chest. It waa of these injuries that he died. The “ Bible students ” are subjected to special ill-treatment. Some hava undergone a so-called “ German baptism.” They were placed in a barrel of sewage and asked “ if they still be* lieve in Jehovah." The “Bible students” have shown a dour fervour in all camps and prisons, and at Buchenwald they refused to answer the question. They were then completely submerged in the sewage again and again. In the year ended last May 14S prisoners were either killed outrght, beaten to death, or driven to suicide aff Buchenwald.