KZ Esterwegen was one of a series of camps first established in the Emsland region of Germany near Papenburg in 1933 as prison camps for political prisoners by the Nazi regime. It was one of 15 camps in the Emsland region and was designated as "Lager VII". In 1941 it became a sub-camp of the concentration camp of Neuengamme. Esterwegen was a "strafgefangenenlager", a camp designed particularly for 'special punishment' primarily for political prisoners and those opposed to the Nazi regime.
SS Hauptscharführer Gustav Sorge, nicknamed "The Iron Gustav" for his brutality, was a guard at Esterwegen prior to being assigned to Sachsenhausen. He was convicted of war crimes after the Nazi defeat.
Prosecutor: "Are your depositions according to which you used to beat the detainees daily true?"
Sorge: "Yes, they are."
Prosecutor: "If a detainee coughed, did you beat him?"
Sorge: "If he coughed or looked unfriendly, I beat him."
Prosecutor: "And what if he was in good humor and looked friendly? Did you beat him?"
Sorge: "Then, too, I would find grounds to beat him."
Prosecutor: "Therefore, you used to beat people when they looked discontent or in bad humor, but also when they were in good humor."
Sorge: "Yes. Finding Gründe, (grounds), for beating was always an easy matter to me."
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The most famous prisoner was writer and editor of the weekly antifascist magazine: Die Weltbühne: Carl von Ossietzky, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935. Comedian Werner Finck was detained in Esterwegen for six weeks.
Landschaft, Architektur, Kunst, Design: Norbert Schittek zum 60. Geburtstag By Eberhard Eckerle Publisher: Meidenbauer;(August 2006) Language: German ISBN 3899750764 ISBN 978-3899750768
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