Sonnenburg concentration camp
Sonnenburg concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager Sonnenburg) was opened on 3 April 1933 on the initiative of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior and Justice in Sonnenburg near Küstrin in the Neumark in a former prison. [1]
History
Although the state of hygiene in the building, which had been closed in 1930 was appalling, officials of the Prussian justice ministry recommended it as a suitable site. They estimated the capacity of the building at 941 so-called protective custody prisoners (Schutzhäftlinge), who could be accommodated either in single cells or in communal cells holding up to 20, 30 and 60 people each. The first 200 prisoners along with 60 SA auxiliary police came on 3 April 1933 from the Berlin Police Presidium. Later, on the order of the head of the Prussian Gestapo, prisoners were deported from the penal institution of Gollnow in Pomerania to Sonnenburg, bringing the number of inmates to 1,000.
Sonnenburg concentration camp was closed on 23 April 1934. The prison still exists. Since the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 the concentration camp or punishment camp (Straflager) continued as a concentration and labour camp for alleged anti-German people from the occupied territories until 1945. Amongst its inmates were the resistance fighters, Jean-Baptiste Lebas and Bjørn Egge. The French spy, René Lefebvre, father of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, succumbed in 1944 to the consequences of imprisonment there.
Staff
The first commandant was police lieutenant (Polizeioberleutnant) Keßler. After him came:
- Police second lieutenant (Polizeileutnant) Bark
- Police lieutenant Siegmund
- SA-Sturmführer Jahr
SA-Sturmführer Bahr initially commanded the infamous Berlin SA storm troops (Stürme) No. 1 Horst Wessel and No. 33 Mordsturm Maikowski, which were responsible for guarding prisoners. They were reinforced by members of the police. In late April, the Berlin SA men were replaced by others from Frankfurt/Oder. At the end of August the SS took over, as they did in many camps, with 150 men from the 27th SS Regiment (SS-Standarte 27) from Frankfurt/Oder.
Prisoners
During the early years of their rule, and long before the start of the war, the Nazi regime mainly imprisoned Communists and Social Democrats in Sonnenburg. These included:
- Georg Benjamin, doctor and resistance fighter
- Rudolf Bernstein, official of the Communist Party of Germany, the KPD
- Erna Gersinski, KPD functionary
- Ottomar Geschke, KPD politician
- Ernst Grube, amateur sportsman, Reichstag MP
- Gerhard Kratzat, KPD
- Wilhelm Kasper, KPD functionary
- Hans Litten
- Erich Mühsam
- Leo Müffelmann, archivist and freemason
- Josef Nawrocki, KPD functionary
- Michael Niederkirchner, KPD functionary
- Carl von Ossietzky, pacifist
- Gustav-Adolf Prinz, KPD functionary
- Ernst Schneller, Lehrer, KPD politician
- Erich Steinfurth, KPD politician
- Walter Stoecker, MdR in the KPD, party chairman
- Ernst Oberdörster, member of the Prussian Landtag KPD
Other early concentration camps
- Breitenau concentration camp (1933–1934)
- Breslau-Dürrgoy concentration camp in Wrocław, Poland[2]
- Esterwegen concentration camp
- Kemna concentration camp[2]
- Oranienburg concentration camp
- Vulkanwerft concentration camp in the Bredow district of Stettin[2]
Notes
- ↑ TK25 Sheet 3454 Sonnenburg - 1938 edition
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 David Magnus Mintert, Das frühe Konzentrationslager Kemna und das sozialistische Milieu im Bergischen Land (PDF) Ruhr University Bochum, doctoral dissertation (2007), pp. 232–235. Retrieved January 14, 2012 (German)
References
- Klaus Drobisch, Günther Wieland: System der NS- Konzentrationslager. 1933–1939. Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1993, ISBN 3-05-000823-7.
- Kaspar Nürnberg: Außenstelle des Berliner Polizeipräsidiums: Das „staatliche Konzentrationslager“ Sonnenburg bei Küstrin. In: Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel (ed.): Herrschaft und Gewalt. Frühe Konzentrationslager 1933–1939. Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-932482-82-4, S. 83–100 (Geschichte der Konzentrationslager 1933–1945, vol. 2).
- Christina Morina: Die "Folterhölle Sonnenburg". Gedenkstätte ehemaliges Konzentrationslager Sonnenburg/Słonsk 1933–1945. published by the Rotary Club of Frankfurt (Oder) and the town of Słonsk. Frankfurt (Oder) 2004.
- Kaspar Nürnberg: Sonnenburg. In: Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel (ed.): Der Ort des Terrors. Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager. Vol. 2: Frühe Lager, Dachau, Emslandlager. C. H. Beck, Munich, 2005, ISBN 3-406-52962-3, S. 200–207.
External links
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- Sonnenburg concentration camp museum (Polish)
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Coordinates: 52°33′52″N 14°48′36″E / 52.56444°N 14.81000°E