Torture of Jewish prisoners in the Oranienburg and Hohnstein concentration camps is described by a refugee here who himself bears unmistakable evidence of the tortures to which he had been subjected.
In an interview with the Neue Weltbuehne, he declared that Jewish prisoners continue to receive worse treatment than political prisoners and are frequently isolated in cells where they are compelled to shout “Heil Hitler”, and sing the Horst Wessel song.
This refugee, who is not a Jew, witnessed scenes in which confessions were extracted from Jewish prisoners after they had been beaten with rubber clubs and horsewhips. When one tortured Jew, he said, complained to the commandant of the camp, the beatings he had received were renewed most inhumanly and he had to be taken to the hospital.
When and if a Jew is released from a concentration camp, the refugee declared, he is forced to sign a document asserting that he had not been maltreated. Nazi doctors also issue medical certificates testifying that the released prisoner’s wounds were either “self-inflicted” or unconnected with any form of torture.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
