The Esterwegen concentration camp near
Esterwegen was an early
Nazi concentration camp
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
within a series of camps first established in the
Emsland
Landkreis Emsland () is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems (river), Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer (district), Leer, Cloppenburg (district), Cloppenbur ...
district of Germany. It was established in the summer of 1933 as a concentration camp for 2000 so-called political ''Schutzhäftlinge'' (
protective custody prisoners) and was for a time the second largest concentration camp after
Dachau. The camp was closed in summer of 1936. Thereafter, until 1945 it was used as a prison camp. Political prisoners and so-called ''
Nacht und Nebel'' prisoners were also held there. After the war ended, Esterwegen served as a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
internment camp, as a prison, and, until 2000, as a depot for the
German Army
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
.
The most famous prisoner was writer and editor of the weekly magazine, ''
Die Weltbühne'',
Carl von Ossietzky, who won the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
in 1935. Comedian
Werner Finck was detained in Esterwegen for six weeks.
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 war.
Gallery
File:Esterweg030412 049schll.jpg, Looking through a narrow gap from the site of the former front gate on to the former Camp Road
File:Esterweg030412 030.jpg, View across the camp road from the main gate
File:KZ Esterwegen - Weg um Moor durch das Gebaeude der Gedenkstaette hindurch.jpg, The way out of the camp to the bog through the building of the memorial
See also
*
Glossary of Nazi Germany
This is a list of words, terms, concepts and slogans of Nazi Germany used in the historiography covering the Nazi regime.
Some words were coined by Adolf Hitler and other Nazi Party members. Other words and concepts were borrowed and appropriated, ...
*
The Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
*
List of concentration and internment camps
*
List of Nazi concentration camps
*
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
*
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
*
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Literature
* Kurt Buck: ''Esterwegen – Das Lager.'' In: Bettina Schmidt-Czaia (Hrsg. im Auftrag der Gemeinde Esterwegen): ''Esterwegen 1223 bis 1999 – "Moor und Heide nur ringsum ...?"'' Esterwegen 1999, S. 205–253.
* Kurt Buck: ''Auf der Suche nach den Moorsoldaten. Emslandlager 1933–1945 und die historischen Orte heute.'' 6. Auflage. Papenburg 2008, .
*
Bernd Faulenbach, Andrea Kaltofen (Hg.): 'Hölle im Moor'. Die Emslandlager 1933–1945. Wallstein, Göttingen 2017, .
* Henning Harpel: ''Die Emslandlager des Dritten Reichs. Formen und Probleme der aktiven Geschichtserinnerung im nördlichen Emsland 1955–1993.'' In: Studiengesellschaft für Emsländische Regionalgeschichte (Hrsg.): ''Emsländische Geschichte.'' Band 12. Haselünne 2005, S. 134–239.
* Hans-Peter Klausch: ''Tätergeschichten. Die SS-Kommandanten der frühen Konzentrationslager im Emsland.'' (= DIZ-Schriften; 13). Bremen 2005, .
* Habbo Knoch: ''Die Emslandlager 1933–1945.'' In: Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel: ''Der Ort des Terrors. Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'' Band II: ''Frühe Lager, Dachau, Emslandlager.'' München 2005, , S. 532–570.
* Erich Kosthorst, Bernd Walter: ''Konzentrations- und Strafgefangenenlager im Dritten Reich. Beispiel Emsland. Dokumentation und Analyse zum Verhältnis von NS-Regime und Justiz.'' Droste, Düsseldorf 1983, .
* Erich Kosthorst: ''Die Lager im Emsland unter dem NS-Regime 1933–1945. Aufgabe und Sinn geschichtlicher Erinnerung.'' In: Karl Dietrich Erdmann, J. Rohlfes (Hrsg.): ''Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht.'' Nr. 6/1984, Seelze 1984, S. 365–379, S. 372–373.
* Wolfgang Langhoff: ''Die Moorsoldaten.'' Verlag Neuer Weg, Stuttgart 1974, . (Erste Auflage. Zürich 1935.)
* Elke Suhr: ''Die Emslandlager. Die politische und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung der emsländischen Konzentrations- und Strafgefangenenlager 1933–1945.'' Donat & Temmen, Bremen 1985, .
* Willy Perk: ''Hölle im Moor. Zur Geschichte der Emslandlager 1933–1945.'' Röderberg, Frankfurt am Main 1979, .
* Dirk Riedel: ''Ordnungshüter und Massenmörder im Dienst der "Volksgemeinschaft": Der KZ-Kommandant Hans Loritz''. Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2010, .
External links
DIZ Emslandlager: "The 15 Emsland camps"Esterwegen Museum Website
{{coord, 53, 00, 29, N, 7, 38, 23, E, region:DE-NI_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title
Nazi concentration camps in Germany
Emsland