Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 3, p. 444
		12 Dec. 45 installed a few emergency toilets in the camps, but there were far too few of them to cope with the situation. "During the period immediately following the March 1943 raids many foreign workers were made to sleep at the Krupp factories in the same rooms in which they worked. The day workers slept there at night, and the night workers slept there during the day, despite the noise which constantly prevailed. I believe that this condition continued until the entrance of American troops into Essen. "As the pace of air raids was stepped up, conditions became progressively worse. On 28 July 1944 1 reported to my superiors that: " 'The sick barracks in camp Rabenhorst are in such a bad condition one cannot speak of a sick barracks any more. The rain leaks through in every corner. The housing of the sick is therefore impossible. The necessary labor for production is in danger because those persons who are ill cannot recover.' "At the end of 1943 or the beginning of 1944 — I am not completely sure of the exact date — I obtained permission for the first time to visit the prisoner-of-war camps. My inspection revealed, that conditions at these camps were worse than those I had found at the camps of the Eastern Workers in 1942. Medical supplies at such camps were virtually nonexistent. In an effort to cure this intolerable situation, I contacted the Wehrmacht authorities whose duty it was to provide medical care for the prisoners of war. My persistent efforts came to nothing. After remonstrating with them over a period of 2 weeks, I was given a total of 100 aspirin tablets for over 3,000 prisoners of war. "The French prisoner-of-war camp in Nöggerathstrasse had been destroyed in an air raid attack and its inhabitants were kept for nearly half a year in dog kennels, urinals, and in old bakehouses. The dog kennels were 3 feet high, 9 feet long, and 6 feet wide. Five men slept in each of them. The prisoners had to crawl into these kennels on all fours. The camp contained no tables, chairs, or cupboards. The supply of blankets was inadequate.. There was no water in the camp. Such medical treatment as there was, was given in the open. Many of these conditions were reported to me in a report by Dr. Stinnesbeck, dated 12 June 1944, in which he said: " ' . . . . There are still 315 prisoners in the camp. One hundred seventy of these are no longer in barracks but in the tunnel in Grunertstrasse under the Essen-Millheim railway line. This tunnel is damp and is not suitable for continued accommodation of human beings. The rest of the prisoners are 444
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 3, p. 444     Last modified: January 2, 1999 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.