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| Evidence for the Prosecution |
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| Captain Sington
(cont.) |
“and
there are also the Häftlinge.” Kramer told me that the inmates were
calm at that time and I informed him that I proposed to take my loudspeaker car
into the camp to make an announcement. One of the Hungarian officers said,
“I would not advise you to do this. Seven people a day are dying here of
fleck typhus.” On Colonel Taylor’s arrival I got the order to go
straight into the camp, which I did, although Kramer had told me he could not
allow it without authorization from the Wehrmacht commander. We made an
announcement several times at different parts of the camp.
When you
made the announcement what was the effect? — Men who had been mainly near
their huts or blocks came towards the barbed wire, some of them cheering, and a
few minutes after they came through the gateways out of the compounds on to the
main roadway of the camp. There was quite a crowd of them in front of the van,
and a Wehrmacht soldier shot into the air repeatedly, lowering his revolver
gradually until it reached an angle of about 30 degrees, at which point I
walked up to him, covered him with my revolver and told him to stop shooting.
Did anybody else interfere with the internees? — A number of them,
recognizable from their blue- and white-striped concentration camp clothing,
started running about, striking various inmates with flat pieces of wood. These
people, I found out, were inmates who were given special disciplinary powers
over the others. They had various names, such as “Lagerältester,
Blockältester, Stellvertreter and Kapo.“ They used very considerable
force and the blows made a sickening noise. I saw one inmate lying on his back
still being struck while he was on the ground. He was very thin and looked in
rather a sick condition. There was not the slightest necessity for this use of
force and it was perfectly possible to control the inmates without it. We went
round the camp telling the inmates by loudspeaker that they must return to
their compound before any food would be distributed. In the evening I went into
the camp with Colonel Taylor and Brigadier Glyn Hughes and we had some
conversation with Kramer about the conditions, the amount of food and the water
supply.
Did Kramer indicate his own position in the camp? — He
said he was the Kommandant of the camp.
Did you ask what food the
prisoners had and about the water supply? — Yes. He told me they got food
twice a day, consisting of turnip soup, and bread whenever possible. He was
very vague about the issue of bread. He told me that the main supply of water
was completely cut off, because of damage to the Hannover electric power
system, and that there were a number of tanks of static water, in the camp. On
enquiring whether the water was taken round by water-carts he said no, and that
all inmates had to get it the best they could. I saw the concrete basins.
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