Standing cell

Astanding cellis  a special cell constructed so as to prevent the prisoner from doing anything but stand. Standing cells were used in 19th century Turkey, and in 20th century Chile, Germany, and Soviet Union. They were used inNazi concentration campsduring theThird Reichas a punishment.They were also used duringJoseph Stalin'spurges in the Soviet Union.Some standing cells were small enough for only one person, others held as many as four people.
TheArmenianhosiery-manufacturer and musician Samuel Hovannes Zorian was arrested in 1895 byOttomanauthorities for being a political activist. He was beaten and incarcerated in a so-called "police room", measuring barely two square feet (0.19 m) and with no windows. On the second day, he was dragged out and beaten almost senseless with sticks. Zorian was then sent back to the "police room" where he was confined for a further week and was only sustained on a diet of bread and water, with no medical attention given to him during that period.
SAcamp commandant Werner Schäfer had two cells built in the basement of theOranienburg concentration campin 1933. The dimensions of the cell were such that a person could only stand. A prisoner surnamed Neumann was held there for 192 hours (eight full days) and was allegedly driven mad as a result of his confinement. At times, prisoners were held in small coffin-sized closets in which they could only stand.
The number of prisoners inDachau concentration campincreased dramatically in the last years of theSecond World War. The concentration camp was overcrowded. In late 1944, the camp command erected standing cells. The stone chambers were similar to chimneys and measured 75 x 80 cm (29.5 x 31.5 inches).There was a small hatch on top for air, and a narrow door with an iron bar bolted to the cell. The intensified punitive measure saved room and reinforced the punitive agony. There were also standing cells at theAllach subcamp, where the cells were smaller than at Dachau. Some at other camps were bigger, about 90 x 90 cm (35.5 x 35.5 inches).
For example, the prisoner K. A. Gross and thePolishprisoner Max Hoffmann spent days in the standing cell. Hoffmann described it thus:
According toJohannes Neuhäusler[de], an inmate in the standing cell received a single piece of bread in three days.On the fourth day, the prisoner was removed from the standing cell, given a normal camp meal ration and allowed to sleep on a wooden cot. On the next day, the three-day confinement in the standing cell began anew.
TheSSdid not always adhere to the interruption after the third day. A Czech prisoner, Radovan Drazan, spent eight days without a break in a standing cell.Sometimes, prisoners were not even allowed a brief break from the cell, so that they had burns on their bodies from feces and urine.
There were four standing cells atAuschwitzin the basement ofBlock 11, which measured about one square yard (0.84 m), and in which four persons were crammed, able only to stand. There was only a 2 inches (5.1 cm) opening for air, so that prisoners would not suffocate.Punishment in these cells was usually imposed for a period of 10 days.Auschwitz survivor Josef Kral testified at theAuschwitz Trialsabout the standing cells where he had been held for six weeks with three meals during that time, and about how one prisoner was so hungry, he ate his shoes.CommanderRudolf Höss, the camp commander, stated that punishment in the standing cells was limited to three nights, but this was disputed by prisoners.Artur Liebehenschel, Höss' successor at Auschwitz in 1943, removed the standing cells.
According to Soviet defectorAleksandr Mikhailovich Orlov, the standing cell, called akishka(Russian for "intestine"),was used as part of theStalinist purgesof the 1930s. After two days in a standing cell, a Secretary of theTatarProvincial Committee was removed in an unconscious state.
There were standing cells atVilla Grimaldi, some of which held a single prisoner, others several.