Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-09-14
The Brown He'll
on the Black Plain
Editors Note: The following

the International Labor De-
tense in this country. The Ger
man lid along with all other
working class organizations has
been driven underground. Un-
der the most difficult and dan
gerous conditions, it continues
its work and distributes its
materials.
A desert plateau, dry, brown
grey, without a singls tree or
bush. In these surroundings
stands Papenburg, Hitler con-
centratiOn camp. Here thousands
of anti-fascists, including DR..
Neubauer and Carl Won Ossietzki,
are dying slow death.
No foreign journalists, no dele
cation of workers or intellectu-
ais, has thus far been able to
enter the concentration camps of
BOerrgmOOr, RehdemoOr, Ester
wege and Papenburg, grouped
here under the single terrible |
name, PAPENBURG.
The GestapO, secret police of
Hitler. show foreign visitors the
model camp at Oranienburg. But
no visitor can enter Papenburg.
Only few weeks ago, a delega-
ton of Dutch workers and intel
lectuals were refused permission
to visit the Papenburg camp.
Reasons of principle" said the
Gestapo in its telegram of re-
fusal.
But while part of the delega-
tion tried to deal with the camp
officials and sent kilograms to
Berlin, the rest OF the delegates !
visited the place where the pris- :
oners of the Esterwege camp
work.
Brutal Prison Regime
In this way. the wOrker-dele-
gates learned a great deal. They
saw some of the brutality of the
storm-troopers. On the journey
to and from the camps, the pris-
Oners are penned in a car like
cattle. They are guarded by the
storm-trOpers, who are armed to
the teeth. II the troopers believe
that the prisoners are moving
too slowly, they push them along
with the butts of their guns.
Hunger and misery are written
on the faces of the prisoners.
They are evidently starved, and
bear the marks of cruel treat
ment. But many of them, when
the saw us" the delegates report
ed, "and knew that we were
sympthizers, raised clenched fists
for moment in greetingp
There are at the present time
about 5000 anti-fascists and sew
eral thousand cOmmOn-law pris-
Oners in the Papenburg cOncen-
tration camp. They are guarded
by special police, many of whom
are unbridled in their cruelty.
One of the policemen, Ser
geant Meus, fell upon one of the
anti-fascist prisoners, kicked him
until he broke his ribs, and beat |
him with the butt of his gun I'M
til he lost consciousness.
Concentration Camps Guarded
The four concentration camps
of Papenburg are Theoretically
sealed from the outside world.
A distance of 10 miles separates
the camps from the nearest city.
The prisoners barracks are sur
rounded by four barbed wire
fences, and are separated from
the other camp buildings. The
barracks are guarded by day and
night patrols, armed to the
teeth.
The prisoners are absolutely !,
forbidden to talk to the guards.
Prisoners get up at 5, when the
warden, accompanied by a guard
of police, opens the barracks. The
prisoners dress, receive breakfast
of bread and coffee and bit of
marmalade. The director calls the
roll.
Each day the prisoners go to
work. rain or shine. On rainy
days they come back completely
drenched. A prisoner is consider
ed too i'll to work only if he faints
or if he has a fever of 1o4 or over.
Slave-Driving by Foremen
The prisoners are driven at ,
work until they drop from ex-
haustion. Civilian foremen re-
ceive bonuses for the work OF the
men under them.
Digging up peat filled with
roots is torture even in February.
But this work under a July sun,
on an empty stomach, is murder.
At five in the evening, prison
ers return to camp. Most of them
fall on their cots, too exhausted
to eat the only meal of the day.
To escape the tortures of fore
ed labor, prisoners swallow chew
ing-tobaeco, rub their eyes with
sulphur from understanding
to escape the tortures of the
work-gangs. At eight, the bar