Ravensbruck

by Morrison, Jack G.

• ISBN13: 9781558762183
• ISBN10: 1558762183
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Markus Wiener Pub

Author Biography

Jack G. Morrison, professor of history at Shippensburg University, was a key contributor to the establishment of the archives of Ravensbruck after the departure of the Russian administrators

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xii
Introduction: National Socialism and Women	1	(8)
PART I---BEGINNINGS
The Women's Camp and the SS	9	(20)
The Early Concentration Camps and Women	10	(4)
The Creation of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp	14	(5)
The SS Administration	19	(4)
The Female Overseers	23	(6)
Arriving	29	(8)
First Impressions	31	(1)
The Trauma of Processing	32	(5)
PART II---THE WOMEN PRISONERS
Green and Black Triangles: Criminals, Asocials & Gypsies	37	(17)
Categories	38	(2)
Criminals	40	(3)
Asocials	43	(3)
The Youth Camp	46	(2)
Gypsies	48	(6)
Lavender Triangles: Jehovah's Witnesses	54	(7)
Intransigence and Persecution	55	(3)
The ``Volunteer'' Prisoners	58	(3)
Yellow Triangles: Jews	61	(14)
German Anti-Semitism	62	(2)
Nazi Anti-Jewish Programs, 1933-39	64	(5)
Jewish Women at Ravensbruck	69	(6)
Red Triangles: Politicals	75	(10)
Communists	76	(5)
Members of Foreign Resistance Groups	81	(1)
Soviet Army Women and ``Special Prisoners''	82	(3)
Nationalities	85	(14)
Nationality Conflicts	86	(5)
The Poles	91	(3)
The French	94	(5)
The Prisoner Administration	99	(10)
Block and Room Seniors	100	(5)
Other Prisoner Officials	105	(1)
The Haves and Have-Nots	106	(3)
PART III---LIVING AND WORKING AT RAVENSBRUCK
The Camp Routine	109	(15)
Roll Calls and Food	110	(6)
Weekends	116	(3)
Clothing and Possessions	119	(5)
Friendships	124	(10)
Camp Families	125	(4)
Intimacy and Homoerotic Relationships	129	(5)
Little Pleasures	134	(12)
Mail	135	(5)
Parcels	140	(1)
Getting the News	141	(1)
Bartering	142	(2)
Money	144	(2)
The Finer Things in Life: Cultural and Educational Activities	146	(23)
Poetry	147	(10)
Paintings and Drawings	157	(6)
Handicrafts, Singing, and Storytelling	163	(3)
Educational Programs	166	(3)
Keeping Clean (and Other Personal Matters)	169	(10)
Lice and Delousings	170	(3)
Menstruation	173	(1)
Dysentery	174	(3)
Rape	177	(2)
Two Factories	179	(10)
The SS Textile Factory	181	(5)
The Siemens Factory	186	(3)
Work Crews	189	(16)
Administrative and Kitchen Work	191	(2)
Gardens and Farm Work	193	(2)
Internal Work Crews	195	(6)
The ``Availables''	201	(1)
Prisoner Prostitutes	201	(4)
The Subcamps	205	(18)
Overview of a Mini-Empire	207	(3)
Life and Work in the Subcamps	210	(1)
Neubrandenburg	211	(2)
Dresden and Leipzig	213	(2)
Neustadt-Glewe and Malchow	215	(3)
German Civilians and Ravensbruck Prisoners	218	(5)
Crime and Punishment	223	(16)
``Minor'' Punishments	224	(2)
The ``Idiots' Room''	226	(2)
The Punishment Block	228	(3)
The Bunker	231	(2)
Sabotage and Escapes	233	(3)
Executions	236	(3)
Sickness and Health	239	(13)
Sick Call and the Infirmary	240	(3)
Extermination through Work	243	(2)
Medical Experiments	245	(4)
Typhus and Tuberculosis	249	(3)
The Men's Camp	252	(9)
Children	261	(14)
Children in the Camp	262	(5)
The 1944 Christmas Parties	267	(3)
Births in the Camp	270	(3)
The Children's Transports	273	(2)
PART IV---FROM WORK CAMP TO EXTERMINATION CENTER
The Final Winter	275	(20)
Overcrowding	276	(2)
The Tent	278	(4)
Corpses and Cremations	282	(4)
Uckermark: A Killing Place	286	(3)
The Gas Chamber	289	(2)
The Chaos of Dissolution	291	(4)
April 1945	295	(12)
Red Cross Transports	296	(4)
Death Marches	300	(5)
Liberation by the Red Army	305	(2)
Conclusion	307	(4)
Notes	311	(31)
Glossary and Abbreviations	342	(3)
Bibliography	345	(14)
Index	359