Night and Fog

Night and fog deportees were people sent to the camps based on some “offense” as opposed to those who were deemed to be “undesirables”. They were called this because they just disappeared, as if into the night or the fog, never to be seen again.

The text that appears below is copied from plaques on the walls outside the rooms where the events described occurred. The pictures are of the rooms. This will not be a pleasant post to read. It was not pleasant to compose. But these things really happened to real people. They happened here and at other camps. It started in 1933 and continued until the last camp was liberated at the war’s end in 1945.

Crematorium chamber--Until October 1943, bodies were burnt in a mobile cremation furnace installed close to the gas chamber outside the camp. Later on, the Waffen SS incinerated the bodies of their victims here; the corpse was brought in from the mortuary (located in the basement) by using an elevator. The body was placed on the metal slide at the entrance of the furnace and pushed into it, where it burned like a torch. The heat released was used for producing hot water in a boiler affixed to the ceiling behind the furnace; hooks were used for swift, furtive hangings; a rope was attached to them, the noose passed around the neck of the inmate standing on a stool which a Waffen SS toppled suddenly. Death was not always immediate. In the corridor on the left, are located the offices of the SS doctors, their secretaries, the chambers for the guinea-pigs, the autopsy room, the execution room and the room for the funeral urns.

Execution Room—The deported were killed by a gunshot to the neck. The floor was slanted towards a drain that collected the blood, thus allowing the floor to be cleaned rapidly after an execution. On the night of Sept. 1 to Sept 2, 1944, no less than 107 members of the network “Alliance”, including 15 women, were massacred here together with 33 members of the Alsace-Vosges mobile group.

Funeral Room Urn—The funeral urns were designed to hold the ashes of executed prisoners. Their families had to pay 60-100 Reichmarks to recover the urn, without ever being sure that the urn contained the ashes of their relative. On the table stands an urn that contains ashes from hair cut from the deported. During the German occupation, such hair was sent to Germany to be used in a felt hat factory

Operation, Experimentation and post-mortem room—Professor Hirt from the Anatomical Institute of Strasbourg and his assistant Professor Wiener carried out here “research” to validate their racist theories. In this room they performed experiments entailing shots, injections, I.V., scarring and operations. Dr. Hagen, an epidemiologist, used deportees as human guinea pigs to practice immunization experiments, especially with the deadly typhus germ. Dr. Bickenback, who worked on the treatment of damages caused by poison gas, used them to monitor their evolution and results. Such experiments caused the mutilation and death of many deportees. On the dissection table, the “doctors” then performed a careful post-mortem. After cremation, the ashes were dropped into the cesspit.

The Guinea Pig Room—the deportees who subjected to these criminal experiments lived in the room adjacent to the operation room and were at the constant mercy of their Waffen SS torturers. A few examples of the experiments performed: sterilization, application of liquid yperite (mustard gas), scarring of the arms with virulent typhus germs, experiments with phosphorus gas. Such experiments were usually performed on Jews and Gypsies sent from [other camps], but also on NN (night and fog) deported from the camp. Guinea pigs submitted to such “experiments” usually died after agonizing suffering.

The “bunker” cell quarters—to each was attached a “bunker”, a jail within the jailhouse. This building comprises 20 cells and 8 solitary confinement cells. In these cells, were crowed up to 18 prisoners who were subjected to the harshest of punishments on the must futile pretext. 1st Degree, the least harsh: 3 days wood bunk; bread and water. 2nd Degree: punishment lasting up to 42 days, wood bunk, bread and water. 3rd Degree: until execution. During the 3 days before being executed, the prisoner could not sit and could not lie down. Bread and water. The 8 solitary confinement cells were actually designed with heating, but the SS never heated the building. The deported confined in solitary could neither stand nor sit but were forced to remain curled up which lead to their almost unrelenting death.

Beating Rack—The deportees were tied with their chest against slats and their feet caught in a board. They received 10-50 strokes delivered with a “goumi” (cosh) on their back and were obliged themselves to count the blows. Many of them died or fainted before the end of the torture, and the few survivors retained severe after-effects for the rest of their lives, such as multiple fractures and skull traumatisms.