Harry Naujoks
Encyclopedia
Harry Naujoks was a German anti-fascist and survivor of Sachsenhausen concentration camp
.
on the Elbe
, today part of Hamburg
. He learned the trade of boilermaker
in Hamburg and joined the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD) in 1919. He and his wife Martha were married in 1926 and had one son, Rainer.
After the Nazis seized power
in 1933, Naujoks was arrested. For over two years, he was sent to various prisons and concentration camps, including KoLaFu
and by 1936, one of the Emslandlager
, before finally being sent to Sachsenhausen.
Beginning in November 1936, Naujoks worked as a prisoner in the camp administration and in 1939, was named Lagerältester (camp supervisor) "because of his unflappable calm and his organisational talent". In May 1942, he was ordered by Lagerführer Fritz Suhren
to execute a fellow prisoner by hanging, but refused, a dangerous act of insubordination. He was able to survive the insubordination and to avoid executing the prisoner himself, but he was foced to stand next to the gallows during the hanging, which was made to be particularly slow and painful. In November 1942, he and 17 other prisoner functionaries in the clandestine camp resistance group were arrested, tortured and deported to Flossenburg concentration camp
for extermination. It was only through the solidarity with the prisoners there that he was able to survive the maltreatment from the guards.
Sachsenhausen Committee along with his work for the International Sachsenhausen Committee
and the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
.
He lived in Stübeheide in the Klein Borstel suburb of Hamburg till his death in 1983.
of Nazi doctors, judgments for treason from the Volksgerichthof and files from the Nazi Party Chancellery.
On April 16, 1999, there was an exhibition called, "Harry Naujoks (1901-1983) — Lagerältester und Chronist des KZ Sachsenhausen" at the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen. It opened with presentations by Dr. Winfried Meyer, Prof. Nozicka of Prague
, Ursel Hochmuth and Naujoks' son, Rainer.
(GDR) in 1989. His recollections were valuable because his position gave him access and the length of his imprisonment gave him insights.
Naujoks chronicled both the indignities of daily life and the crimes of the Nazis at Sachsenhausen.
Describing life at the barracks, he wrote,
Sachsenhausen was built with 67 barracks designed to hold 100 to 120 people, but ultimately held 600. The population expanded dramatically in mid-1938, after the Nazis carried out their "Aktion Arbeitscheu Reich", aresting 10,000 "azociale" (undesirables) as being "work averse" and the "June Initiative", the first mass arrests of Jews. After these massive arrests, thousands of people were deported to concentration camps. Sachsenhausen's population went from 2,920 in May 1938 to over 9,200 in June 1938. Naujoks recalled the overcrowding.
From July to September 1942, almost all of the pink triangle
prisoners then at Sachsenhausen fell victim to a targeted SS
extermination initiative. After liberation, Naujoks reported the murder of 200 individuals in this initiative.
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
.
Biography
Naujoks was born in HarburgHarburg (quarter)
General-External links:...
on the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, today part of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. He learned the trade of boilermaker
Boilermaker
A boilermaker is a trained craftsman who produces steel fabrications from plates and sections. The name originated from craftsmen who would fabricate boilers, but they may work on projects as diverse as bridges to blast furnaces to the construction of mining equipment.-Boilermaking:Many...
in Hamburg and joined the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD) in 1919. He and his wife Martha were married in 1926 and had one son, Rainer.
After the Nazis seized power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
in 1933, Naujoks was arrested. For over two years, he was sent to various prisons and concentration camps, including KoLaFu
Fuhlsbüttel
Fuhlsbüttel is an urban quarter in the north of Hamburg, Germany in the district Hamburg-Nord. It is known as the site of Hamburg's international airport, and as the location of a prison which served as a concentration camp in the Nazi system of repression....
and by 1936, one of the Emslandlager
Emslandlager
Emslandlager is the site of a post World War II British sector displaced person camp near Emsland in Lower Saxony in Germany.The moorland labor camps, Emslandlager - as they were known - were for political opponents of the Third Reich, located outside of Börgermoor, now part of the commune...
, before finally being sent to Sachsenhausen.
Beginning in November 1936, Naujoks worked as a prisoner in the camp administration and in 1939, was named Lagerältester (camp supervisor) "because of his unflappable calm and his organisational talent". In May 1942, he was ordered by Lagerführer Fritz Suhren
Fritz Suhren
Fritz Suhren was a German Schutzstaffel officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant.-Early years:Suhren joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and the Sturmabteilung at the same time...
to execute a fellow prisoner by hanging, but refused, a dangerous act of insubordination. He was able to survive the insubordination and to avoid executing the prisoner himself, but he was foced to stand next to the gallows during the hanging, which was made to be particularly slow and painful. In November 1942, he and 17 other prisoner functionaries in the clandestine camp resistance group were arrested, tortured and deported to Flossenburg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
for extermination. It was only through the solidarity with the prisoners there that he was able to survive the maltreatment from the guards.
After 1945
After the war, Naujoks was the chairman of the Hamburg KPD and remained politically active after the KPD was banned in 1956. A particular focus of his political activity was his work as chairman of the West GermanWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
Sachsenhausen Committee along with his work for the International Sachsenhausen Committee
International concentration camp committees
International concentration camp committees are organizations composed of former inmates of the various Nazi concentration camps, formed at various times, primarily after the Second World War...
and the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime
The Society of People Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Federation of Anti-Fascists is a political organization founded in 1947....
.
He lived in Stübeheide in the Klein Borstel suburb of Hamburg till his death in 1983.
Legacy
Martha and Harry Naujoks' library, containing 2,000 volumes, was donated to the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen, making it the most comprehensive individual donation. Among the documents are files from the Nuremberg TrialsNuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
of Nazi doctors, judgments for treason from the Volksgerichthof and files from the Nazi Party Chancellery.
On April 16, 1999, there was an exhibition called, "Harry Naujoks (1901-1983) — Lagerältester und Chronist des KZ Sachsenhausen" at the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen. It opened with presentations by Dr. Winfried Meyer, Prof. Nozicka of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Ursel Hochmuth and Naujoks' son, Rainer.
Memoirs
Naujoks documented his memoirs and interviews with other former Sachsenhausen prisoners on a collection of taped recordings. He creates a vivid picture of camp life and the resistance work at Sachsenhausen. This recorded archive was transcribed into a book in 1987 by his wife, Martha and historian Ursel Hochmuth. Called My life in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, 1936-1942 (original title: Mein Leben im KZ Sachsenhausen 1936–1942), it was re-released with added material in the German Democratic RepublicGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR) in 1989. His recollections were valuable because his position gave him access and the length of his imprisonment gave him insights.
Naujoks chronicled both the indignities of daily life and the crimes of the Nazis at Sachsenhausen.
- Every SS guard had to be greeted by the prisoners. When a prisoner walked by an SS guard, six paces beforehand, the prisoner had to place his left hand on the seam of his trousers and with his right hand, quickly doff his cap and lay it on the seam of his trousers on the right-hand side. The prisoner had to walk by the guard while looking at him, as at attention. Three paces afterward, he was allowed to put his cap back on. This had to be done with the thumb pressed against the palm, the four fingers resting on the cap, pressed against the seam of the trousers. If this didn't happen quickly enough or the prisoner didn't snap to attention enough or his fingers weren't taut enough, or anything else happened that struck the SS guard as being insufficient, then one's ear was boxed, he had extra sports, or was reported.
- — written after 1945
Describing life at the barracks, he wrote,
- When we came back to the barracks in the evening, tired after work, everything was all thrown together. The lockers were tipped over, preserves, margarine and any other food lay in a pile in the middle of the barrack with toothpaste, laundry, broken glass, etc. The iron bed frames were all knocked over, the straw sacks
[the bedding] emptied out... When we were finally in bed, then the barracks supervisor would come in the middle of the night and it was get out of bed, get on the joists, under the beds — for as long as the barracks supervisor wanted... Many never even went to bed at night, but slept on the floor so they wouldn't have to reconstruct a bed. To avoid being seen by the barracks supervisor, they would crawl under the beds. - — written after 1945
Sachsenhausen was built with 67 barracks designed to hold 100 to 120 people, but ultimately held 600. The population expanded dramatically in mid-1938, after the Nazis carried out their "Aktion Arbeitscheu Reich", aresting 10,000 "azociale" (undesirables) as being "work averse" and the "June Initiative", the first mass arrests of Jews. After these massive arrests, thousands of people were deported to concentration camps. Sachsenhausen's population went from 2,920 in May 1938 to over 9,200 in June 1938. Naujoks recalled the overcrowding.
- In normal occupancy, each barrack had 146 prisoners. This was true until mid-1938. After that, a third bed was added. Then the barrack occupancy was 180-200 men... In essence, this was case only in the first ring after 1938-1939... In other barracks, the overcrowding of the camp led to the beds being removed and the straw sacks were laid on the ground. There were also times where day rooms were covered with straw sacks at night; during the day, the straw sacks were stacked in the other room with the beds. In the large barracks, dubbed "mass barracks," often 400 prisoners were jammed together.
From July to September 1942, almost all of the pink triangle
Pink triangle
The pink triangle was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Every prisoner had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on his or her jacket, the colour of which was to categorise him or her by "kind"...
prisoners then at Sachsenhausen fell victim to a targeted SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
extermination initiative. After liberation, Naujoks reported the murder of 200 individuals in this initiative.
Selected works
- Nahrung für das Notstandsgebiet Hamburg, KPD, Hamburg (1947)
- 'Das Gestern soll nicht das Heute bestimmen, Sachsenhausen booklet, No. 3. Dortmund (1962)
- Mein Leben im KZ Sachsenhausen 1936 - 1942. Erinnerungen des ehemaligen Lagerältesten. Edited by Ursel Hochmuth. Published by Martha Naujoks and the Sachsenhausen Committee for the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Röderberg-Verlag, Cologne (1987). Also published by Dietz Verlag, Berlin (1989) and Pahl-Rugenstein, Cologne (1989), ISBN 3-89144-321-8
External links
- Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen Official website. Retrieved May 5, 2010
- Internationales Sachsenhausen Komitee Official website.
- Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime Official website