Zwischen Menschenhandel und "Endlösung" : das Konzentrationslager Bergen-Belsen

Discusses the Nazi regime's interest in exchanging foreign citizens for Germans held in Allied or neutral countries. Since there were not enough foreign citizens with unexceptionable papers, the Foreign Office proposed the establishment of a special camp for Jews with doubtful papers, certificates for Palestine, or connections abroad, or who could be exchanged for foreign currency. Bergen-Belsen opened in May 1943 under command of the SS. It comprised four sections: the Sonderlager, mostly for Polish Jews; the "Sternlager", mostly for Dutch Jews; the Neutralenlager, primarily for Greek Jews who had Spanish or Portuguese citizenship; and, from July 1944, the Ungarenlager, a transit camp for the "Kasztner group" and other transports from Hungary. Describes events in the countries of origin before the selection of these persons for transport to Bergen-Belsen. In the end, few of the Polish Jews were exchanged, because of the disinterest of the Allies and because the SS feared that they would reveal atrocities they had seen in Poland. The Greek Jews were freed through the intervention of their governments. Three exchanges of Dutch Jews took place; afterwards, their physical and mental state made them unfit for further exchanges. Conditions in the camp deteriorated from summer 1944. The camp had to absorb hopelessly ill prisoners and evacuation transports from other camps; the population in the last few months rose tenfold and the infrastructure could not cope. The SS tried to save the exchange Jews by evacuating them to Theresienstadt, but only one of three transports arrived there. The others were shunted about in Germany; most of the Jews died before the trains were liberated by the Allies. In the last few weeks, because of the Allied advance, no food or water reached the camp. On April 15, when the camp capitulated, the British army found living skeletons and mountains of corpses. Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Münster (Westfalen), 1997. 444 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.