Father August Landmesser sent to Moorlager for "Rassenschande"
Following his conviction to two and a half years
imprisonment for "Rassenschande" in October 1938, August Landmesser
was sent to Börgermoor Prison Camp I in Emsland (D 24 and D 25).
- "Conditions similar to those in
concentration camps, with hard-labour, poor rations and daily harassment,
prevailed in prison camps such as Schülper Moor, Aschendorfer Moor and
Börgermoor. Fuhlsbüttler prisoners were regularly seconded to these prison
camps while they were serving their sentences."
- "The Emsland Camps, as they were called,
had a terrible reputation among all prisoners. Officially, only criminals
should have been sent there, but in fact, large numbers of political
prisoners were also sent 'to Moor', as were traitors and those up for high
treason."
- "Penal servitude was considered the
hardest form of internment and could be given for life or range from 15
years to a minimum of one year. It resulted in pennanent disqualification
from military service and from holding public office. . . . One could
conclude that prisoners with the highest and most severe sentences were sent
to the Emsland Camp. As incorrigible criminals they were to be subjected to
particularly hard, deterrent sentences... Not every prisoner could be sent
to the camp to serve his sentence... state of health and age were criteria
in assessing fitness for work... to make room for optimal use of the labour
force, any attempt at reform or training was virtually non-existent at the
Emsland Camp... they were assigned to 'useful work', particularly outdoors...
developing wasteland [ reclaiming the moorlands]... above all, because of
the pressure of the build up of wartime production and economy, the majority
of these people were sent to fill important jobs outside the camp...
In 1991, by coincidence, August's daughter Irene
found a picture of her father in the "Die Zeit" newspaper. So he too
was sent as a prisoner to work in the armaments industry. Prisoners from a
number of camps were assigned to work at Blohm und Voss as shipbuilders.
- "Hamburg's shipbuilding, with Blohm and
Voss at the fore, profitted from naval rearmament. On March 13th 1939,
Hitler returned to Hamburg to launch the 'Bismarck', the first 35.000 ton
battleship."
(War broke out 1 st September 1939. )
The writer Till
Bastian also noticed the photo in "Die Zeit" auf. On 15th November 1995
the "Hamburger Abendblatt" newspaper published the following appeal:
More details you will find in the printed version
of this book.
What
happened to Irma Eckler...