The Ravensbrück Concentration Camp

torture
A model of a bench used for torturing inmates of concentration camps.

Following the closure of Niederhagen concentration camp in April 1943, Leopold Engleitner was transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp Conditions were worse here than any he had previously encountered. The camp was so overcrowded that for new prisoners there was nowhere to sit. Meals had to be eaten standing up. Leopold suffered not only from festering ulcers which covered his whole body, but also from the spreading vermin, which threatened to devour him.

Because of the constant hunger the animosity among the inmates grew to such an extent that they were often more violent than most of the SS-men. The Bible Students in particular were mercilessly bullied. The other prisoners feared that they might receive privileged treatment as a result of the good reputation that they were beginning to gain among the SS.