Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women

by Sarah Helm

80 a day,’ he tells Eva, referring to the remarkable speed with which gassing victims could be selected at the camps, as compared with the hospitals and asylums where he has worked before. Mennecke set off to start his work in Ravensbrück. Before he caught his train he ate bratwurst, ‘50 grams meat’ (a reference to meal vouchers), with potatoes and cabbage. At Fürstenberg he went first to his hotel, then to the camp. On entering the main gate Mennecke was introduced to Koegel, who told him there were only 259 prisoners to examine, which meant ‘only two days for two men’; Mennecke’s colleague Curt Schmalenbach was to join him, though Mennecke was obviously irked at this – ‘I can do it all on my own.’ Mennecke tells Eva that if he gets finished by Saturday he’ll go straight to his next stop at Weimar, which means Buchenwald. ‘There seem to be more there,’ he says, meaning more prisoners, ‘so we’ll be working in a threesome.’ ‘I had coffee with the “Adju” [the adjutant] – in the officers’ mess – and we discussed our work schedule [the selections] and had a beer.’ Koegel recommended that Mennecke change hotels because of the bugs and so he moved to a better one, though in the nearby café ‘there are many disgusting soldiers’. Signing off – apparently the phone call had now happened – Mennecke mentions the offensive in the East: ‘Let’s hope we’ll advance quickly. People here reckon the war will be over next summer. Hopefully. You go to bed and sweet dreams, sweet dreams. Most he...