Situation and Organisation
The Nazis started construction of Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of 1938, making use of the Sachsenhausen male prisoners’ labour. The camp became operational in May 1939. It was situated approximately 100 kilometres to the north of Berlin, near the railway station Fürstenberg on the river Havel. They may have chosen this location specifically because of its being close to the rail and road network, and its relatively remote location. The concentration camp was surrounded by large, forested areas to the north and the east, and in the south the river Havel formed a natural border. 1See Malle 2001, p. 45; Herzog/Strebl 1994, p. 14; Heike, Irmtraud 1994, p. 221.
Originally the concentration camp was a transit camp for female prisoners arriving from Germany and Austria. As early as May 1939 all women from the Lichtenburg concentration camp2The Lichtenburg concentration camp was established in Schloss Lichtenburg in Prettin near Torgau on the Elbe. It existed as a mixed camp (men and women of different categories of prisoners) from the year 1933 and was already overcrowded at that time. The first transport of 200 women arrived at Lichtenburg in December 1937, and others followed. A total of around 500 female prisoners occupied the concentration camp Lichtenburg during this time period, for the most part these consisting of female Jehovah’s Witnesses (see Hesse/Harder 2001, p. 86 ff). were transferred to Ravensbrück. Almost half (400) of the nearly 900 transferred women were Bible Students. In the beginning, they formed the largest group of inmates.
The camp leadership at Ravensbrück was divided into five departments: the post of the deputy commander with the commander’s office, the political department, the prison camp, the board’s office and the hospital department. The organisation of the women’s concentration camp at Ravensbrück differed only from the men’s concentration camp in the way that security was arranged within the camp area. The SS-Totenkopfverbände3SS Death’s-Head Units. were responsible for guarding the exterior of the camp. All leading functions were occupied by males inside the camp offices, and camp borders were safeguarded by male units. Female guards, who were subordinate to the Waffen-SS,4Armed fighting branch of the SS. were employed in the grounds of the prison camp and their senior overseer was Johanna Langefeld. She was responsible up until March 1943, around the time of the Bible Students’s transfer to the sub camp at St. Lambrecht. Her attitude towards the Witnesses could be described as ‘favourable’.5See Hesse/Harder 2001, p. 129; Herzog/Strebl 1994, p. 14.
From the start the purpose of Ravensbrück was to exploit the female inmates. But when the SS from Lichtenburg took over the camp’s security, a new situation arose. The women had to perform senseless tasks as a form of punishment and humiliation. In later phases the women were involved in keeping the camp in working order.
The mechanism of a concentration camp was aimed at destroying a prisoner’s gender characteristics and his or her personal identity. The violence of the SS took specific forms and its effects were different for women than for men.6See Füllberg-Stolberg a.o. 1994, p. 9. That women stopped menstruating7Gerdina Huisman speaks of this fact in the interview of 15-10-2002. was the most characteristic trait of gender depersonalisation caused by personality fragmentation. This kind of physical reaction to which many of the imprisoned women fell victim, was the result of severe psychological stress caused by inhumane conditions.
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