Freedom of Press
Before the outbreak of war in 1939, there were few restrictions on press freedom in Sweden. However, the Swedish government had prepared rules and laws to control the flow of information.
Since World War I, there had been a political belief across Europe that newspapers could incite war. It was thought that by publishing emotionally charged reports, rival countries could be provoked into conflict.
Part of this belief stemmed from British newspapers spreading fear propaganda during World War I about the treatment of the Belgian civilian population by German soldiers. This propaganda led to increased violence against German prisoners of war and widespread persecution of people with German-sounding names.
The idea was that journalists could be held partly responsible for war if they did not write objectively and neutrally. This notion also influenced the policy of the Swedish coalition government during the war.
Restrictions and Self-Censorship
To protect national security, Justice Minister Karl Gustaf Westman changed the interpretation of the third paragraph of the Freedom of the Press Act. After this change, the government could prosecute newspapers and publications deemed to threaten Sweden’s relations with other countries. However, there were limits: the country in question had to officially protest, and the government cabinet (the collective leadership) had to approve the prosecution.
To bypass these restrictions, the government introduced new rules granting itself the right to stop the distribution of newspapers through so-called transport bans. This meant that newspapers could not be sent by train, mail, or transport companies, nor sold in shops or kiosks.
The government also added a new rule to the Freedom of the Press Act: a time limit. This allowed the justice minister to confiscate a publication for up to eight days without a trial, while the government decided on further actions, such as pressing charges or retaining the publication.
To monitor printed material, each major printing house had a freedom of the press officer. This person worked for the Ministry of Justice and reviewed everything to be printed. If something appeared inappropriate, the officer reported it to the government.
During World War II, the Swedish National Information Board (Statens informationsstyrelse, SIS) was responsible for monitoring, mapping, and guiding Swedish public opinion. Within SIS was the Press Council (later the Press Committee), consisting of representatives from Swedish journalists and publishers. The Press Committee’s task was to send out so-called “gray slips” to newspaper editorial offices indicating what could or could not be published. Thus, the press corps carried out a form of self-censorship.
German Influence in Sweden
The German legation’s press service in Stockholm sent daily press releases to Swedish newspapers, often including free photos to encourage the use of German material. In the autumn of 1941, the legation opened an information center at Kaptensgatan 6 in Stockholm, featuring a library, gramophone records, and a film archive. The German Tourist Office at Kungsgatan 16–18 also contributed by lending films and distributing brochures. The Tourist Office had large display windows facing Kungsgatan where they showcased their propaganda.
Two Swedish news agencies in Stockholm, Skandinavisk Telegrambureau (STB) and Bulls press service, spread Nazi propaganda. Both STB and Bull were linked to Europapress in Berlin.
Did the Threat of Invasion Affect the Journalists?
In early April 1940, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied both Denmark and Norway. This caused great concern that Sweden might also be targeted. The threat of invasion became not only a question of the nation’s freedom but also something that could affect the future lives and fates of individuals.
The Nazi Propaganda Ministry believed that critical articles in Swedish newspapers could provoke an invasion. Within the Swedish journalism community, there was therefore some understanding of the government’s desire to restrain overly harsh criticism of Nazi Germany’s actions. However, some journalists refused to stay silent.
Nazis in Sweden had already compiled lists of political opponents and Jewish citizens. The German authorities also knew well who the leading Swedish anti-Nazis were. Publicly active anti-Nazi journalists, publishers, and editors did not change their stance despite the invasion threat. They knew that, in the event of an invasion, they could expect to be arrested and very likely sent to concentration camps.
Header: Stockholms stadsmuseum.
One Story, Four Headlines
News reporting and restrictions on press freedom were influenced not only by political decisions and foreign pressure. Almost all Swedish newspapers were affiliated with a political party, which affected their reporting and attitudes toward Nazi Germany. This became clear in April 1933 when several Swedish newspapers reported on an incident at the Dachau concentration camp.
In April 1933, several Swedish newspapers published a brief notice with similar content: four communists were shot during an attempted escape from the Dachau concentration camp.
The notices clearly indicated the sources of their information. Aftonbladet received its information from the International News Service (USA), Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning and Dagens Nyheter got theirs from TT (Sweden), and Svenska Dagbladet from its own Berlin correspondent. Given the similarities between the notices, it is likely that all these news agencies obtained their information directly from the Nazi press office Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro (DNB). The differences between the newspapers’ notices were therefore mainly in the headlines.
- Communists try to escape from German prison camp. (Aftonbladet)
- Communists shot during escape attempt. (Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning)
- Four communists shot during “escape attempt.” (Dagens Nyheter)
- Four reds shot during escape attempt. (Svenska Dagbladet)
Dagens Nyheter’s headline indicated that the term “escape attempt” often concealed a different reality. During 1933, several news communiqués from Nazi Germany used the word in connection with prisoners being killed.
Dagens Nyheter’s journalist Gustaf Hellström traveled through Germany at the same time, where he had the opportunity to investigate the facts behind the notice. According to a source he considered credible, he learned that the four men had been “legal representatives for communists” and that they were “shot by the guards inside the concentration camp at very close range” (24 May 1933). Hellström thus came closer to the truth, but it was still not the whole story.
The Bavarian police had, on Heinrich Himmler’s orders, established the Dachau concentration camp in March 1933. Only a few weeks later, the police handed over the administration of the camp to the SS. On the evening of April 12, a group of SS men led prisoners Rudolf Benario, Ernst Goldmann, Arthur Kahn, and Erwin Kahn into a wooded area where they were shot in the head. Three of them died immediately, while Erwin Kahn was injured and died a few days later.
The incident might have remained unknown if the regular police had not still been working at the camp and heard the gunshots. The forensic pathologist Moritz Flamm and the lawyer Josef Hartinger, who were responsible for issuing death certificates, chose to report these and other suspected murders at Dachau. The report did not lead to any prosecution, but the camp commander was transferred.
Joint Action Stopped
Sometimes censored newspapers and banned texts sparked debate both in the Swedish Parliament and among the general public. Here, we present a classic example from Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning, where the print run and the front page themselves became part of the debate. This was part of a joint action between several newspapers.
In March 1942, the police raided about ten newspaper editorial offices. The content of one article was not allowed to be published. The article described how Norwegian prisoners were tortured at the Victoria Terrasse police headquarters in Oslo and in the Norwegian concentration camp Grini.
The article was based on a brochure published by Ture Nerman and Trots Allt! publishing house in February 1942. The police seized the brochure on orders from Foreign Minister Christian Günther. However, the police’s (possibly deliberate) slow handling resulted in about 30,000 copies still reaching the public.
Anton Selander, editor-in-chief of Eskilstuna-Kuriren and an anti-Nazi, wished for more people to read the brochure’s content. He therefore convinced several other editors-in-chief to publish the same article on the same day to make confiscation more difficult. However, Selander did not know that his and several other journalists’ phones were being tapped by the General Security Service.
The Foreign Minister decided on a mass confiscation starting 11 March 1942. All newspapers and magazines containing the article were withdrawn. To some extent, the mass confiscation made matters worse for the government.
The scale of the confiscation was so large that it sparked debate in the Parliament, where former Foreign Ministers Richard Sandler and Östen Undén protested against Günther’s suppression of the truth.
Many newspapers had already been distributed. Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning seized the opportunity to make a propaganda issue out of the confiscation. The paper’s first edition printed the entire article. In the second edition of the day, the newspaper chose to publish the headline followed by blank columns to highlight to readers that the article had been withdrawn. Here, you can see both editions and read the text that led to the confiscation.
Read the whole text
In Norwegian Prisons and Concentration Camps
On what is happening in the Norwegian prisons and concentration camps, especially Victoria Terrasse, Möllergaten 19, and Grini, there are now several reports from people who have been imprisoned and have been released or escaped. These reports have been gathered under absolutely secure conditions and have been so carefully verified that they can be said to be as reliable as testimonies given under legal procedures.
Out of consideration for those still in Norway, neither names nor places can be mentioned. Nor can cases of abuse be reported where certain individuals can be easily identified. What is presented here concerns the general mistreatment and torture that the Gestapo inflicts on Norwegian patriots. Even more severe details than those published here have recently been fully clarified and confirmed but cannot be made public for the aforementioned reasons. Below we reproduce what some of the witnesses tell:
FIRST WITNESS
In prison, I met a man named ---. He told me:
I was taken for interrogation at Victoria Terrasse. In the room where I was brought, there were three Gestapo officers. When I sat down on the backless chair assigned to me, I was asked various questions but answered negatively. One Gestapo officer then pulled out an iron weapon covered with rubber and waved it in front of me. When I continued to answer negatively, he punched me hard in the face with his fist, then struck me with the weapon until I fell over backwards. While I lay on the floor, he straddled me. He bent one of my legs backward and twisted each toe one by one. Meanwhile, the other two present twisted my arm, kicked me in the body, and punched or kicked me in the face.
The witness describes the abused man after the interrogation as follows:
He was bedridden. One cheek was torn and bleeding heavily. One foot was swollen and looked like a lump of meat. He had several broken ribs and was blue, yellow, and red all over his body, including his head. He asked to be taken to a doctor but only received mocking laughter and insults from the Gestapo men.
A prisoner named --- was held at Möllergaten 19. The witness says:
One night he was taken for interrogation at Victoria Terrasse. When he arrived, he was brutally pushed into a room where six Gestapo men were present. Only one question was asked. When he answered, they said he was lying. They then pulled out two weapons, one large and one smaller, and ordered him to sit on a backless chair. Once seated, two men began hitting him with their weapons while a third kicked his thigh and punched him with a fist. The other three men stood and encouraged them. One man twisted his ears and nose and banged his head on the floor. The men then resumed hitting him with the weapons while he lay down, and kicked him in the body. He fainted for the third time. When he regained consciousness, he was lying on his back. One Gestapo man jumped on his stomach, another took off his shoes and hit the soles of his feet. The fourth man constantly shouted: "Tell the truth, you damned English-friendly fool!" (Most Gestapo men spoke good Norwegian.) When they finished, they stuck heated iron wires under his fingernails. However, he had again lost consciousness. A fellow prisoner was forced to witness the torture.
The witness says that --- was later returned to prison. He continues:
At six in the morning, I entered his cell. He was blue, yellow, or red all over. His face was unrecognizable. It was swollen and had wounds and marks. He groaned, vomited, and had convulsions. He received no medical treatment and had to stay in his cell until he somewhat recovered after about two weeks. He received no medicine either. Several times I saw prisoners dragged out of their cells, beaten in the face, and pushed back in. I could not see any particular purpose in these acts, only sadistic outbursts.
SECOND WITNESS:
One day after I was released, I met a man who told me about two cases of abuse. He had undergone a long interrogation at Victoria Terrasse and had been hit in the face and body. Afterwards, he was thrown to the floor. A policeman sat on him. Two others twisted each of his toes almost off or until they nearly broke, and then did the same with his ankles. Then they took finger after finger and finally his wrists. --- had to help --- eat afterwards, and even many weeks later, he could not hold a washbasin or walk steadily.
The second case concerned a young man named ---. He had been knocked down and kicked in the groin during interrogation at Victoria Terrasse. He had probably broken a rib but was not allowed to see a doctor. ---, who was in prison, also believed after seeing him that --- had internal injuries. He looked terribly much older afterwards and had difficulty standing upright.
THIRD WITNESS:
One night, the guard ordered me to get up, dress, and go to the guardroom. When I arrived, a man was lying on a sofa outside in the corridor. He was unconscious, ice cold, and soaking wet. At first, I thought he was drunk, but when I looked more closely, I understood the situation. I recognized him; it was --- who had been in prison for a long time. Together with the guard, I carried him to his cell, where he was laid on the bed with his clothes on. Early the next morning, I went to him. He had regained consciousness but was completely helpless. He was paralyzed all over, could not eat or move a finger and needed help with everything. He showed me that he was blue all over. I managed to get permission to enter ---’s cell and help him. He told me that one night around midnight to one o’clock, he was taken to Victoria Terrasse. In the room where he was brought, several Gestapo men sat. He was greeted with blows and ordered to tell the truth. When the answer was not satisfactory, they began hitting him with steel batons covered with rubber.
Several struck him once, the prisoner said, and he fell off the chair. He was ordered to sit up again but when trying to climb back onto the chair, they hit his hands and arms to prevent him from getting up. He fainted but was revived by having a water jug poured over him. They continued hitting him. He lost consciousness again. When he woke up, another prisoner had been brought in to witness the torture. He lay on his back while one man hit and jumped on him, another twisted his legs, and a third banged his head on the floor. All the time, they shouted: "Tell the truth, you English-friendly swine." He fainted again and thereby avoided the further torture they were preparing.
--- lay completely helpless in his cell for the first week after the interrogation. He said that one Gestapo man had a devilish expression on his face, drooling at the mouth and clearly taking special pleasure and joy in acting this way.
FOURTH WITNESS:
I saw --- when he came from an interrogation at Victoria Terrasse. He was badly beaten in the face. One cheek was completely swollen, and I believe his jawbone was broken. His lips were swollen, cracked, and blue, and one eye was bruised. He was bleeding from the mouth. He told me he was beaten during the interrogation until he collapsed and then was kicked. He bled a lot and had to wipe the blood himself.
FIFTH WITNESS:
Just before I left Oslo in --- month, I received from two completely separate sources an account of the treatment of --- in the prison at Möllergaten 19 and during his interrogations. Both accounts agree. I do not dare to name the persons who gave me this report for now, but they are completely reliable, so I can guarantee its accuracy. ---’s body was so beaten that only small patches of skin were uninjured. When I asked one of my informants if this case represented the worst in the area, he replied that others arrested at the same time as --- had undergone even worse treatment.
SIXTH WITNESS:
It is strictly forbidden to talk to prisoners in solitary confinement. However, one day I looked through the peephole of ---’s cell and saw him lying in bed, which was placed in the middle of the floor. He was wrapped in bandages and plaster, so I could only see the tip of his nose. I spoke to --- through the peephole and asked if there was anything I could do for him. I said, this must have been hard, or something similar. --- answered: Yes, it was probably hardest during the first two hours, but for the last three to four hours, I was luckily mostly unconscious, so I didn’t notice much. I asked if he had revealed anything, but --- replied no, at least not while he was conscious. --- said they had twisted one leg completely around and had whipped and beaten him all over his body. As far as I remember, he also said they had beaten him on the soles of his feet. When I asked about his prospects, he said: I will never survive this, either I’ll be shot or I hope for the chance to die at their hands. My personal opinion is that the Germans will under no circumstances let --- escape alive, since he has been so badly beaten that this must not become known.
The same witness mentions that when --- was taken down to the bath, his clothes were in tatters and had to be torn off him, and some of the rags were stuck to his flesh. --- fainted several times before he reached the bath.
SEVENTH WITNESS:
One night around three o’clock, --- and I were ordered to help carry a prisoner upstairs. When we arrived, there was a person lying on the floor, and we thought he was a drunk man because there was a terrible smell coming from him. When we heard which cell he was to be taken to and turned him over, I saw that it was ---. He was beaten badly and was bleeding from his face and hands, and unconscious, so we had to carry him. We took off his clothes, which were nothing but rags after the treatment he had been subjected to. During the treatment, his clothes had been soiled with feces, which was the source of the smell. He had bruises all over his body. We washed and cared for him. A few days later I spoke with him. He told me that he had been interrogated for nine hours by the Gestapo men. --- remained bedridden for three weeks and had to be fed and assisted with everything. He did not want to speak further about the treatment as he was afraid it would become known to his family. When I escaped from the prison, --- was still paralyzed on the right side of his body. He had a crooked neck and was so swollen it was difficult to recognize him.
The same witness about another of the previously mentioned cases:
The interrogation lasted six hours. He told me this a couple of weeks later when I was helping him bathe. During the interrogation, they hit him with a blunt object so that his cheekbone was fractured. Then they beat him with sticks all over his body. Finally, they dislocated one knee and then the ankle on the same leg. I saw blood from the wound on his face and bruises all over his body. The knee and ankle on one leg were so swollen that the leg looked like a log. There were also hemorrhages all over the leg. Because of the beatings, he lost consciousness several times, but each time they revived him by throwing water on his face. --- also told me that he was forced to witness the interrogation of ---. The latter had been beaten and kicked. He believed the policemen were not sober during the interrogations. --- had to be supported for the first two months afterward. He did not receive medical care until six weeks later.
EIGHTH WITNESS:
--- was imprisoned in 1941. One day during --- he was interrogated by the German Gestapo. I spoke with him the next morning in his cell. --- had difficulty speaking. I had to feed and wash him. The policemen had broken his fingers and pulled out the nails on two of them. Then they hit him with sticks wrapped in cloth so that he fell down. They then laid him on his back and jumped on his stomach, causing bleeding from both his mouth and anus. He said he had begged his executioners to shoot him. I saw that --- was bleeding from both mouth and anus, and that several fingers were broken and bent backwards, and both hands were severely swollen. I also saw that two nails were missing. --- remained without medical supervision until I left.
A man named --- was interrogated and taken directly to the dark cell. He had completely broken down and asked the guard who accompanied him to be allowed to confess. They then took him to interrogation. When they returned with him in the afternoon, he ran toward a second-floor window, apparently to throw himself out. It was clear that he had lost his mind. The guards seized him and took him into the cell and gave him a severe beating. I heard him scream terribly. From then on, it became a daily occurrence that the guards entered his cell and abused him. Eventually, he just stood and said: “Won’t father come soon?” He apparently no longer understood what was going on.
NINTH WITNESS:
I was called for interrogation in the interrogation cell one evening around 7 or 8 p.m. Present in the cell were Gestapo men X and Y. I was given a chair without backrest. They asked me various questions, to which I replied negatively. Y then pulled out a weapon made of iron, covered with rubber, and waved it in front of me to intimidate me. When I still answered no, Y hit me hard in the face with his fist. X tightened my tie so hard that I lost my breath and fainted. They then threw a cup of water over me, and while I lay on the floor, they kicked me and struck me with the weapon all over my body. After having undergone this treatment for two hours, I was taken back to my cell.
TENTH WITNESS:
The witness, a woman between 20 and 30 years old, tells what she herself experienced: I was taken to Victoria Terrasse and into a room where three German policemen and one Norwegian policeman from the new state police were present. I denied the accusations against me. The interrogation lasted eight hours. The entire time I had to stand at attention against the wall. Later at night I was awakened and taken to a dark cell. There I had to sit for a few hours. Every half hour or hour two Germans came in and shone a strong light into my face for a few minutes each time. The light stung like needles in my eyes, and each time they asked me if I wanted to confess. From the dark cell I was again taken for interrogation which lasted until the morning. When I refused to use an interpreter, I was hit in the face by the Norwegian policeman. At the end of the interrogation, I was given a note stating that I was released due to lack of evidence, but just as I was about to leave, they stopped me and said I had to sit down and write the name of an “accomplice.” I refused and was kept there. Later in the afternoon, I was placed in a cupboard barely large enough to stand in. After a while it got warmer and warmer in the cupboard, and finally I lost consciousness. When I woke up, two Germans were carrying me out in the corridor. Around 4 a.m. the following night I was taken to another room and interrogated until 8 a.m. I confessed nothing. After having been given some food, I was taken to yet another room where two Germans and two Norwegians were present. They threatened me with the worst things if I did not confess. When I still refused, they ordered me to undress, but when I refused, two German soldiers were called in who stripped me.
I was now naked and beaten on the back with a baton and kicked on both legs. A German soldier held me. I was ordered to march back and forth and recite an apology in Norwegian and German for my alleged crime. The men claimed that I had confessed while unconscious in the heat cupboard. After this interrogation, which did not result in any confession, I was imprisoned for a week. Then I was taken for a new interrogation at Victoria Terrasse, and when I still refused, two guard soldiers were ordered to beat me. One hit me with a fist on one side of the head so that four front teeth in the upper jaw were knocked out, while the other held me. Then a Norwegian policeman hit me on the other side of my mouth, knocking out another tooth. Then he continued to hit me elsewhere. I lost consciousness and woke up only when two policemen carried me up the stairs to prison.
Since escaping from Norway, the witness has received medical treatment for her mouth injuries.
ELEVENTH WITNESS:
One thing the guard soldiers amused themselves with was inspecting the cells. With one or another pretext, it often happened that they ordered punitive exercise, which consisted of squats until the prisoner fell down. The soldier would then cheerfully walk away or call his comrades to join in amusing themselves over the poor fellow. Such punitive exercises were also often conducted in the exercise yard. It happened to me one day as well. A guard soldier complained that I did not salute him according to regulations. I first had to march back and forth in front of him and salute, and then I had to do about twenty squats. The guards made a sport of not letting the new prisoners know they were supposed to salute, in order to have cause to order punitive exercise. They kept watch over the new prisoners and those sitting in their cells. If a guard could surprise a prisoner who had lain down or was not sitting properly upright on the bench, he would rush into the cell and shout at him, then be thoroughly pleased with himself.
I particularly remember an occasion with an old Jew named ---. One morning four guards marched into his cell and pulled him out of bed. Then they poured four or five buckets of water over him and into the cell. Afterward, they put the Jew on the bench farthest from the door and stood in the doorway throwing water over him. Afterwards, they ordered him to wipe up the water. Then he was taken down to the shower, where he received alternating ice-cold and boiling hot showers amid wild cheering and rude remarks from the guard soldiers. I witnessed all of this myself.
TWELFTH WITNESS:
I was brought together with --- who told what he had endured in German captivity. He mentioned that he was once taken out to a yard, where he was lined up against a wall with his eyes blindfolded. While he stood like that, shots were fired at him. This was repeated a couple of times. --- also said that on one occasion he had to sit under a strong light for 24 hours, as far as I remember.
THIRTEENTH WITNESS:
Prisoners were very often exposed to threats, including being shot, both by Gestapo men and prison guards. While I was in prison at Vollan, I was awakened one morning at five, and the guard said that I was to prepare to be shot at seven. However, I had heard that such behavior by the guards was common and meant nothing other than to frighten. A common procedure was interrogation lasting up to 48 hours, during which the detainee was also subjected to violence. The interrogations were interrupted for short periods, when the prisoner was thrown into another room for about fifteen minutes.
FOURTEENTH WITNESS:
In a couple of cases, I personally saw or heard that prisoners had been mistreated. One case concerned a man named ---. I had the opportunity to see him a couple of times in the corridor. He appeared sluggish and had just come up from the dark cell. He had scars, wounds, and severe bruises on his face as well as black eyes. Once, when he brought food to my cell, I tried to speak to him, but he did not answer and seemed completely confused. From the guards I heard that --- had repeated fits of rage during which he smashed windows.
The German guards took these fits as an excuse to beat him. He was knocked down, kicked unconscious, dragged down into the dark cell in the basement, and put on a diet of water and bread. This was repeated regularly, at least during the time I was on the general ward. Eventually, --- was released. When --- was to be freed, they gave him a package under each arm and urged him to leave. However, --- dropped the packages and refused to move away. They gave him the packages again, but he refused once more. The German guards amused themselves and laughed. When they tried to force --- out, he resisted. The guard then told him he would be put in the dark cell, and then he went along. But instead of placing him there, they opened the door to the yard and pushed him out.
When those arrested in Svolvær arrived at the prison on March 15, I heard what was happening outside in the corridor. I heard blows and screams from the German policemen. All names were called one, two, or three times, and I got the impression that if someone did not respond immediately or quickly enough, two or three policemen would run at the person. When one of the chiefs, whom we called Z, came on inspection, the prisoners had to stand at attention at the far end of the cell, receive a terrible scolding and some threats, and answer nothing but "jawohl" after first stating name, number, and offense. The guards amused themselves by holding such inspections for their own private pleasure, and Z often carried them out when drunk. The most unreasonable demands were placed on the prisoners just to entertain the Germans.
For example, a man had to jump onto the table ten times. Punitive exercise was often sentenced out, especially the last period I was in prison. A young man, ---, had to do squats in the cell until he fell down because he had not gone quickly enough up from the exercise yard. Police soldiers often amused themselves by claiming that a prisoner had not saluted politely enough and forced him to pass a whole row of them ten to twenty times, saluting politely and strictly while being scolded. The guards who gave the impression of being sadists also amused themselves by frightening the prisoners, especially if they could not speak German, by rushing into the cells and acting violently over one triviality or another.
Some prisoners were put on starvation diets because they were not submissive enough during interrogations. They received a quarter or half ration for longer or shorter periods. Those who suffered most from the police soldiers' behavior were perhaps the female prisoners who sat together with the men in Möllergaten 19 until they were transferred to Grini last summer. The soldiers shamelessly looked into the women's cells morning and evening, and the female prisoners were not allowed to cover the peephole in the door. Many women became terribly nervous from the constant shouting and the feeling of being completely defenseless. A young woman, who I was told was a Miss, came to a cell next to mine. After a month, her hair was white.
Some suicide attempts occurred. On the evening of ---, I heard someone being carried out from a cell not far from mine after a violent incident. The next day, --- told me that a prisoner had taken his own life. He had cut his carotid artery and bled to death before the guard found him.
Prisoners were usually lined up along the corridor wall facing the wall and had to stand at attention while waiting to see the doctor, be interrogated, or have a visit. They could stand for hours, and even the most "friendly" guards ensured they did not move. On one occasion, a prisoner transport arrived at the prison around 11 a.m. The prisoners, including a couple of older men, had to stand facing the wall all day until seven in the evening. Then they were allowed to sit on the floor and eat.
The sanitary conditions in the prison with up to four prisoners in cells of 8–9 square meters were naturally terrible. The mattresses passed from man to man and were never washed. Last winter it was terribly cold, not much above zero degrees in the cells. I was cold at night with two thin wool blankets and had to run around the cell during the day to keep warm. I was not allowed to keep my winter overcoat. Some of the young prison guards were apparently homosexual. I experienced this myself when one of them came into my cell one night after I had gone to bed. The guard turned on the light, sat on my bed, and wanted me to expose my body. Other prisoners told similar stories.