Women in the camp
Most of the prisoners in Wulkow were men. In the summer of 1944, the SS deported a large group of women to Wulkow. Their working and living conditions were very similar to those of the men, but they were particularly vulnerable to the violence of the camp commandant. Unfortunately, there are hardly any sources and only a few witness statements and records about the specific situation of the women.
In August 1944, the presumably last transport from Theresienstadt arrived in Wulkow. It contained a large group of 20 women. There were also another 14 women from smaller transports.
„We boarded a train and were given some food. We were given liver pate and bread. It was wonderful. And in this train, it was like a dream for us. We sang the entire way from Theresienstadt to Wulkow. Us 20 women. Wonderful, until we arrived.“
Ingeborg Kantor, 1997
This "peace of mind", however, ended when the train arrived. A lorry at Trebnitz station was waiting for the train from Theresienstadt to take the prisoners to the camp in Wulkow. Once there, the 20 women had to share a barrack with bunk beds. The barrack had no stove, and must have been unimaginably cold in winter. The windows of the barrack were so leaky that the snow landed directly on the women's beds. The latrine and washroom were located outside the barracks.
The women had to do a variety of jobs in the camp. Officially, they were brought to Wulkow for gender-specific work (cooking, washing, cleaning). There was only ice-cold water for washing and no soap. They also had to clean the camp commandant's barracks. In addition, there was heavy transport work as well as completely pointless tasks such as cleaning trees.
„A few days after my arrival in the camp in Wulkow, S. T. [Stuschka] ordered all women to carry wood and stones from one building site to another. It was already night time and therefore dark, S. T. drove on the side of the road and us women had to walk the approx. 1km route alongside him. S. T. personally ensured that everyone was carrying a decent amount. We had to carry the load with arms stretched out in front of us and I can tell you that this is exactly how I imagined slave labour must have been in Ancient Egypt.“
Martha Kraus, witness statement, 1947
- © CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Quelle: WStLA
The women in the camp were also particularly vulnerable to the sadistic violence of the camp commandant. Ingeborg Kantor recalls in 1997: "It was said that since the women arrived, the men had it even worse. He hated the girls. He hated the women." This also resulted in specific punishments aimed at women. For example, they had to push mud away with their bodies during a roll call, while the men were forced to watch them.
„The two women, Schlesinger and Thomas, had to bathe in the puddle, first lying face down and then on their backsides. Stuschka then stepped on their upper and lower bodies to ensure that they were completely covered in the mud. Stuschka would laugh like a demon every time he initiated these procedures. After five hours, this roll call came to an end and that Sunday was also spoilt.“
Willy Görner, 1949
One woman was "caught" looking at a newspaper in Stuschka's barracks. As a punishment, she had to spend three days in the "bunker", a hole in the ground where it was impossible to stand upright.
Some of the women developed lifelong friendships. Ingeborg Kantor and Traute Schumann met while being deported to Wulkow. In the camp, they shared their food and their clothes. This friendship lasted for the rest of their lives.
„And we had very little clothing. But Traute and me, we shared everything. We had, between us ..., so that we could share things. Then I had a friend there who gave me his ... he had a pair of corduroy slippers. He gave it to me. So we had a little clothing, between the two of us. And we helped each other.“
Ingeborg Kantor, 1997