Variation
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This document is a variation of the number card for female prisoners of Buchenwald concentration camp. The vast majority of the number cards, which are usually red or green, belonged to female prisoners in one of the sub-camps of Buchenwald. The white number cards, which are written on the backs of report leader cards, are an exception. They come from some of the total of 19 women who had to work in the Buchenwald camp brothel as forced sex workers. Where the sub-camp is listed on other number cards, there is a note on this card that says Bordell (“brothel”).
In Buchenwald concentration camp, there was a camp brothel in the “special building” (Sonderbau) from July 1943 until shortly before the liberation in 1945. Male concentration camp prisoners were allowed to visit it in the evening upon payment of a fee or as part of a reward system based on work performance. Jewish and Soviet prisoners were excluded from this regulation. The women, who had been taken from Ravensbrück concentration camp to Buchenwald, had been promised by the SS that they would be released after six months. But only eight of the women were actually released, and they were forced to work for more than six months. Nine women had to continue working as forced sex workers until the liberation of Buchenwald.
This document is a variation of the number card for female prisoners of Buchenwald concentration camp. The vast majority of the number cards, which are usually red or green, belonged to female prisoners in one of the sub-camps of Buchenwald. The white number cards, which are written on the backs of report leader cards, are an exception. They come from some of the total of 19 women who had to work in the Buchenwald camp brothel as forced sex workers. Where the sub-camp is listed on other number cards, there is a note on this card that says Bordell (“brothel”).
In Buchenwald concentration camp, there was a camp brothel in the “special building” (Sonderbau) from July 1943 until shortly before the liberation in 1945. Male concentration camp prisoners were allowed to visit it in the evening upon payment of a fee or as part of a reward system based on work performance. Jewish and Soviet prisoners were excluded from this regulation. The women, who had been taken from Ravensbrück concentration camp to Buchenwald, had been promised by the SS that they would be released after six months. But only eight of the women were actually released, and they were forced to work for more than six months. Nine women had to continue working as forced sex workers until the liberation of Buchenwald.
Further examples
Questions and answers
- What are considered variations in the e-Guide?
The e-Guide distinguishes between main cards and variations. The reason for this is that there are sometimes different versions of a single type of document that can vary significantly.
The documents referred to as main cards in the e-Guide are standard documents that were used especially frequently in concentration camps, DP camps, and for the registration of forced laborers, and about which a good deal of information is available. The Arolsen Archives also hold variations of these documents, however, which served the exact same purpose as the corresponding main cards, but which look different. There are various reasons for this: Some camps used their own individually produced cards instead of the standard versions. In many other cases, individual cards and forms were used before the introduction of standardized pre-printed forms.
- Do you know more about the document?
If you have any additional information about this document or any other documents described in the e-Guide, we would appreciate it very much if you could send your feedback to eguide@arolsen-archives.org. The document descriptions are updated regularly – and the best way for us to do this is by incorporating the knowledge you share with us.