Lager V Neusustrum

History (info: Wikipedia)

Camp Neusustrum was built in 1933 for 1,000 prisoners. Initially, the camp was intended to imprison opponents of National Socialism. The guards were SS members, but they were replaced by SA guards within two months. The terror of the SS was reason to replace them with less fanatical guards. In practice, the prisoners did not notice much of this. In 1934, the camp became a penal institution after it was taken over by the Ministry of Justice. In November 1935, a stop was issued due to overcrowding. In April 1937, the camp was given a capacity for 1,500 prisoners. The camp was then guarded by 300 SA members and justice officials. The expansion was mainly used to imprison homosexuals. In the official German list of concentration camps, Neusustrum is listed under number 1053. In the context of the Emslandlager, the camp is called Lager V Neusustrum.

From the end of 1940 to the end of 1943, 1,750 Poles were held in the camp, together with 450 French and Belgians and 60 Jews. The latter had been collected from all Emstlandlager in Neusustrum. From 1944 onwards, only those convicted by the Wehrmacht courts were admitted to the camp. In February 1945, there were only 281 prisoners left in Lager Neusustrum.

Conditions

In 1935 Hitler had the Emslandhaus built near Neusustrum. The prisoners were forced to create a park around this house for the SA guards and their families. The conditions in camp Neusustrum were just as miserable as those in the other camps. The prisoners had to do very hard labor and were given little to eat. Poor clothing, long working days and severe abuse, sometimes resulting in death, were part of the reign of terror.

After the war

The lake with island and parts of the vegetation of the park have been preserved. There is also a memorial on the old site of the camp, from which the swastika has been removed. At the former entrance to the camp there are several memorial stones. One for the Germans who were expelled after the war and who built a new life here. One for the fallen and expelled and one for the Poles who were imprisoned here. A report has been drawn up of the deaths of 248 people. They are buried in the cemetery of Bockhorst / Esterwegen.

https://www.gedenkstaette-esterwegen.de/geschichte/die-emslandlager/v-neusustrum.html

Tuesday 23rd July 2024

Nowadays, there is almost nothing left of the camp. What can still be seen on the former camp site:

- An SA monument erected in 1934. The swastika was replaced by a horse after the war.

- Recreation park set up under duress by the prisoners.

- 3 memorial stones in memory of the camp and its prisoners.