Grete Samson

~ 1946
In The Human Province, Elias Canetti wrote, Everything one records contains a grain of hope, no matter how deeply it may come from despair.
Born a German citizen in Aurich, Germany, in 1922, Grete Samson became a graduate nurse in Berlin during the period leading up to the following account, which begins in spring 1941. Originally typed by her in German, this record was provided directly to the British forces at Bergen-Belsen in late summer or early autumn 1945:
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Deutsch ...bekam ich in einer Mischehe in Berlin-Tempelhof eine Haushaltstelle vermittelt, und bin ich dann bald ganz zu diesen Leuten gezogen. Nachdem nun aber immer mehr Terror-Angriffe über Berlin kamen[,] war es sehr schwierig[,] unangemeldet weiterzuleben. Ich wurde von diesen Leuten nach Oberschlesien zu ihren Verwandten geschickt, übernachtete währen[d] der Fahrt im Hotel in Beuthen O.B. und wurde leider dort verhaftet[,] und zwar nahm man alle Frauen ins Polizeigefängnis[,] weil eine Dame einen Diebstahl ausgeführt hatte. An meinen Papieren merkte man bald[,] daß die Fingerabdrücke nicht stimmten. Ich wurde täglich von der Gestapo verhört[,] und zwar wurde hauptsächlich Wert darauf gelegt zu erfahren[,] von wem ich die falschen Papiere bekommen hätte. Nachdem ich 4 Wochen in "Schutzhaft" war, kam ich nach Auschwitz.
In einer Baracke nahm man meine Personalien auf und tätowierte mich. Von da aus kam ich mit vielen anderen in die Launa, das ist ein ganz grosser Baderaum, wir mußten uns ganz ausziehen, bekamen das Haar abgeschnitten und sollten baden, d. h., zirka 6-700 Mädels mußten im Eiltempo in einen ganz kleinen Raum gehen[,] der für zirka 50 Personen bestimmt war. Wir wurden von den SS Männern von der sogenannten Baderei geschlagen und wurden dann sozusagen eingekleidet. Wir bekamen wirklich nur Lumpen anzuziehen, keine [SIC] Kopftuch, ganz grosse Holzpantinen und keine Strümpfe. Nachdem wir Tagesverpflegung bekamen, die aus Brot und Käse bestand, wurden wir in den Block 9 gebracht. Dieser Block, bezw. [SIC] alle Blocks[,] waren früher Pferdeställe gewesen und von den "Häftlingen" 2-stöckig umgebaut worden.
Wir wurden mit fremden Leuten zusammengelegt und bekamen je 6 Personen eine schmutzige Decke. Wir bekamen sehr salzige Suppe (Brom), sehr schlechten Tee und wenig Brot. Nach zirka 3 Wochen wurden wir zur Arbeit eingeteilt, d.h., wir mußten von einem Platz zum anderen Sand tragen. Wir wurden von SS Männern beaufsichtigt, die immer grosse Hunde mit sich führten[,] die von Zeit zu Zeit auf uns gehetzt wurden. Die Mädels hatten grosse Verwundungen, wurden noch dazu geschlagen, in eine Ecke gebracht und dort ließ man sie liegen. Wir durften uns nicht um die Verwundeten kümmern. Nach 3-4 Stunden starben unsere Kameradinnen. Fast jeden Tag hatten wir in unserem Komando eine Tote. Morgens wurden wir um 1/2 3 Uhr geweckt, um 3 Uhr mußten wir eine Stunde Apell [SIC] stehen, ... |
English ... I received a household position from a mixed-marriage couple in Berlin-Tempelhof, and I then soon wholly moved in with these people. Afterward, well there were more and more anxiety-terror attacks regarding Berlin; it was a great hardship to continue living unregistered. I was sent by these people to Oberschlesien, to their relatives, spent the night during the journey in a hotel in Beuthen O.B. and was there unfortunately arrested and, to be precise, all women were taken to jail because a lady had carried out a robbery. On my papers someone soon noticed that the fingerprints didn't match. I was interrogated daily by the Gestapo, to be precise the major worth lay in learning from whom I had received false papers. After I was in "preventive detention" for 4 weeks, I arrived at Auschwitz.
In one barrack, someone took my personal details and tatooed me. From there, I among many others came out into the Launa, which is a quite large bath-room, we had to undress completely, our hair was cut off, and we were to bathe, that is, circa 6-700 girls had to go hurriedly into one quite small room that fitted circa 50 people. We were beaten by the SS men of the so-called bath and were so-to-say clothed. We received truly only rags to put on, no headscarf, quite large wooden clogs and no socks/stockings. After we received the day's nourishment, which consisted of bread and cheese, we were brought to Block 9. This block, to be accurate all blocks had formerly been horse stables and were reconstructed to 2 stories by the "prisoners."
We were placed with strangers, and received one dirty blanket for each 6 persons. We received very salty soup (bromine), very bad tea and little bread. After circa 3 weeks, we were assigned work, that is, we had to carry sand from one place to another. We were supervised by SS men who always led large dogs that were set on us from time to time. The girls had great woundings, and were beaten too, were brought to a corner and left to lie there. We were not allowed to care for the wounded. After 3-4 hours, our companions died. We had a death in our unit almost every day. Mornings, we were awakened at 2:30, around 3 o'clock we had to stand for roll call for an hour, ... |
After Auschwitz, Grete Samson was transferred to a small division of Gross-Rosen death/slave camp called "Gräben", and from there to Bergen-Belsen death/killing camp, where she was presumed dead by the retreating Nazis. However, she was liberated and nursed back to physical health by the British. After working as an EnglishGerman translator for the British Red Cross at Bergen-Belsen, Grete Samson emigrated to the United States, where she married another Holocaust survivor and had two sons.
Elias Canetti also wrote, Hell is the most dreadful of inventions, and it is hard to understand how one can expect any good of people after this invention. Will they not always have to invent hells? Grete Samson's life has remained not merely Holocaust-influenced but rather torturously Holocaust-ridden to this day. However, at the age of 78, she still works as a nurse.
For more information regarding Grete Samson, please see:
Horizons Portrait in Le Siècle, pages 16 and 17; special, "century" insert in Le Monde (Paris), © 710 May 1999;
Eine unmögliche Freundschaft Provobis (Berlin), © 1998; documentary film produced by Michael Richter;
Children of the Third Reich Timewatch, B.B.C. (London), © 1993; documentary film produced by Catrine Clay; and,
Out of the Ashes Timewatch, B.B.C. (London), © 1995; documentary film also produced by Catrine Clay.
This page first posted 1 February 2000, most recently revised 27 December 2000.
German passage above translated by: SM