Bad Nenndorf interrogation centre
52°20′09″N 9°22′25″E / 52.33583°N 9.37361°E
The Bad Nenndorf interrogation centre was a British
The Winckler-Bath complex was named after Axel Winckler, a doctor from Bad Nenndorf and a leading balneologist.
Background
The British authorities opened No. 74
The interrogation centre was originally intended to intern former Nazis (Schutzstaffel (SS), Sturmabteilung (SA), and Gestapo) for interrogation, but its remit was expanded to include a number of people suspected of carrying out espionage for the Soviet Union. As well as Germans, these included Russians, Czechs, and Hungarians.[1] During the interrogation centre's two years of operation, a total of 372 men and 44 women were held there.[2]
Allegations of abuse
From the outset, the interrogation centre appears to have had
In January and February
In March 1947, the British Labour Party Member of Parliament Richard Stokes (Ipswich) visited the interrogation centre to perform an apparently ad hoc inspection as part of a long-running effort on his part to promote the welfare of prisoners of war and other post-war detainees. He told the House of Commons that "in cross-examining some of these [prisoners] it may be necessary to indulge in forms of verbal persecution which we do not like, but there is no physical torture, starvation or ill-treatment of that kind". However, he criticised the poor conditions at the interrogation centre. The 65 men and four women being held there were mostly in solitary confinement, in unheated cells at temperatures of −10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit); the interrogation centre had no coal for heating, so the prisoners had instead been given seven blankets each.[4]
Inspector Hayward's investigation, which appears to have been concluded after Richard Stokes' visit to No. 74 CSDIC, produced a list of serious allegations of abuse. These were later summarised in a Foreign Office memo:
(1) insufficient clothing; (2) intimidation by the guards; (3) mental and physical torture during the interrogations; (4) they were kept in solitary confinement for long periods with no exercise; (5) they were confined to punishment cells, not for any offence, but simply because the interrogator was not satisfied with their answers; (6) in the punishment cells, during the bitter winter, they were deprived of certain articles of clothing, had buckets of cold water thrown into the cell and were forced to scrub the cell floor for long periods, and were assaulted and man-handled; (7) medical attention was grossly inadequate; (8) food was insufficient; (9) discharge of prisoners was unnecessarily delayed; (10) personal property of the prisoners were stolen
— Camp 020 [3]
The report caused dismay among British government officials, who recognised the serious damage that the case could do to Britain's international image. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Frank Pakenham, noted that "we are alleged to have treated internees in a manner reminiscent of the German concentration camps". The junior Foreign Office minister, Hector McNeil, told Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin: "I doubt if I can put too strongly the parliamentary consequences of publicity. Whenever we have any allegations to make about the political police methods in Eastern European states, it will be enough to call out in the House 'Bad Nenndorf', and no reply is left to us".[1]
The interrogation centre's highly secret nature was another complicating factor. The Army cautioned against allowing the Soviets to discover "how we apprehended and treated their agents", not least because it might deter future defectors.[1] However, the affair was still brought before Army courts martial, though some of the evidence was heard behind closed doors to ensure that security was safeguarded. The interrogation centre was closed down in July 1947.
Courts martial
Four
Langham
Lieutenant Richard Oliver Langham of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC), who was originally a German citizen, was a member of an interrogation team which included Captain Frank Edmunds of the Intelligence Corps (IC). He was accused of having mistreated two former members of the Schutzstaffel (SS): Horst Mahnke and Rudolf Oebser-Roeder, who were suspected of helping to organise acts of terrorism. The two prisoners claimed to have been beaten up, tortured with lighted cigarettes, doused in cold water, and subjected to threats. Langham denied the claims, and cited medical records that showed that Roeder had not made any mention of his alleged mistreatment to the German doctor at the interrogation centre. For his part, Roeder claimed that he had not complained because he had thought the doctor was too "timid".[8] Former Company sergeant major (CSM) Samuel Mathers testified that there had been no torture, though he admitted to having "pushed [the prisoners] around for a few minutes".[9] Sergeant Edmund Sore told the court martial that he had been given orders by Mathers to "drive [Roeder] round the cell for about two hours", and Lance corporal A.R.S. Hunt testified that the reason given for the treatment was that the two Germans were "part of an organisation which was to start a rising on Hitler's birthday".[10]
Langham's defence complained that the prosecution had failed to prove that Langham had anything to do with the "curious things" that had admittedly occurred at Bad Nenndorf. According to his lawyer, there were numerous inconsistencies between the two prisoners' claims, and there was no evidence at all of the more extreme "tortures" ever having been carried out. Langham was said to have had no part at all "in the brutality of April 17, 1946, whether he was duty officer at that time or not".
The court martial accepted Langham's arguments, and on 31 March 1948 he was acquitted on both counts.[11]
Smith
The court martial of Captain John Stuart Smith of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) opened on 7 April 1948 in Hamburg, West Germany. He was accused of having abused nine German detainees during the exceptionally harsh winter of 1946-47, allowing prisoners to be subjected to cruel treatment, including having cold water thrown over them, depriving them of boots, and making them continually scrub the cell floors. Two of the nine detainees were said to have died from this treatment.[12]
Over 40
The court martial dismissed three of the charges of professional neglect against Capt Smith before the conclusion of the trial.[15] It found him not guilty of the two counts of manslaughter or six of the eleven counts of professional neglect. However, it found him guilty of five of the neglect charges, and he was sentenced to be Dismissed from Service.[16]
Stephens
The final court martial was that of Lieutenant Colonel Robin Stephens, the commandant of No. 74 CSDIC, which opened in June 1948. On the first day of proceedings, both counts of disgraceful conduct of a cruel kind were withdrawn, leaving only the counts of 'conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline', and failure in his duty as commandant.[7]
Stephens was uncompromisingly blunt about the prisoners who had made accusations, declaring that "their motives are invariably foul, most of them are
Most of the case was heard behind closed doors due to security concerns. The court martial concluded on 20 July 1948 with Stephens being found not guilty on all charges.[18]
Closure of No. 74 CSDIC
Three months after the closure of No. 74 CSDIC at Bad Nenndorf, a new custom-built interrogation centre with cells for 30 men and 10 women was opened at
Recent information
On 17 December
On 29 July
Usage today
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See also
- London Cage
- Rheinwiesenlager — allegations of mistreatment of prisoners
- Malmedy massacre trial — allegations of torture of prisoners
- Prisoner-of-war camp
References
- ^ a b c d e f Cobain, Ian (17 December 2005). "The interrogation camp that turned prisoners into living skeletons". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ a b c "Tommies als Täter" [Tommies as the culprit]. Zeus.Zeit.de (in German). Hamburg: Die Zeit. 4 April 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
- ^ ISBN 1-903365-08-2.
- ^ Richard Stokes, MP for Ipswich (24 March 1947). "German Prisoners of War". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 1026–1027.
- ^ "Court-Martial Of Colonel". The Times. London. 9 June 1948.
- ^ "Alleged Cruelty To Germans - British Officer Charged". The Times. London. 3 March 1948.
- ^ a b "Charges Against R.A.M.C. Officer Conditions In German Camp". The Times. London. 8 April 1948.
- ^ "Hanover Court-Martial". The Times. London. 6 March 1948.
- ^ "Trial Of British Officer - Former C.S.M.'s Evidence". The Times. London. 12 March 1948.
- ^ "Treatment Of Germans Court-Martial Transferred To England". The Times. London. 23 March 1948.
- ^ "Lieut. R. O. Langham Acquitted - Not Guilty Of Cruelty To S.S. Men". The Times. London. 1 April 1948.
- ^ "Charges Against R.A.M.C. Officer - Conditions In German Camp". The Times. London. 8 April 1948.
- ^ "Bad Nenndorf Court Martial". The Times. London. 14 April 1948.
- ^ "Army Doctor's Defence". The Times. London. 29 May 1948.
- ^ "Officer Cleared On Three Charges". The Times. London. 28 May 1948.
- ^ "Court-Martial Findings". The Times. London. 17 June 1948.
- ^ Stephens (2000), pp.9, 19.
- ^ "Colonel Cleared At Court-Martial". The Times. London. 21 July 1948.
- ^ "Kommunistenjagd nach Kriegsende – Briten folterten deutsche Gefangene" [Communist hunt after the end of the war - British tortured German prisoners]. Panorama. Episode 667 (in German). 20 April 2006. NDR. Transcript (PDF).
- ^ "Das Verhörlager Bad Nenndorf 1945-47" [The interrogation camp at Bad Nenndorf 1945-47]. www3.NDR.de (in German). Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Cobain, Ian (3 April 2006). "The postwar photographs that British authorities tried to keep hidden". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 April 2006.
- ^ Cobain, Ian (3 April 2006). "Revealed: Victims of UK's cold war torture camp". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
- )
- ^ "Rechten die kalte Schulter gezeigt" [The Right are given the cold shoulder]. www.Szlz.de (in German). Rinteln: Schaumburger Zeitung. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Bad Nenndorf ist bunt" [Bad Nenndorf is multi-coloured] (PDF). www.Heisenhof.info (in German). DGB Niedersachsen-Mitte. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
External links
- "Bad Nenndorf". www.MI5.gov.uk. MI5.
- Cobain, Ian (12 November 2005). "Revealed: UK wartime torture camp". The Guardian. London.