Hello, I visited last year and when I returned home, read 'Barrack 38/Experiment E'' by Leon Szalet. At that time the inmates slept on straw mattresses on the floor that had to be piled up in the morning. When did sleeping arrangements change to beds?
Hi Ann! Thank-you for your question. All barracks were originally furnished with beds. The beds were sometimes removed in the case of large prisoner transports, when the barracks became too crowded. The removal of the beds was sometimes used as a method of punishment by the SS, as in the case described by Szalet in his autobiography. The beds were usually replaced after a time. We have numerous reports of both of these situations mainly from prisoners lower in the camp's hierarchy, which suggests that prisoners from more privileged groups were not as effected by such actions. Due to the drastic changes in the conditions in the camp over time, as well as the different treatment of the prisoner groups, we don't have a clear-cut answer.
