LAMPE: With the permission of the Tribunal, I would like to cite another
example of atrocity which remains clearly in my memory. This took place
also during September 1944. I am sorry I cannot remember the exact date,
but I do know it was a Saturday, because on Saturday at Mauthausen all
the outside detachments had to answer evening roll call inside the camp.
That took place only on Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings.
That evening the roll call took longer than usual. Someone was missing.
After a long wait and searches carried out in the various blocks, they
found a Russian, a Soviet prisoner, who perhaps had fallen asleep and
had forgotten to answer roll call. What the reason was we never knew,
but at any rate he was not present at roll call. Immediately the dogs
and the SS went up to the poor wretch, and before the whole camp—I was
in the front row, not because I wanted to be but because we were
arranged like that—we witnessed the fury of the dogs let loose upon
this unfortunate Russian. He was tom to pieces in the presence of the
whole camp. I must add that this man, in spite of his sufferings, faced
his death in a particularly noble manner.
M. DUBOST: What were the living conditions of the prisoners like? Were
they all treated the same or were they treated differently according to
their origin and nationality or, perhaps according to their ethnic type,
their particular race, shall we say?
LAMPE: As a general rule the camp regime was the same for all
nationalities, with the exception of the quarantine blocks and the
annexes of the prison. The kind of work we did, the particular units to
which we were attached, sometimes allowed us to get a little more than
usual; for instance, those who worked in the kitchens and those who
worked in the stores certainly did get a little more.
M. DUBOST: Were, for instance, Jews permitted to work in the kitchens or
the store rooms?
LAMPE: At Mauthausen the Jews had the hardest tasks of all. I must point
out that, until December 1943, the Jews did not live more than three
months at Mauthausen. There were very few of them at the end.