'I was given five years of a side house' - the testimony of an inmate from the Ravensbirk and Mauthausen camps. The ...

'I was given five years of a side house' - the testimony of an inmate from the Ravensbirk and Mauthausen camps. The Netherlands, 1946 - First Edition - Author's Dedication

IK KREEG 5 YEARS TUCHTHUIS - "Thirty-nine months of exile in Germany, detention camps, and death camps motivated me to publish the humble work before you ... would consider this an indictment against the monstrous Nazi beast, for its most barbaric behavior of all time ... and for the role that played the women in the struggle for liberation ... "- Berthe Van Sevenant's chilling testimony about her her imprisonment in various detention camps throughout Germany until she reached Ravensbruck and then Mauthausen. Copy with dedication and signature of the author: "À ma bonne amie Lola Isaacowitz" - "To my good friend Lola Isaacowitz Bertha von Sabant." Dutch, 1946.

The author was captured as a Dutch spy in Nazi Germany in 1941, put on trial in Berlin after two months in prison and interrogated by the Gestapo, while at the same time several of its members were arrested and tortured by the Nazis. Following her refusal to disclose confidential information, she was tortured and sent to a number of detention camps in German territory. In her book, the author describes the horrific journey to Mauthausen on cattle cars, the harsh conditions of the camp compared to the Ravensbruck where she previously lived, and how a jar of jam was used as an entire locomotive to defecate, the women who died of starvation near her, The terrible overcrowding in the block where she was imprisoned, and more. The author also describes the selection that took place in the camp, and how every day older women were chosen to be sent to death, the torture of the camp commanders every day, the hard forced labor in the quarry near the camp, the terrible overcrowding in the 16 barracks designated for camp women. She depicts thousands of inmates who were shot to death, strangled, gassed to death, buried alive or forced to death. And how all the inmates of the camp, including small children, were forced to work hard, which often resulted in death. And how she herself managed to barely survive with the help of some of her friends. Finally, the author describes the liberation by American soldiers from the 41st Information Collection Unit of the 11th American Armored Division that broke into the camp in May 1945, and the transfer of the women to Brussels for medical examinations and freedom.

An interesting and important part of her testimony relates to the Jewish women in the camp. She writes that Jewish women have more survival powers than other women, and she is amazed by the fact that Jewish women sacrifice their lives for their children. She also often talks about Jewish solidarity, and the mental strength and survival of the Jewish women in the camp, which surpasses those of the other women.

119 [1] p. 18 cm. Good condition. Thin cardboard cover, with the rare dust jacket.