©Watchtower Society, Historical Archives, Selters.
©Buchenwald Memorial
To the left and right of a narrow central hallway were a total of 26 cells. Each of the approximately two by 1.4 metre cells could be individually heated and illuminated. From 1938 on, they were always fully occupied.
Inmates were randomly relegated to these cells. Almost any act could be designated as resistance or sabotage. The official range of punishments for arrestees—three to 42 days in a cell, individual or group cells, standing all day without being allowed to lie down or sit, or being kept in utter darkness and only receiving bread and water—were mere guidelines. In actually, the torture experienced in these small cells often lasted months and ended in death for many.
The SS guards tormented inmates at their own initiative or upon orders. They tortured people, hung them from the bars of the cell, or murdered them by injection. In cell 1, people spent their final hours before being hung in the cellar of the crematorium.
