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Case for a pocket knife

During his visit to the pathology department in April 1945, a British parliamentarian received two artefacts from its deputy prisoner chaplain, Dr. Kurt Sitte (1910-1993). These were a penknife case made from human skin and a small piece of human skin cut from the edge of a piece of tattooed skin.

Immediately after his return, the member of the British House of Commons asked the well-known British pathologist and forensic pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury to examine the two artefacts brought back from Buchenwald. After visual and microscopic examination, he came to the conclusion that both artefacts "resemble human skin".

In October 2022, the historian Dr. Myfanwy Lloyd contacted the Buchenwald Memorial. As part of her research into the work of the British parliamentary delegation that had visited the liberated Buchenwald concentration camp on 21 April 1945, she had come across the estate of the British politician at Christchurch College in Oxford, which included the two artefacts from Buchenwald. The archivist in charge signalled that the two objects should be handed over to the Buchenwald Memorial.

The two objects and the piece of the lampshade, as well as the accompanying documentation, were finally handed over on 11 April 2023.

An expert report on all three objects was commissioned by the Buchenwald Memorial on 19 February 2024. The result is still pending.

You can see a pocket knife case made from human skin. It has a yellowish colour due to the tanning process. It is rounded at both ends. On the right-hand side, you can see a folded and pointed clasp that has been folded onto the pouch.
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Pocket knife case made from human skin
Piece of human skin in an almost triangular shape. Due to the tanning of the skin, the piece looks like yellowish leather.
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Piece of tanned human skin

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