White Buses - Gathering in Neuengamme

Gathering in Neuengamme

Convoys on March 30 and April 2 from the camps at Torgau, Mühlberg and Oschatz near Leipzig collected Danish police and some Norwegians, 1,200 in all. The Danish policemen were taken to Denmark in two columns between April 3 and 5; on April 23 some 1,000 of these were sent to Sweden.

On March 29 the Swedish Red Cross personnel were finally given access to Neuengamme as well as medicine, blankets, personal hygiene articles and food. A Scandinavian block was established and the conditions there became so good that prisoners from other nations became negative to the privileged Scandinavian prisoners.

Bernadotte arrived in Berlin from Stockholm on March 28 for renewed negotiations with Himmler. He was to gain permission to transfer the Scandinavian prisoners from Neuengamme to Sweden, have access to the whole of the camp and if possible, also take Jewish prisoners to Sweden. On March 30 Bernadotte had his first chance to visit the Neuengamme camp.

A Danish prisoner, J. B. Holmgård, wrote:

For the first time in the history of Neuengamme the Nazi butchers Pauly and Thuman were not two bragging, arrogant representatives of the master race, with swinging whips. They came pussyfoot behind Bernadotte, suddenly accommodating, helpful and amenable nearing servile wheedling, the typical wheedling so distinctive for the butchers of the master race, when it emerged for them that their days were counted. Now we were secure of, that we would be able to return home.

At the beginning of April most of the Scandinavian prisoners in Germany were gathered in Neuengamme. The mission dragged out; Colonel Björck returned to Sweden and a new commander for the column was appointed, Major Sven Frykman. Some of the personnel also left, but after a promise of double daily pay around 130 men, half of the force, stayed.

On April 2 a new Swedish column set off for the south of Germany to collect the remaining prisoners from Mauthausen and Dachau. One bus with the Norwegian doctor Bjørn Heger was assigned to search for 30 prisoners which the "Gross Kreutz" group presumed were in the area around Schömberg. The conditions were difficult, the Swede Molin wrote:

...on our way to Schömberg the activity in the air was very high and we were overflown many times by Allied fighter planes, that did not attack us. Along the autobahn there were a lot of damaged cars and severely injured people. In some places where chaos reigned we simply could not just drive past with our white bus with Red Cross markings, but had to stop and give first aid. In some cases the damage were enormous.

In the subcamp at Vaihingen 16 of the 30 prisoners were found alive; the rest were dead. Among the survivors (all were severely weak) were Trygve Bratteli and Kristian Ottosen. This column saved a total of 75 prisoners: 16 from Vaihingen, 16 female NN prisoners from Mauthausen, and 43 seriously ill men from Dachau.