Dachau Inmates – Possessions upon Entry

2,839 Records

Holocaust · Prisoners · Europe (multiple)

by David Cooper

Background

This is a list of 2800+ inmates of Dachau Concentration Camp, and the possessions that were taken from them presumably upon their entry to the camp. These possessions of each inmate were placed in envelopes and marked with their names, nationality (or in some cases reason for imprisonment at the camp such as political prisoner), birth date, and their Nazi assigned number.

Gregg Rickman, Legislative Director for Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York, found the Dachau List in the National Archives in Washington, DC, after it was declassified in April, 1996. He gave a copy of this list to Arlene Rich, President of the Cleveland Jewish Genealogy Society, for the purpose of disseminating the information it contained, for genealogical purposes. The list was then passed on to me for entry into computer readable form.

The fields included in this list are as follows:

Envelope Number

Nationality (see abbreviations)

Assigned Number

Last Name

First Name

Date of Birth

Item Description (s)

There is no indication as to the period of time covered by this list. The envelopes were contained in Shipment # 52E, and by September 1946 were housed in the Foreign Exchange Depository, where an inventory list was made. This list was completed by July 21, 1947 and it was determined that with the shipment valued at approximately $8,000.... "it would not appear advisable to attempt a general restitution to the individuals named on the envelopes or their heirs." The envelopes that comprised Shipment # 52E.... "appear to have been dumped into the containers in random order and it would be impractical to attempt to find the property of a particular individual ...".

There are some abbreviations that are included in the Nationality field which have a variety of meanings. Those abbreviations are understood to have the following definitions:

Nationality abbreviation definitions

AE	Prisoners kept in camp for the purpose "orientation to work" (Reeducation of inefficient workers)
AH	Political Prisoner suspect of having given false identification
I	a Priority Prisoner (on order from Berlin)
Kgf	Prisoner of War (Russians)
NA	NTR Prisoners to be kept in main camp
Nal	To be kept in camp pending completion of investigation Sonderdienst (SD)
NAL	kgf. Prisoners of War to be kept in main camp under special guard
NN	"Nacht und Nebel" (which means night and fog - these words are used for secret military missions); Political Prisoners considered as hostages and marked for executions as reprisal for underground activities in Western European Countries
NTR	Prisoners kept in Main Camp for further disposition by Gestapo
PF	Parson, clergyman
PH	Political Prisoners arrested before 1939
PVH	Communist from the Spanish Civil war, kept in protective custody (Special category ?)
RSP or Ech Rsp	Communist Spanish War Volunteer
SAW	Former members of German Army sent to camp by order of Army HQ
Sch	Political Prisoner
Sch-J	Political Prisoner Jew
VH	Priority Prisoner (for good conduct)
ZA	Civilian Workers
ZIG	Gypsy

Acknowledgements

We owe our most sincere gratitude to Gregg Rickman, Arlene Rich and David Cooper without whose combined efforts, this information would not be available to you today.

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