Neuengamme – Letter from Misa Lorenz
Misa Lorenz was born in August 1894 in South Moravia, near the borders of Austria and Slovakia.
In 1940, he was arrested as a suspected enemy of the Nazi state.
He was imprisoned in the Gestapo prison in Brünn (Brno), and later deported to Dachau concentration camp (Category I KL – Arbeitslager), where he was assigned prisoner number 21,801.
In 1941, he was transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg, where he remained for three years.
There, he was issued a new prisoner number: 4227.
In March 1944, he was again transferred, this time to the infamous Mauthausen-Gusen camps.
At Gusen, he received prisoner number 56,268.
On February 25th, 1945, just months before liberation, Misa Lorenz died in Gusen.
He wrote this letter on April 5, 1942, from the Neuengamme concentration camp to his wife and daughter while is was imprisoned in block 5.
Neuengamme 5 April 1942
My dearest wife and Milenka!
At the beginning of this letter, I send you my warmest greetings, and in spirit, many kisses.
I am in good health and hope the same for you.
Thank you for the letter of March 27, which made me very happy because you look well.
I received the money from March 11 and March 23, as you wrote in your last letter.
How is Wilenka? Has she already started her job?
Thank you for the greetings from your parents.
Please pass on my greetings to both of them.
I hope that I will be with them again soon.
Now there’s a big issue with receiving money — how did you get the money paid out?
How much do you receive per month?
How is merchant Petřivalský and the Wotacka family?
How are the bees?
I believe that none have died.
Thank you for the greetings from Mr. Juchelka, Činovský, and Ševčík — please greet them for me.
Special greetings to Mr. Buchta and Sibil, whom I often think of.
Also, greetings to Frani downstairs, and to all acquaintances and relatives.
I send you my greetings and kisses once again, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Your husband and father
Lorenz.
Neuengamme Concentration Camp
The Neuengamme concentration camp, located near Hamburg in Germany, was one of the largest Nazi camps in northwestern Europe.
It was established in 1938 as a subcamp of Sachsenhausen and became an independent camp in 1940.
Neuengamme was classified as a Category II KL (Konzentrationslager), intended for political prisoners, resistance fighters, intellectuals, and others regarded as enemies of the Nazi regime. The camp functioned primarily as an Arbeitslager (labor camp), where prisoners were forced to work under inhumane conditions, including for the war industry and in brick factories.
Between 1938 and 1945, more than 100,000 people from across Europe were deported to Neuengamme.
It is estimated that approximately 42,000 of them died due to exhaustion, disease, abuse, or execution.
At Neuengamme and its satellite camps, around 1,600 prisoners from Czechoslovakia were held.
About half of them were women, mainly Jewish women.
Neuengamme was liberated in May 1945.
