Johann's Object

Mongo wrote this poetry book in Buchenwald Concentration Camp during 1944-1945.

The book contains four poems, in which Mongo writes about everyday life in Buchenwald, including food, cold, work and roll calls. While many survivors have shared experiences similar to those Mongo references in his poems, the detailed illustrations, the perspective of a young person, and Mongo’s straightforwardness and lack of fear in the words make his book unique.

Kazerne Dossin, Mechelen, KD_00205, Lagergedichte von J.S. in KLB. Sketchbook.
Mongo’s book of poems is written in pencil. Mongo’s poetry book is currently on display in the Holocaust Galleries at the Imperial War Museum, London.
The book contains four poems, in which Mongo writes about everyday life in Buchenwald.

The writing and illustrations in the book are all in pencil. How Mongo managed to get hold of a notebook and pencil at Buchenwald remains a mystery. 

The work was originally written in German, and the language is not always correct or standardised. Some words or phrases in the poems are difficult to interpret and translate in English because they have more than one meaning. 

How Mongo managed to get hold of a notebook and pencil at Buchenwald remains a mystery

Translation:

You come here as a citizen,
You’re just a prisoner to them

The pages of Mongo’s book are incredibly fragile. Please note that the translations provided are not direct translations, but rather an attempt to maintain the original rhyme.
Translation:

We were still in bed. In the dead
of night the whistle blew and all
at once our sleep was through

The pages of Mongo’s book are incredibly fragile. Please note that the translations provided are not direct translations, but rather an attempt to maintain the original rhyme.
Translation:

As we rush quickly through the door
To work, The Kapo shouts once more

The pages of Mongo’s book are incredibly fragile. Please note that the translations provided are not direct translations, but rather an attempt to maintain the original rhyme.
Translation:

We smell the food from the first floor
As we rush quickly in once more

The pages of Mongo’s book are incredibly fragile. Please note that the translations provided are not direct translations, but rather an attempt to maintain the original rhyme.
Translation:

And over there see what’s to eat
Today the food we have is swede

The pages of Mongo’s book are incredibly fragile. Please note that the translations provided are not direct translations, but rather an attempt to maintain the original rhyme.
Translation:

What little food there is we’ve had
And yet my hunger’s still so bad

The pages of Mongo’s book are incredibly fragile. Please note that the translations provided are not direct translations, but rather an attempt to maintain the original rhyme.
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Translation:
You come here as a citizen, You’re just a prisoner to them
Translation:

We were still in bed. In the dead
of night the whistle blew and all
at once our sleep was through

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Purus dignissim
Translation:

As we rush quickly through the door
To work, The Kapo shouts once more

Translation:

We smell the food from the first floor
As we rush quickly in once more

Translation:

And over there see what’s to eat
Today the food we have is swede

Translation:

What little food there is we’ve had
And yet my hunger’s still so bad

Previous
Next

While we don’t know the exact journey it took after Buchenwald, Mongo’s book of poems was discovered in the estate of Georges Hebbelinck, a political prisoner and former inmate of Buchenwald, after his death in 1964. It was donated by Hebbelinck’s heirs to the Archief en Museum van de Socialistische Arbeidersbeweging (AMSAB), which kindly donated it to Kazerne Dossin in 2013, which then loaned it to the Imperial War Museum in London, where it is currently on display in the Holocaust Galleries. 

Today the book is very fragile, with pages disintegrating from the spine.

We are grateful to The Imperial War Museum and Kazerne Dossin for their support and for allowing us to share this artefact.

Mongo’s illustrations depict what he saw while incarcerated in Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
Johann Stojka
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Daniel Bennahmias
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Eda De Buton
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Julie Weiss
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Julius Feldman
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Ellen Rawson
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Μπέργκεν - Μπέλσεν

The Bergen-Belsen camp in the north of Germany was established in 1940 as a prisoner of war camp. In 1943 it was handed to the SS, and it became a ‘detention camp’, primarily for Jewish prisoners, although Roma people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gay men, ‘asocials’ and criminals were also imprisoned. Due to the Allied forces approaching other camps, the population of Bergen-Belsen grew from approximately 7,300 to over 90,000 between July 1944 and April 1945. Already inhumane conditions deteriorated, with diseases spreading rapidly. When British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15 April, they found 53,000 prisoners, the majority of whom were emaciated and suffering from disease. As documented in Richard Dimbleby’s famous broadcast, thousands of dead bodies lay unburied on the ground. Another 13,000 died over the days following the liberation. Ultimately, more than 70,000 people were murdered there.

Πορεία Θανάτου

As Allied troops approached the concentration camps, the Nazis attempted to destroy evidence of their crimes, and this included evacuating the camps, forcing prisoners to walk from wherever they were in Europe towards Germany. Anyone who could not keep up was shot, and, with limited food and inadequate clothing, many thousands died on these enforced death marches.

εκτοπισμοί

Οι Ναζί σχεδίαζαν τη μαζική εκτόπιση των Ευρωπαίων Εβραίων σε στρατόπεδα εξόντωσης στην κατεχόμενη από τους Γερμανούς Πολωνία. Οι Εβραίοι αναγκάστηκαν να συγκεντρωθούν σε κεντρικά σημεία, όπως σε μια συναγωγή ή στην πλατεία της πόλης, και στη συνέχεια στριμώχνονταν σε εμπορευματικά ή επιβατικά τρένα, με περιορισμένες ή καθόλου συνθήκες τροφής ή υγιεινής. Τα ταξίδια συχνά διαρκούσαν αρκετές ημέρες ή και ορισμένες φορές μερικές εβδομάδες. Πολλοί από αυτούς που στριμώχνονταν σε αυτά τα τρένα πέθαναν κατά τη διάρκεια του ταξιδιού προς τους καταυλισμούς λόγω της πείνας ή του συνωστισμού.