A rare firsthand account of surviving Neuengamme and the Cap arcona

Rare first and only edition of this short but powerful memoir by Henk Rolsma (1905–1978), a Dutch resistance member who survived both concentration camp Neuengamme and the sinking of the Cap Arcona.

Born in Friesland, Rolsma was active in the resistance in Groningen. Following his arrest, he was imprisoned in several camps in the Netherlands, including Amersfoort. On 18 March 1945, he was transferred to Neuengamme, a notorious concentration camp near Hamburg.

Between December 1938 and May 1945, the SS imprisoned more than 100,000 people in Neuengamme, including nearly 7,000 Dutch prisoners. Conditions were brutal: forced labour was standard, and medical experiments were carried out on Jewish children.

In April 1945, as British forces approached, the Nazis evacuated approximately 9,000 prisoners to Lübeck. Many were placed on three ships in the Baltic Sea: the Thielbek, the SS Cap Arcona and the Athen. Two of these vessels, the Thielbek and the Cap Arcona, were bombed by the RAF. Thousands died.

Rolsma was first placed on the Athen, then transferred to the Cap Arcona, and later returned to the Athen. Moments afterward, the Cap Arcona was bombed, and Rolsma miraculously survived one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the war.

WorldCat lists seven holdings, all in Dutch institutions. It is an important and sobering addition to collections focused on World War II, the Holocaust, and the Dutch resistance.