Zustand und Gelände

Status and Terrain

Documentary film essay about the so-called "early camps" of the Nazis, in which political opponents were eliminated shortly after Hitler came to power in March 1933. To this end, castles, palaces, youth hostels, factories and inns were converted into prisons and camps where people were imprisoned without jurisdiction and tortured. The Nazis cynically called this procedure "protective custody". Later, the camps were largely forgotten. The film shows places and landscapes in Saxony where most of the "early camps" were located. In addition, a woman's voice off-screen reads official documents from that time as well as memoirs of victims.