Garlitz (Mecklenburg)

From 3 February 1944 to 2 May 1945, the SS housed prominent prisoners in Schloss Garlitz, between Neuhaus and Lübtheen on the Elbe floodplain in the Mecklenburg region. The heir to the House of Bourbon-Parma and his wife - brother and sister-in-law to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg - were imprisoned here under the cover name "Biberpelz". Moreover, Maxime Weygand, the French Minister of Defence at the time and his wife were arrested, along with two Jehova's Witnesses, German and Czech, presumably their domestic workers, as well as a Danish family and two young women from the Soviet Union. The Garlitz camp is mentioned in the report from 29 March 1945 by the SS Garrison Physician of Neuengamme concentration camp, Dr. Trzebinski. The Danish family was probably evacuated to Sweden during the Bernadotte campaign to rescue concentration camp prisoners. The other prisoners were liberated by American troops. The commander, SS-Hauptsturmführer Joseph Sewera, is said to have treated the prisoners well and granted them privileges.