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Biographical/Historical Information

Erich Mühsam, born in Berlin on April 6, 1878, was an anarchist author, poet, and publisher. He was imprisoned from 1917-1918 for refusing military service, and from 1919-1924 for his role in the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic. Mühsam published many anarchist books, plays, and periodicals. He was also successful as a writer and performer in cabarets. An early critic of the Nazi regime, in 1934 he was arrested and sent to the Oranienburg concentration camp, where he was murdered on July 10, 1934.

Oranienburg concentration camp was one of the first detention camps established by the Nazis in 1933. Most of the prisoners were political opponents from Berlin, as well as homosexual men and other "undesirables." The prison was taken over by the SS in 1934. Soon after, it was closed and replaced by the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1936.

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Citation

Scissors confiscated from Erich Mühsam at Oranienburg Concentration Camp, Leo Baeck Institute, 2012.062.