Han (Henri) Pieck (1895-1972), a Dutch artist and communist who worked for the Soviet Union’s secret service, had been interned in Buchenwald concentration camp since 1941. Pieck represented the Dutch prisoners in the International Camp Committee, an organization of inmates established by the German communists. He was also a member of the Dutch Camp Committee.
This small archive contains many documents composed during or shortly after the liberation of the camp (11 April 1945), including broadcast messages. About 21,000 inmates of various nationalities were alive at the time of liberation. In April the Dutch committee held daily meetings, and the minutes of those meetings are included in the archive. It also drafted a program for a radical people’s party and wrote letters to HM Queen Wilhelmina about these plans. Some post-war letters from former comrades address Han Pieck's unwillingness to write back. The archive was donated by Igor Cornelissen.
Brief archival description