Joachim Ebel

Joachim Hans Günther Ebel lived for many years in Berlin-Neukölln, where he had been born on 26 December 1919. Very little is known about him. The reasons why he became homeless and delinquent remain untold.
At all events, the difficult circumstances of his life had far-reaching consequences for him: The welfare authorities declared him legally incompetent and admitted him to a workhouse in Rummelsburg – a common practice at the time for dealing with troublesome people in need. The Rummelsburg workhouse had been set up under the Kaiser to accommodate welfare-seekers and exploit them as labour. In the Nazi period, conditions worsened here to such a degree that mortality rates rose sharply.
Like many workhouse inmates, Joachim Ebel was transferred by the Nazi authorities to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Records show he was admitted in November 1942. He was given prisoner number 52376. No details of his time in the concentration camp are known. According to the SS report, he did not survive the winter. He died on 4 February 1943. The exact circumstances of his death are not known. The SS only gave the empty phrase “heart weakness and poor circulation” as his cause of death.