Flogging

Prisoners were flogged publicly during evening roll call, at first over a stool and later over a special construction called the “goat.” In the main camp, prisoners were also flogged in the courtyard of block 11, or inside that block. The prisoner’s feet were immobilized in a wooden box, his abdomen rested on the “goat,” and his arms were stretched forward. SS men or prisoner functionaries administered the flogging, using heavy sticks or a bullwhip. The prisoner being flogged usually had to count out the number of blows in German. If he lost count, the punishment started over from the beginning. The highest number of blows was supposed to be 25, but this depended in practice on the SS men or prisoner functionaries doing the flogging.