“ discharge certificate”. Release procedure from a concentration camp seldom took place. This could be done in two cases, i.e. if a POW was sent by the Gestapo into protective custody in a concentration camp – “Schutzhaftbefehl” or by Kripo into preventive detention – “Vorbeugungshaft”. If the police institution, (the Gestapo or Kripo), decided on the repeal to issue a discharge certificate, the bureaucratic procedure for releasing the prisoner was done in the camp. This procedure was done by a secretary (Referat), and the files regarding this certificate were put in the prisoner’s folder. The appropriate agency informed the police about the release date in order to keep surveillance on the prisoners place of residence and he was obliged register at the designated Gestapo Office. In this case, a prisoner released from Mauthausen had to report to the Gestapo Office in Gniezno. Often the prisoner did not know the reasons for his dismissal. Sometimes this was due to the efforts of the family outside the camp, who attempted to access the relevant officers of the Gestapo or Kripo and bribed them in order to “convince” them to appeal an order of protection or preventive detention. Sometimes international organization attempted to get prisoners free from the camps. Before leaving the camp the prisoners had to go through quarantine, where they were treated more gently. They had to undergo a medical examination, which could delay the release if they were too exhausted or injured. Then they received clothing and had to sign a statement promising not to tell what they witnessed in the camp. After release the Gestapo would visit their place of residence and remind them of their statement. The severity of the police surveillance became slightly less brutal after the prisoner got a permanent job, which they were also obliged to do. Dismissal was a normal procedure in the case of the prisoners categorized as Erziehungshaftlinge: “I.e. prisoners that were in the camps for re-education , after violating rules at work and were dismissed after serving a sentence of 56 days in a camp”. (After serving a sentence they had to return to the workplace or register at the Labor Office).
