Peter Clapham collection

The collection consists of photocopies of hand written personal letters, prison documents, and memorabilia relating to accused Nazi war criminals for crimes committed at Bergen Belsen, Auschwitz, and other concentration camps as well as to other major war criminals in the British zone who were imprisoned, tried, and/or hanged at Lüneburg, Hameln Zuchthaus, and Werl Zuchthaus and Allied National Prison. Major Peter Clapham, British Army, served as a postwar governor of penal institutions that housed Nazi war criminals. From June 1 to December 12, 1945, he served as governor of Lüneburg, which held accused Belsen S.S. war criminals for pre-trial and trial. On December 13, 1945, he was appointed governor of Hameln Zuchthaus, where convicted Belsen S.S. war criminals were executed. From January through September 1949, Clapham served as Penal Inspector for Land Niedersachsen, and from October 1949 through August 1952, he served as Deputy Governor of Werl Zuchthaus and Allied National Prison, which held the major war criminals in the British zone, including the highest-ranking officers and S.S. war criminals of all nationalities. Clapham immigrated to Canada in the late 1950s.