M. DUBOST: On the whole, did the German population know of, or were they unaware of, what went on in the camps?
CAPPELEN: That is, naturally, very difficult for me to answer. But in Norway, at least, even at the time when I was arrested, we knew quite a lot about how the Germans treated their prisoners.
And there is one thing I remember in Munich where I was working. I was not working; I was in Dachau for that short period. With some others, I was once brought to the town of Munich to go into the ruins to seek for persons and find bombs and things like that. I suppose that was the idea. They never told us anything, but we knew what was on. We were about one hundred persons, prisoners. We were looking like dead persons, all of us looking very bad. We went through the streets and people could see us; and they also could see what we were going to do, the sort of work which one should think was very dangerous and which should in some way help them; but it was no fun for them to see us. Some of them were hollering to us, “It is your fault that we are bombed.”
M. DUBOST: Were there any chaplains in your camp? Were you allowed to pray?
CAPPELEN: Well, we had among the “NN” prisoners in Natzweiler a priest from Norway. He was, I suppose, what you call in English a Dean. He was of quite high rank. In Norwegian we call it “Prost.” From the west coast of Norway. He was also brought to Natzweiler as an “NN” prisoner, and some of my comrades asked him if they could not meet sometimes so he could preach to them. But he said, “No, I don’t dare to do it. I had a Bible. They have taken it from me and they joked about it and said, ‘You dirty churchman, if you show the Bible and things like that . . .’ ” You know, therefore, we did not do anything in that way.
M. DUBOST: Those who were dying among you, did they have the consolation of their religion at the time of their death?
CAPPELEN: No.
M. DUBOST: Were the dead treated with decency?
CAPPELEN: No.
M. DUBOST: Was there any religious service conducted?