Concentration Camps
In addition to forcing Jews to move into ghettos, the Nazis also established various camps where they imprisoned several people including thousands of Jews. “Concentration camp” is commonly used to describe all Nazi camps. However, there were several kinds of camps including labor camps, extermination camps, transit camps, and prisoner of war camps. Concentration and hard labor camps became increasingly similar as the war progressed because hard labor was enforced in both. As Nazis rose to power, concentration camps were used to hold their political opponents. From 1936-1942, nearly all concentration camps were shut down, except Dachau, and replaced by larger camps to house the rising number of prisoners. Among them included Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Auschwitz, Majdanek, Neuengamme, and Stutthof. Following 1938, Jews were imprisoned in camps for simply being Jews. In 1942, prisoners were used as slave laborers for the German military, manufacturing weapons and other items for the war effort (Concentration Camps, 2).
Like the ghettos, life in the concentration camps was difficult to say the least. The SS oversaw the camp system and stripped prisoners of any personal freedoms. Harsh working conditions, overcrowding, and lack of food resulted in death. Among the various groups of prisoners, Jews were treated the worse (Concentration Camps, 3).
Like the ghettos, life in the concentration camps was difficult to say the least. The SS oversaw the camp system and stripped prisoners of any personal freedoms. Harsh working conditions, overcrowding, and lack of food resulted in death. Among the various groups of prisoners, Jews were treated the worse (Concentration Camps, 3).
Ludwig Weiler, a Jewish survivor, was sent to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, one of the largest camps in Germany. He was forced to make concrete bunkers for air raid shelters with his father, brother, and other prisoners of the camp. They worked everyday and many people died from the agonizing way of life (Weiler, 4).
By 1942, the Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamp (WVHA) ordered all Jews to be removed from concentration camps. They were deported to Auschwitz or Majdanek, where most of them faced the Nazi’s peak of anti-Semitism, the “Final Solution” (Concentration Camps, 3).
Top Image: Dachau Concentration Camp. Source: HolocaustResearchProject.org
Bottom Image: Survivors of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp after it was liberated by the Allies on April 16, 1945.
Source: History.com
By 1942, the Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamp (WVHA) ordered all Jews to be removed from concentration camps. They were deported to Auschwitz or Majdanek, where most of them faced the Nazi’s peak of anti-Semitism, the “Final Solution” (Concentration Camps, 3).
Top Image: Dachau Concentration Camp. Source: HolocaustResearchProject.org
Bottom Image: Survivors of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp after it was liberated by the Allies on April 16, 1945.
Source: History.com