Throughout the era of the Nazi government, most Jewish people were unaware of the existence of Concentration Camps. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany established almost 40,000 camp’s used to imprison millions of victims. Amongst those 40,000 camps were Buchenwald, Dachau, Sobibor, Bergen-Belsen, and of course, Auschwitz-Birkenau, all of which are the camp’s most students learn about in any world history class.
In his book “Night” Ellie Wiesel tells the reader about his first hand experiences in a concentration camp. He tells the reader how the Jews from his Ghetto were transported there, and how none of them had any idea where they were going until they got to their destination. They were transported to the camps by cattle cars guarded by police. There were at least eighty people in crammed into each car. “Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down. We decided to take turns sitting. There was little air. The lucky ones found themselves near a window; they could watch the blooming countryside flit by” (Wiesel, 23). A few days later the cattle car stopped at their final destination, Auschwitz-Birkenau. In fact, Auschwitz concentration camp was the largest of its kind established by the Nazis during the Holocaust. …show more content…
It included three main camps (Auschwitz 1, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Auschwitz-Monowitz) (Auschwitz, USHMM). All of which used prisoners for forced labor. One of them also functioned for an extended period of time as a killing center. In his article, Robert Van Pelt states that “Auschwitz is the most significant memorial of the site of the shoah, and the most significant memorial site of polish suffering under German rule.” Between 1940 and 1945 approximately 1,095,000 jews were deported to Auschwitz, 960,000 of whom died there; 147,000 poles were deported there of whom 74,000 were killed; 23,000 romans were deported there, 21,000 of whom died there; 15,000 soviet prisoners of war were deported there and died; and 25,000 of other nationalities were deported with 12,000 ending up dead (Auschwitz, USHMM). “I pinched myself, was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women and children were being burned and that the world kept silent?” (Wiesel, 32). Millions of innocent victims were rounded up and shipped to hundreds of camps located around Europe. The first of many concentration camps opened was known as Dachau. Dachau was opened in March 1933 (Cole, 857). The camp was described as the first concentration camp for political prisoners. During the early years the internee’s mostly consisted of German Communists, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Within all the camps, the Nazis established a hierarchal identification system and prisoners were organized based on nationality and grounds for incarceration (Daily, USHMM). Most of the prisoners consisted of Jews, but there were other individuals that were arrested and imprisoned for various reasons. In each camp there were barracks that were homes to over 350 prisoners. The prisoners were only allowed to eat twice a day and would be scalded if they tried to sneak any food out and into their sleeping quarters. After eating their small meals, they were forced to go to work in slave-labor conditions, working in the field or in warehouses. Children worked mostly in warehouses where as adults worked mostly in the fields. However, there were more than one type of camp utilized by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. There were Concentration camps, where victims were often starved or worked to death in slave labor conditions (Path). As well as Death camps, all of which were equipped with gas chambers and incinerators where millions were sent for extermination (Path). “Survivor Primo Levi wrote: Our language lacks words to express this offence, the demolition of a man… it is not possible to sink lower than this, nor could it conceivably be so. Nothing belongs to us anymore; they have taken away our clothes, out shoe, even our hair; if we speak, they will not listen to us, and if they listen, they will not understand” (Cole, 901). There was virtually no way of escaping without risking ones own life, and in many instances escaping meant leaving behind children and
In his book “Night” Ellie Wiesel tells the reader about his first hand experiences in a concentration camp. He tells the reader how the Jews from his Ghetto were transported there, and how none of them had any idea where they were going until they got to their destination. They were transported to the camps by cattle cars guarded by police. There were at least eighty people in crammed into each car. “Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down. We decided to take turns sitting. There was little air. The lucky ones found themselves near a window; they could watch the blooming countryside flit by” (Wiesel, 23). A few days later the cattle car stopped at their final destination, Auschwitz-Birkenau. In fact, Auschwitz concentration camp was the largest of its kind established by the Nazis during the Holocaust. …show more content…
It included three main camps (Auschwitz 1, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Auschwitz-Monowitz) (Auschwitz, USHMM). All of which used prisoners for forced labor. One of them also functioned for an extended period of time as a killing center. In his article, Robert Van Pelt states that “Auschwitz is the most significant memorial of the site of the shoah, and the most significant memorial site of polish suffering under German rule.” Between 1940 and 1945 approximately 1,095,000 jews were deported to Auschwitz, 960,000 of whom died there; 147,000 poles were deported there of whom 74,000 were killed; 23,000 romans were deported there, 21,000 of whom died there; 15,000 soviet prisoners of war were deported there and died; and 25,000 of other nationalities were deported with 12,000 ending up dead (Auschwitz, USHMM). “I pinched myself, was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women and children were being burned and that the world kept silent?” (Wiesel, 32). Millions of innocent victims were rounded up and shipped to hundreds of camps located around Europe. The first of many concentration camps opened was known as Dachau. Dachau was opened in March 1933 (Cole, 857). The camp was described as the first concentration camp for political prisoners. During the early years the internee’s mostly consisted of German Communists, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Within all the camps, the Nazis established a hierarchal identification system and prisoners were organized based on nationality and grounds for incarceration (Daily, USHMM). Most of the prisoners consisted of Jews, but there were other individuals that were arrested and imprisoned for various reasons. In each camp there were barracks that were homes to over 350 prisoners. The prisoners were only allowed to eat twice a day and would be scalded if they tried to sneak any food out and into their sleeping quarters. After eating their small meals, they were forced to go to work in slave-labor conditions, working in the field or in warehouses. Children worked mostly in warehouses where as adults worked mostly in the fields. However, there were more than one type of camp utilized by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. There were Concentration camps, where victims were often starved or worked to death in slave labor conditions (Path). As well as Death camps, all of which were equipped with gas chambers and incinerators where millions were sent for extermination (Path). “Survivor Primo Levi wrote: Our language lacks words to express this offence, the demolition of a man… it is not possible to sink lower than this, nor could it conceivably be so. Nothing belongs to us anymore; they have taken away our clothes, out shoe, even our hair; if we speak, they will not listen to us, and if they listen, they will not understand” (Cole, 901). There was virtually no way of escaping without risking ones own life, and in many instances escaping meant leaving behind children and