| Concentration Camps |
| WHERE THE IDEA CAME FROM: (Nazis were not the first ones to use concentration camps.) Concentration camps: Were used by Britain in the Boer War Were used by the United States in the Philippine-American War Are thought to have originated during the Cuban War of Independence. Concentration camps were: Places in which civilians were concentrated and prevented from having any impact on hostilities. |
WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS Nazis used the camps for different purposes: Elimination of opposition to Nazi rule. Collection and exploitation of slave labor. Extermination. Medical Experiments. |
EVOLUTION OF THE NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP SYSTEM: 1933-1936: Nazis used the camps for the concentration of people who were dangerous to the Nazi government. Communists, Socialists, and Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested and placed in "protective custody." Political opposition would be "reeducated" to become useful members of society. Inmates in the concentration camps could be released until 1936. (75% of prisoners that were held in 1933 were released by Janusry 1936.) 1936-1941: Nazis used the camps to neutralize political opposition, to practice "racial hygiene," and to produce $$. The concentration camp system was expanded and regulated. Prisoners fell into four groups: 1.Political Opponents: communists, socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, clergymen. 2.Inferior Races: mainly Jews and Gypsies 3.Criminals: convicts serving sentences or professional criminals who had served sentences before. 4.Antisocial Elements: included vargrants, pickpockets, gamblers, alcoholics, pimps and wife-beaters. Camps provided cheap labor for industries. Polish camps were established with the invasion of Poland in 1939 Three classes of camps emerged: Class I = mildest form of labor camp Class II = more rigorous working and living conditions Class III = mills of death from which prisoners seldom left alive 1941-1945: Himmler established new classification system for camps Grade I: Protective Custody Camps For men with good records, capable of improvement, and for special cases and solitary confinement. Included: Dachau, Auschwitz, and Sachsenhausen. Grade II: Protective Custody Camps Included: Buchenwald, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Flossenburg, and Neuengamme. Grade III: Worst Category, but not extermination camps. For men with bad records, criminals, antisocials, and those who couldn't be "reeducated." Included: Mauthausen. Purposes of camps: Exploitation of labor for the war effort. Extermination of Jews. Economic profitability from property stolen by SS Medical experimentation Camps closed in relation to their distance from approaching Allied forces. Evidence of Nazi crimes were destroyed when possible by the SS. Death marches began as camps closed. Liberation of camps. |
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