Concentration Camps

What were concentration camps?

Concentration camps were places where a large number of people were imprisoned and kept in terrible conditions. Nobody could see what happened in the camps as they were in isolated, and often forested, areas.

When did the Nazis set up concentration camps?

The first concentration camp was set up in 1933.

Where were the concentration camps?

The concentration camps were in isolated places all over Germany. The first camp was in Dachau.

Why were the concentration camps built?

Concentration camps were set up for 4 reasons:

• ❖ Initially, they were used to imprison political opponents to control opposition to the Nazi government.
• ❖ They were used as a method of control over the population through fear.
• ❖ They were used for free labour for the economy. This was particularly important during the Second World War.
• ❖ They were used for the mass murder of specific groups of people after 1940 during the Second World War. For example, the Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

What were conditions like in the concentration camps?

Prisoners were badly treated, forced to undertake hard labour and ultimately millions were murdered. Those who were unfit to work were sent to the gas chambers during the Second World War.

Who was sent to the concentration camps?

There were 5 main groups of people sent to the concentration camps:

• ❖ 'Asocials', which included alcoholics, homeless people, prostitutes and the 'work-shy'.
• ❖ Political prisoners such as communists, socialists and political writers.
• ❖ Religious people including Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses and eventually Catholics and Protestants.
• ❖ Ethnic groups such as the Jews, Roma or gypsies and, when the Second World War began, Poles and other Slavs.
• ❖ Homosexuals.

What work did prisoners do in the concentration camps?

Within the concentration camps prisoners were made to do hard labour in often freezing conditions.