Concentration Camps

Zach Corgiat-Raymond

Mr. Hertz

English 2

4/17/13

Concentration Camps During The Holocaust

The first thing you think of when you hear about concentration camps is the holocaust, that is because it was some of the most horrible things you have probably ever heard or seen. The most well known concentration camps were during the holocaust some of the most well known were Auschwitz, Belzec, and Buchenwald are some of the most well known concentration camps during the holocaust. In concentration camps the conditions were terrible you were most likely going to die if you didn’t you wished that you were dead. You would barely get anything to eat you were highly likely to die of starvation. Concentration camps were one of the worst forms of torture.

The lifestyle you lived while you were in a concentration was not healthy physically or mentally. Your ration of food was almost nothing, in the morning they would get coffee or tea, for lunch they got watery soup if they were luck they would get lucky if they found a potato peel or a piece of turnip, and in the evening they would get a piece of black bread and could possibly get a piece of sausage or a piece of cheese and marmalade(In the Concentration Camps). The black bread was supposed to last them all the way until morning. The food was only to keep them alive they didn't give them the nutrition they needed.

The way people were treated in concentration camps were horrendous. They were treated with disrespect, they were pretty much animals in a big cage to the guards. The groups of prisoners were huddled up into a room with bunk beds there was barely any room they had up to 3 to 4 people in each bunk. For the people that were strong they would have to wake up at dawn and go work all day. The barracks were originally supposed to hold up to 40 prisoners, but it ended up having to hold up to 700 prisoners.

Concentration camps were intended for political enemies, ended up being for many different people mainly Jews(Concentration Camps, 1933–1939). The people in the concentration camps were people that were “racially undesirable” such as Jews, criminals, homosexuals, and Romani people. All you had to do to go to a concentration camp was to say something badly about the Nazi Party. There were approximately 6 million Jews that were in concentration camps, about 5 million non-Jewish people were murdered(Holocaust | Concentration Camps).

The prisoners in the concentration camps were getting freed one camp at a time, when the Allies started moving across Europe. The first army to approach the concentration camps were the Soviets. The Germans tried hiding their horrible actions by destroying the camps. Then the allies started liberating the camps, including Auschwitz the largest killing center during the holocaust.   

 

Work Cited

"Holocaust History." Concentration Camps, 1933–1939. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013.

"Holocaust History." Nazi Camps. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013.

"Holocaust | Concentration Camps." Holocaust | Concentration Camps. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2013.

"Meals." In the Concentration Camps. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2013.