Concentration Camp Thesis

Jack Serra

Mrs. Breig

English 9H

25 March 2017

The Atrocities of Life Inside a Concentration Camp

On January 30th of 1933, the Chancellor and Fuhrer of Germany Adolf Hitler commenced mass genocide against the Jewish people. Following WWI, Hitler aimed to eradicate the Jews from Germany. Jewish people were herded into large concentration camps run by Hitler’s Army known as the Nazis. These concentration camps were basically death camps. Living in a concentration camp was one of the worst things one could imagine, for it wasn’t really living at all, but merely existing. Prisoners were tortured, degraded, starved and executed. The guards disregarded all morals as prisoner’s agony was turned into entertainment. In a concentration camp, days

Survivor of the Holocaust Helga Weiss claims, “Her 10 days at Auschwitz were worse than the three years at Terezín [a ghetto they were forced to live in.]” (John Przyby). The average day began at 4am for the Jews. After waking up, Jews had to make their bed perfectly. The blankets were cheap and small, the beds were made of straw and as a result, a perfect bed was not tangible. If a bed was not properly made, guards used this as an opportunity to beat prisoners. Next prisoners had some time to wash themselves up and get ready to begin work. Prior to working, prisoners were given little time to eat a meager breakfast. After breakfast, the Jews were lined up in rows of ten and counted. Everyone was required to line up, even dead bodies of victims who died during the night were placed in the rows. If one were to move, fall, or not pay attention, they were executed immediately (even in harsh weather conditions.) After being counted, everyone marched to their work stations. When prisoners arrived to their work, they were tormented by guards. Once again they were beaten and barked at. Jobs included manufacturing goods and digging trenches. Jobs of digging trenches were for the most part useless. Men would carry sand bags and boulders from point A to B,

Under Hitler’s Natzi regime, the Jewish people faced mass extinction and suffered perhaps the worst atrocities ever committed to mankind. The concentration camps that Jewish people were sent to were merely a path to their own excruciating death. Their lives consisted of an unrelenting schedule, with less than the bare necessities and ultimately culminated in any number of inhumane scenarios of their