Nazi Concentration Camp Essay

A Day in a Nazi Concentration Camp

Soon after Adolf Hitler’s appointment to chancellor in 1933, the construction of concentration camps began in Germany (“Introduction to the Holocaust”). The Nazis then began to build detention facilities to house those who they believed were lesser than them, such as Jews, homosexuals, Socialists, and Gypsies (“Concentration Camps”). Dachau was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazies. Twenty two main concentration camps had been built by the end of World War II along with 1,200 affiliate camps (“Nazi Camps”). Arrival at concentration camps was brutal. After being unloaded from the cattle trucks, women were separated from their husbands but stayed with their children. Following registration, all prisoners had their heads shaved. Prisoners were then taken to the showers and given a striped uniform to put on when exiting the water. Their own clothes were taken away from them,

This is nearly two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe. It is impossible to know the exact amount of Jewish deaths because the amount of deaths were the result of thousands of different events that took place during this time period (“Holocaust”). The main culprit of Jewish deaths during the Holocaust was starvation; although, disease took the lives of many as well. The living conditions in the concentration camps were wretched. There were no toilets, and even worse, no heat during the freezing winter months (“How Did People Die”). There were also few prisoners who lost all hope of escape and will to live. These prisoners committed suicide. The most common way to commit suicide amongst the prisoners was to touch the electric fence surrounding the camp. As one could imagine, many prisoners who lived through liberation later suffered from mental disease such as Post-Traumatic Shock Syndrome and recurrent nightmares (“Holocaust Survivors