Treatment In Holocaust Concentration Camps
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The chilling part of the Holocaust was the concentration camps that the Nazis had opened throughout Europe. These camps were meant to incarcerate people who help different political and ideological views and also for imprisoning people who the Nazis thought were racially inferior. Millions of Jews along with homosexuals, gypsies and Jehovah's witnesses were imprisoned or killed in these concentration camps. Life for the people in these camps was extremely difficult.
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The concentration camps were divided into different types. Some were classified as labor camps, some as camps for prisoners of war, transit camps, and extermination camps. In the initial years of the Nazis coming into power, many camps were formed at central, regional and local levels. These camps were primarily meant for housing political prisoners, who opposed Hitler and the Third Reich. The first concentration camp was opened at Dachau, which went on to become a model for other camps. All these camps were brought under the control of the dreaded SS. The camps were famous for their cruel methods of treatment of prisoners. Due to this cruelty, many camp inmates died and they deaths were listed as suicides, accidental, or trying to escape. Several excuses were given as reasons for deaths of concentration camp inmates, who perished due to inhumane treatment and conditions.
As the camps did not come under judicial purview, inmates could be housed in them indefinitely. However, later instead of housing political prisoners, the camps solely became a place to imprison people who were perceived as threats to the so-called superior German race.
The inmates living in the camps were used as forced labor to work in businesses operated by the SS. After 1938, many concentration camps were used as source for making construction material for projects that were managed by the SS. Some of the inmates were also leased to private businesses.
The inmates of these camps were not given enough food to eat, they did not have warm clothes to survive the harsh European winters, and did not have access to medical facilities. People who were too ill and frail to work were exterminated in gas chambers. Even children, who were too young to work, were killed without remorse.
Many Jewish prisoners were killed immediately after they arrived in these concentration camps. These prisoners were never registered and hence, there was no evidence of them arriving in the concentration camps.
During the Second World War, Nazi doctors were encouraged to conduct medical experiments on the camp inmates. These experiments included testing medications, treatments, and finding out strategies on how Axis troops could survive in battlefields. After the end of the Second World War, many records were found that told the story about how inhumane these experiments were and how the prisoners were treated.
As the Axis power began losing the Second World War, many inmates from concentration camps in German occupied areas were forced to march under brutal conditions. These prisoners of various Holocaust concentration camps were meant to work as shields to prevent the Allied forces from capturing German soldiers. During these forced marches, many prisoners died from exposure to cold, starvation and disease. According to estimates made by historians, over 700,000 inmates from concentration camps were sent on these forced marches in January 1945 and by May 1945 more than half of them died.
More Articles :
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Concentration Camp System
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007387
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According to a study backed by the UK government, many schools in the UK are removing the Holocaust from their school curriculum. This step has been taken as the school authorities do not want to offend Muslim students. This has started a UK debate whether to remove the Holocaust from its school curriculum.