Concentration camp life styles were brutal because of the harsh work, disgusting buildings, and shortage of food. Prisoners everyday had to do chores that were intolerable like cleaning bathrooms. Their houses were called barracks and were cramped and dirty. 1,300,000 Jewish and others were deported to the camps. The camps had three layers of fencing. Finally, the prisoners main food was bread.
Buildings
This is a picture of Auschwitz camp
from the outside of the fences.
Concentration Camps had buildings called barracks (Life in the Concentration Camps). The Nazis loaded people in to them because there were so many prisoners. The camp Auschwitz had fourteen single story barracks and six two story barracks (Life in the Concentration Camps). The fences were three layers of bob wire, wood, and concrete (Life in the Concentration Camps). Camps were built 37 miles West of Krakow (Tito). 32 camps were built on the in May of 1940(Hilberg). Most camps were 40 square kilometers large (Life in the Concentration Camps). 1.1 million Jewish and 200,000 others were deported which made the camps extremely cluttered (Tito). Prisoners slept piled on top of one another on beds made of hard wood. Prisoners were not allowed to bring anything into the camps except the clothes on their back which was later taken away from them. A Holocaust Survivor explained, “The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and with them, finally, our illusions” (Wiesel). Make this all one paragraph.
Food
Prisoners making their own food.
Concentration camps had harsh living conditions. Prisoners at the camps were not well feed at all. For breakfast they started with a piece of cold sausage, black cold coffee, or a piece of stale dense bread (Hilberg). After working, they were given a choice of a variety of food. Soup with brown rotting cabbage was a common chosen meal (Tito). Another dish was, butter noodles, beets with acorns, or mushy fruit (Life in the Concentration Camps). During work the camps offered one cup of water during the nine hour work days(Tito). Dinner was the best meal for the prisoners. Poultry dishes, creamed vegetables, or once again a stale piece of bread (Life in the Concentration Camps). Wiesel exclaimed, “The food was bland and did not taste good but we were so hungry it didn’t matter” (Hilberg).
Work
This is a picture of the guards counting
the prisoners before work begins.
The prisoners in the concentration camps were harsh. When working, if one of them stopped or took as long as a second break he or she was beat or punished(Shutter). Cleaning bathrooms were a daily chore for the workers (Shutter). Also, ponds were another thing workers were responsible for cleaning and digging them (Tito). For punishment, workers marched five miles with their arms held above their head (Shutter). If they came down once, they would be shot(Tito).Wiesel exclaimed, “ The tattoos were the least of pains”(Wiesel)(Hilberg).
Concentration camp inmates. N.d. United Streaming. discovery Education, 2010. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>. 5
Gutman, Yisrael Gutman. “Holocaust Encyclopedia.” United StatesHolocust Memorial Muesum. Holocust history, 12 June 2003. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189>. 8
Hilberg,, Raul. “Concentration Camp.” Groiler OnlineGroiler online passport. Groilers Online, 2010. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0103940-00>. 7
Life in the Concentration Camps. stories to remember. Discovery Education streaming. N.p., 1999. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com.>. 3
NORDHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP. 17 Apr. 1945. Ap images. AP IMAGES, 24 May 2000. Web. 10 May 2010. 6
Shutter, Jane. The Camp System. Chicago Illinois: Heinenahn Library, 2003. Print. 1
Tito, Tina` F. Liberation. California: Th Rosen Publishing Group, 1999. Print. 2
TLW Photography. The Wires. 9 Sept. 2008. Creative Commons. flickr, 9 Sept. 2008. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlw_photography/2843896763/>. 4
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