Concentration Camp Horrors

The Horrors of Concentration Camps

In 1933, Adolf Hitler lead a deadly regime that led to the Holocaust. His plan was to kill anyone that was unfit to the Aryan race including Jews, gypsies, and mentally ill people. Undesirables were forced to work in brutal concentration camps where they were malnourished, tortured, and worked in inhumane conditions. The most notorious camp was Auschwitz which had three parts named Auschwitz One, Birkenau, and Monowitz. Auschwitz One was the largest camp, with over one million people losing their lives there. If an individual were to be immediately sent to death, they were directly sent to Birkenau. Lastly, many German Jews were sent to Monowitz because it was less intense labor and overall treatment was
In an excerpt from “Night”, Elie Wiesel describes his first night at a concentration camp. “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp... Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” (pg 31). In the book Elie also describes the small food rations, sharing a small bed with several others, and having to do tretourous work. A normal day in Auschwitz began with being viciously awakened by the Kapo at 4:00 am, and being forced to use unsanitary, repulsive wash rooms. For breakfast, most prisoners received a small piece of bread and coffee. Then began the morning roll call where the guards would count the thousands of prisoners to ensure none had escaped during the night. Directly after, the prisoners would begin dreadful work. This could last from 10 to 14 hours where the undesirables would dig, lift, and pull. This was extremely hard due to their malnourishment and the intensity of the SS. There is then a “lunch” break where they were once again given a bit of bread and coffee. Shortly after, they would begin to work again. Last came the evening roll call where
Because they were so iniquitous people today wonder how Hitler gained so many employees to run these camps. However with Germany in shambles as they just lost a war, Hitler had no issues with gaining the citizens trust by promising them to make Germany great again. He was a skilled speaker and used propaganda such as “We’re building arms for victory” to lure people into joining his scheme. As a result, about 80 million Nazi men worked for Hitler. When a guard was brought to a concentration camp they could live an almost normal life. Many lived with their families in a separate area where there were restaurants, bars, and movie theatres. They would do these activities when they had free time but, during the day they would torture and kill hundreds of innocent people. Forcing people into gas chambers, shooting, and overworking were just some of the ways soldiers killed the undesirables. And the most disgusting part of it all was after a day of work they would go home to play catch with their boys, kiss their girls, and sleep next to their wives knowing the horrors they had just