The Third Reich List of concentration and internment camps

buchenwald concentration camp, weimar, nazi germany

on january 30, 1933 adolf hitler appointed chancellor of weimar republic s weak coalition government. although nazi party (nsdap) in minority, hitler , associates took control of country. within days first concentration camp (konzentrationslager), @ dachau, nazi germany, built hold persons considered dangerous nazi administration—these included suspected communists, labor union activists, liberal politicians , pastors. camp became model later nazi concentration camps. followed oranienburg-sachsenhausen became facility training of ss-death s head officers in operation of concentration camps.

theodor eicke, commandant of dachau camp, appointed inspector of concentration camps heinrich himmler on 4 july 1934. 1934 there 8 major institutions. started second phase of development. smaller detention camps consolidated 6 major camps: dachau, sachsenhausen, buchenwald, flossenburg, , after annexation of austria in 1938, mauthausen; in 1939 ravensbrück (for women). pajama type blue-striped uniforms introduced inmates practice of tattooing prisoner s number on fore-arm. eicke started practice of farming out prisoners slave-labor in german industry, sub-camps or arbeitskommandos house them. use of common criminals kapo, brutalize , assist in handling of prisoners, instituted @ time. in november 1938 massive arrests of german jews started, of them being sent concentration camps, separated other prisoners , subjected harsher treatment.

the third phase started after occupation of poland in 1939. in first few months polish intellectuals detained, including entire staff of cracow university arrested in november 1939. auschwitz-i , stutthof concentration camp built house them , other political prisoners. large numbers executed or died brutal treatment , disease. after occupation of belgium, france , netherlands in 1940, natzweiler-struthof, gross rosen , fort breendonk, in addition number of smaller camps, set house intellectuals , political prisoners countries had not been executed. many of these intellectuals held first in gestapo prisons, , not executed after interrogation sent on concentration camps.

initially, jews in occupied countries interned either in other kz, predominantly in ghettos walled off parts of cities. jews in western poland (annexed reich) transported ghettos in general government. jews used labour in industries, transported work returned kz or ghetto @ night. although these ghettoes not intended extermination camps, , there no official policy kill people, thousands died due hunger, disease , extreme conditions. during german advance russia in 1941 , 1942 jewish soldiers , civilians systematically executed einsatzgruppen of s.s. followed front-line troops. @ wannsee conference on 20 january 1942 final solution decreed exterminate of remaining jews in europe, heydrich stated there still 11 million eliminated. accomplish special vernichtungslager (extermination camps) organized. first chełmno in 152,000, Łódź ghetto, killed. method carrying out mass murder tested , perfected here. during 1942 , 1943 further camps auschwitz-birkenau ii, part of majdanek, treblinka, bełżec , sobibor built purpose. jews other concentration camps, , ghettos, transported them on occupied europe. in these 6 camps alone, estimated 3.1 million jews killed in gas chambers , bodies burned in massive crematoria. nazis realized criminal act , action shrouded in secrecy. extermination camps destroyed in 1944 , 1945 , buried. soviet armies overran auschwitz , majdanek before evidence totally destroyed.

another category of internment camp in nazi germany labor camp (arbeitslager). housed civilians occupied countries being used work in industry, on farms, in quarries, in mines , on railroads. approximately 12,000,000 forced laborers, of whom eastern europeans, employed in german war economy inside nazi germany. although conditions harsh , food , medical care inadequate, not concentration camps. more workers died in them allied bombs (often, prisoners condemned digging , defusing unexploded allied bombs matter of punishment stealing rations of food) or industrial accidents difficult living conditions. workers young , taken occupied countries, predominantly eastern europe, many french , italian. taken willingly, more result of lapanka in polish, or rafle in french language, in people collected on street or in home police drives. however, minor infractions of rules, workers imprisoned in special arbeitserziehungslager, german worker re-education camp (abbreviated ael , referred straflager). these punishment camps operated gestapo , many of inmates executed or died brutal treatment.

finally there 1 category of internment camp, called ilag in allied (mainly british , american) civilians held. these civilians had been caught behind front lines rapid advance of german armies, or sudden entry of united states war. in these camps germans abided rules of third geneva convention. deaths resulted sickness or old age.

after world war ii, internment camps used allied occupying forces hold suspected nazis, using facilities of previous nazi camps. closed down 1949. in east germany communist government used prison camps hold political prisoners, opponents of communist regime or suspected nazi collaborators.

bad nenndorf interrogation centre