Early Concentration Camps
Hitler and the Germans were not the first people to use a concentration camp, they are who most people think of when that phrase is said because of their dominant use of the camps. Concentration camp is defined as a place where large amounts of people associated with a political opponent or a minority are deliberately imprisoned (Merriam-Webster). This is exactly how Hitler and the Germans used their rendition of the concentration camp. There were many components to the concentration camp, especially the early concentration camp, and many components to the expansion of the German power that they contained.
The initial idea and construction of the Nazi concentration camp began after Adolf Hitler took power of the German government in 1933. Hitler was very dominant in his process of turning the Germany’s Weimar Republic into the Nazi regime. One of Hitler’s ideas for taking over was to eliminate all of the opposition. Soon after taking over, Hitler passed an act called The Enabling Act, which allowed Hitler’s government to do whatever it pleased (Kallen 18). In his book The Nazis Seize
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Power 1933 - 1941, Stuart A. Kallen states that “this law allowed the Nazis to search homes and arrest anyone they wanted for any reason”, referring to the absolute power Hitler had just given to himself (Kallen 18). Hitler passed this act in order to detain and incarcerate any possible opponents of the Nazi regime (Concentration Camps, 1933 - 1939). This was essential to his plan of complete dominance, because if there was no opposition to him, he could not lose his power. However, he had nowhere to put the detained people. Hitler desired to control and defeat all opponents, so he presented himself with complete power. However, he needed somewhere to put his opponents. Soon after taking power and passing The Enabling Act, Hitler established his first concentration camp. The first concentration camp in Nazi Germany was Dachau. It, among others, was built specifically for the political opponents. In the camps, prisoners often worked hard forced labor. The first concentration camps included Dachau, Oranienburg, Lichtenburg, and an investigation facility called Colombia Haus, all of which were constructed in 1933 (Concentration Camps, 1933 - 1939). These camps were the first of the Nazi regime, and the first camps for “political prisoners”, as said by Heinrich Himmler (DACHAU). These camps often served as models to other camps that were built later in the regime. Additionally, the camps secured Hitler’s power as the fürher of Germany by eliminating all of the political opponents. Hitler executed his power swiftly, and began to take complete rule over Germany with his intimidating strategy of using concentration camps. The very first camp in Nazi Germany was Dachau.
Located in southern Germany, Dachau housed the first political prisoners that were arrested. Dachau also acted as a model for the German concentration camp system. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “during the early years relatively few Jews were interned in Dachau,” and the only Jews persecuted were Jews involved with any political opponents (DACHAU). Moreover, the prisoners of Dachau often worked construction labor or everyday work, like building roads and buildings and in the operation of the camp (DACHAU). The camp was divided into two sections, the barracks and the crematoria, which consisted of prisoner barracks, official buildings, and imprisonment buildings (DACHAU). Dachau served as a model camp for the rest of the Nazi camps, and represented the power and dominance of the
Nazis. In order to control and operate the camps, Hitler needed a group to administrate the camps. After he took over, Hitler established a private police force, the SS or Schutzstaffel (The SS). However, there was no force specifically dedicated to the new concentration camps. Therefore, the Nazi party established a force dedicated to the camps. The man that created the administration for the camps was the commander of the Dachau camp, and his name was Theodore Eicke (Concentration Camps, 1933 - 1939). The model he created contained rules, regulations, the organization model, and the staff that was needed to work the camp (Concentration Camps, 1933 - 1939). According to The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the staff needed included the commander and his staff, the security police officer and his assistant, the commander of the detention camp and his staff, an administrative staff group designed for fiscal and supply of the camp, and medical staff (Concentration Camps, 1933 - 1939). The SS officers that worked the camps were specially trained to handle the work of the camps. The administrative body created and designed by Theodore Eicke was like a well oiled machine, and it was such a success that the entirety of the camps used that model. The early concentration camps were led a superbly designed administrative group. The concentration camp was an example of the Nazi’s dominance leading up to the second world war. The camps housed many prisoners of many different backgrounds. They were located throughout Germany, and later they were located throughout Europe. Additionally, concentration camps are an example of Nazi power. The prisoners of the camps were forever affected. Hitler and the Germans were not the first people to use a concentration camp, they are who most people think of when that phrase is said because of their dominant use of the camps.
The notorious detention camp, Bergen-Belsen, was constructed in 1940 and “was near Hanover in northwest Germany, located between the villages Bergen and Belsen” (jewishvirtuallibrary.org), hence the name. Originally, the “camp was designed to hold 10,000 prisoners” (jewishvirtuallibrary.org) but, Bergen-Belsen rapidly grew. “In the first eighteen months of existence, there were already five satellite camps.” (holocaustresearchproject.org). Eventually, the “camp had eight sections: detention camp, two camps for women, a special camp, neutrals camp, ‘star camp’, Hungarian Camp, and a tent camp.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, p.165) It also held prisoners who were too ill/weak to work at the “convalescent camp” (Bauer, Yehuda, p.359)
The Holocaust was an extraordinary event that affected the lives of millions of people, including Elie Wiesel, and led to the death of many innocent lives. It all began when Adolf Hitler became Germany’s dictator in 1933. Hitler praised the German population and seemed to ban all other competing races, specifically the Jewish population in Germany. This hatred toward the Jews led to extreme discrimination. Hitler’s main goal was to lead the Jewish race out of the country through the establishment of harsh laws against them (Barrett). After having little effect, Hitler decided to force the Jews into political imprisonment which led to the creation of the first concentration camps in 1933. However,
Imagine people who don’t trust you, like you, or care about you, asking you and your family to leave home for the safety of others. You don’t know when or if you are getting back. That seems pretty unfair and rude, right? Well, that is exactly what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII, except they weren’t imagining it. With forces of the Axis on the rise in the 1940’s, America was struggling to keep everyone safe. National security was at stake, so the United States acted poorly to reverse problems. During WWII, the Japanese Americans were interned for reasons of national security because the war made the U.S. act foolishly, the U.S. government didn’t trust them, and the U.S. also didn’t care about them.
What were the Japanese internment camps some might ask. The camps were caused by the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1942 by Japan. President Roosevelt signed a form to send all the Japanese into internment camps.(1) All the Japanese living along the coast were moved to other states like California, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. The camps were located away from Japan and isolated so if a spy tried to communicate, word wouldn't get out. The camps were unfair to the Japanese but the US were trying to be cautious. Many even more than 66% or 2/3 of the Japanese-Americans sent to the internment camps in April of 1942 were born in the United States and many had never been to Japan. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestors and they were suspected of being spies to their homeland of Japan. Japanese-American World War I veterans that served for the United States were also sent to the internment camps.(2)
The Dachau concentration camp originally held political prisoners, but was made larger to incorporate forced labor and the extermination of the Jewish people. In November 1938, the prohibitive measures against German Jews that had been instituted since Hitler came to power took a violent and deadly turn during “Kristallnacht” (“Crystal Night” or “Night of
“Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany established about 20,000 camps to imprison its many millions of victims.” Therefore, prior to the beginning of the war, there was intention to follow through with the ‘Final Solution’. The building of the Camps and Chambers began soon after Hitler became Chancellor (January 30, 1933). After Hitler became Chancellor, the genocide soon occurred, because it’s easy to follow a step by step plan. Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, “...the correct use of propaganda is a true art…”
Dachau was the first concentration camp to be instituted and was established on March 20, 1933. It is located in the southern German town of Dachau and is about ten miles northwest of Munich (Goss 2014). Two days after the opening of the camp, the first prisoners arrived; the majority of whom were political opponents of the Third Reich, Nazi Germany. Dachau’s first commandant was SS official Hilmar Waekerle. He was later replaced in June when he was convicted of murdering a prisoner. On May 25, 1933, Hitler exempted him and all other criminal activities that took place in concentration camps; he said it was out of the jurisdiction of the law (Timeline of Dachau 2014). Even though Hilmar’s conviction was overturned, a new leader was designated, Theodor Eicke. He would be the one to convert this camp into the model of what other concentration camps should resemble. Before the camp was liberated, nine other commandants would also take on this role (Goss 2014).At the end of the first year of the camp, there was an estimated 4,800 prisoners present in the camp.
Dachau consisted of the main camp, thirty large sub camps, and about 150 branches that were located throughout Germany and Austria; the entire system was called Dachau. The main camp was comprised of two sections: the camp and the crematoria. There were thirty two barracks in the camp and supporting buildings containing: workshops, laundry, prison blocks, and kitchen areas. The administrative part of the camp was near the main entrance in the gatehouse. The camp was surrounded by a wall on which seven guards were posted, an electrified barbed wire fence, and a trenc...
Concentration camps were started in many ways and many they were not good. “ The concentration camps in Germany were established soon after Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933.” Provided from(USHMM). This shows how he became a leader and soon after was the takeover of Germany. “German authorities
“Concentration camps (Konzentrationslager; abbreviated as KL or KZ) were an integral feature of the regime in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
The first concentration camps were set up in 1933. Hitler established the camps when he came into power for the purpose of isolating, punishing, torturing, and killing anyone suspected of opposition against his regime. In the early years of Hitler's reign, concentration camps were places that held people in protective custody. These people in protective custody included those who were both physically and mentally ill, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Jews and anyone against the Nazi regime. By the end of 1933 there were at least fifty concentration camps throughout occupied Europe.
How do you judge the atrocities committed during a war? In World War II, there were numerous atrocities committed by all sides, especially in the concentration and prisoner of war camps. Europeans were most noted for the concentration camps and the genocide committed by the Nazi party in these camps. Less known is how Allied prisoners were also sent to those camps. The Japanese also had camps for prisoners of war. Which countries’ camps were worse? While both camps were horrible places for soldiers, the Japanese prisoner of war camps were far worse.
Duchau- Duchau was the first official concentration camp that was established. The Duchau concentration camp was established in March 1933. The camp was established by the national socialist (nazi) government. Heinrich Himmler was a police president of Munich that described the camp as ‘the first camp for politacal prisoners’ the camp located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany. During the first year of the the establishment of the concentration camp the camp held about 4,800 prisoners.
¨Concentration camps, 1933-1939¨ is an article about germany getting their first concentration camps. When the Nazis came to power, they started making concentration camps for the Jews. the germans ran the place and when they saw a jew sick they would take them to the gassing chamber to let them die. They made concentration camps in Berlin, Saxony, Lichtenburg, Oranienburg,
This proved how far Germans would go to "cleanse" their nation. Edwin, Hoyt P., Guinn P. Robert, Israel Gutman, and Trudy Ring. ("Nuremberg Laws." Then Again. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017). Hitler also helped create concentration camps. The first concentration camps in Germany were set up after Hitler's election in 1933. This lead to the murder of 6,000,000 Jews, and 5,000 Jewish communities had been destroyed by the time the largest camp was liberated in 1945. ("Liberation of Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 12 Apr.