CONCENTRAITION CAMPS
The Final Step for a Complete
Genocide of a Race
Before the Final Solution
Before the Concentration Camps started, the Jewish
community was already feeling the heat from Hitler’s
wrath. Adolf Hitler was a very racist man and he
wanted a complete wipe out of the Jewish race. When
he first became chancellor, he ordered to take away the
luxury’s the Jews had. As Hitler gained more power, he
started to take away more and more assets that
average people would need to survive with. Within a
matter of a few years, all of the Jews who lived in
Poland or German were forced to live in ghetto’s. This
was only a temporary plan though, because the next
step was the Final Solution.
Definition of Concentration Camp:
A group of labor and death camps located in
Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe for the
incarceration of Nazi opponents, other
"undesirables," political dissidents, Gypsies,
Russian POWs and Jews. Conditions were so
terrible that most inmates died after about
four months. The death camps in Poland were
Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek,
Sobibor and Treblinka.
Transportation:
Ella Liebermann-Shiber : In the Freight Wagon
The Nazis would not tell the Jews that
they were going to a concentration
camp. They just told them that they
were being moved, and many of the
victims believed that this would be a
better place. They were shoved into a
train cart, filled with other victims,
and they would all be stuck in there
for days until they arrived at that
concentration camps. They were
provided with no food or water, had
to depose their waste in public, and it
was often hot in there because of the
large amount of people squeezed in
there. Words can not honestly
describe how horrid it was just to
travel to your death
Once There
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQjsbn4K
CM&feature=related
*Clip from the film Sophie’s Choice
The scene where Sophie is being held at a concentration camp and an SS
officer talks to her
There are three different types of
camps. There was the Death
Camp, which would kill the all the
Jews who arrived. There were the
Work Camps that would work the
Jews to death. Then there was
the odd few Camps (most
famously, Auschwitz) that would
have both death and work camps
combined. At these camps, the
victims that usually were sent to
the Work Camp side were
healthy, young, and strong. They
were also usually men, but
women and children did also
make it to that other side.
Once There
Once sorted out, the Nazis would take away their possessions (if they had
brought any), they would shave their hair, give them an outfit, and sign
them off to work right away.
David Brainin :"Selection" in Compiègne Camp,
June 1942
*the artist died on the same year this
piece was made
Living Conditions
Even though they survived
living in Hitler’s Germany,
the Ghetto, that train ride
over, and the selection
process, they were still not
safe. They were forced to
work starving and
sleepless. When they were
not working, they were
sent to their beds, which
at most camps, resembled
a horses stable, and sleep
thousands of people
crowded around you.
Ella Liebermann-Shiber: In the Barracks
Russian Roulette
Everyday, there was a good chance David Olère :18.8.1940, Emile Gladel, Aged 17,
Killed while Riding his Bicycle
of death. There were Gas chambers
filled with Zykon B that could kill
thousands of Jewish people at once.
There were also time when the Nazis
would have thousands of Jews lined
up naked in front of a hole. The
person in front of that line would be
shot. Then the line would move up.
And of course, there was always a
chance of getting shot at for just
believing in another god.
The worst part about it was, you
would never know who, what,
where, when, and how you were
going to die, until you are.
Pieces from Artists
The collage below is a number of pieces of art that were created by numerous Holocaust victims.
After Death
After the massive killing spree the Nazis had done day
to day, they would reuse the Jew's possessions. If they
had hair, they would shave it off and use it for stuffing
up pillows or mattresses. If they had gold teeth, the
Nazis would melt it down and save it. Their clothes
went to German families. The rest of their bodies
would be cremated and reused as compost for
agriculture. Because this genocide was going on during
WW2, and because Germany was already deep in debt
(they were blamed for WW1, so they had to pay all the
costs, which put Germany in a rut), Hitler’s government
believed that they could get some profit by selling off
or using the dead Jewish people’s possessions.
The Ending of the Holocaust
Liberation of these Camps only came around
1944-1945. Since people were in Concentration
camps since 1942, there have been an
outstanding number of deaths. The second
division of Auschwitz alone had 1,400,000
deaths. The American and British armies had
been the ones to release the death camps, and
they could not believe their eyes at how barbaric
and inhumane the camps were. In total,
6,559,955 (estimated) had died from these
camps.
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was the biggest and most notorious
Concentration Camp throughout the
genocide. It was so huge, it had 3 parts
(Auschwitz I,II, and III). At Auschwitz, they had
medical centers where they would test
medicines on the prisoners. This would usually
result in torture and death. They also had the
hugest gas chambers for killing thousands of
people per day. There were so many deaths at
Auschwitz, there is not a set death toll.
Politically Correct
As a side note, I would like to say that The
European Jewish community was not the only
type of people who had to endure the Camps.
There were also prisoners of war, Polish Catholics,
Serbians, Germans who resisted the Holocaust,
Germans who were handicapped, homosexuals,
and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The reason why I only
mentioned the Jews is because they had suffered
the most deaths and they are what one usually
considers the only victims of the holocaust.
Artists
Throughout the next few sides, there is be a
bit of information about the artists who made
the pieces that have been shown throughout
the slideshow. Some of them have been
privileged throughout the holocaust because
of their talent, others have not. But they have
all seen the same horrors and they have all
been emotionally affected by it.
Ella Liebermann-Shiber
Born: Berlin; 1927
Died: Haifa; 1998
Before the war, her father was a fur merchant and her
mother was a housewife. Ella was the second youngest
out of a group of 4 siblings. Her mother was from a Polish
decent so in 1938, the family was forced to move to
Poland from Germany. They lived in a ghetto until 1942
when an SS officer beaten a man to death looking for the
family in hiding. That was when the family was sent to
Auschwitz. Lucky, Ella was not separated from her mother
and they both worked at an munitions factory. Soon after,
an SS officer found out about Ella’s talent for art and
asked her to portrait of his relatives who died in battle
(WW2). She did. That is when all the SS of took advantage
of her and made her paint portraits of their family in
exchange for Ella to never leave her mothers side. When
she was liberated from camp, she married and had
children. She died in Israel in 1998. After her death, she
received a certificate of merit and appreciation for her
contribution to Holocaust remembrance and assurance of
the future
David Brainin
Born: Ukraine; 1905
Died: Unknown location; 1942
David was born in 1905 to a Jewish
tailor in the Ukraine. At 14 he moved
to Palestine. At 19 he moved to Paris to
study painting and choreography. He
made his living off of dancing. He
joined a Russian dance group and met
his future wife. They traveled around
Europe to perform. In 1931, he studied
set design and worked as a scenery
designer for films. During the war,
David was sent to Compiègne where
he depicted the conditions he
witnessed onto paper. Soon after, he
was deported to one of the camps in
the East and never returned.
David Olère
Born: Warsaw; 1902
Died: 1985
At a young age, David had always been interested
in art. So much so, he moved to Berlin at the
tender age of 16 to exhibit wood cuts he made. He
moved onto making promotion art for a film
company. After awhile, he moved to Paris and
became intrigued with the art immerging from
there are moved onto working for French film
companies. He had married and had a son before
World War Two. In WW2, he fought for France.
When France lost, he was sent to die at Auschwitz.
Lucky, the SS officers had realized that he had
many talents, like knowing 6 languages and being
artistic. Because of this, the officers got him to
write letters in pretty calligraphy. He was also
drafted into the Sonderkommando. This meant he
had to witness all the cruel things the Nazis did. He
was sent to several camps afterward and was only
liberated in 1945. He continued to draw paintings
of all the sights he saw. In 2000, there was a trial
were his works were the main evidence that was
used, showing that his art and horrifying work with
the Sonderkommando wasn’t for nothing.
Denial
As of present times, there are a
lot of people who do believe
that these camps and the
tortures that they held were
real. But, sadly, there are a
group of former Nazis, called
Anti-Semitist, who believe that
the Jews played this trick on
Germany to gain a financial and
political stance. They do not
have a great case though,
because all the evidence and
files point to this actually
happening. They do not rest
though, and this hot topic is
now gained to a religious belief.
The Affects on the Holocaust today
Today, The holocaust is a touchy subject. There are
survivors who tell their tale, but there are few who do. All
across the world, we have museums and memorials where
you can learn about the experience and emotions that
happened back then. In fact, there are concentration camps
that people can visit and see how much the Nazi’s tortured
those millions of innocent people. Also, there are over a
million sites about the holocaust and it is taught in many
schools across North America and Europe. And, of course,
there is the art that was created by the survivors and
witnesses as well. With all these resources, the holocaust
will stay in history forever has the saddest, most inhumane
event that has ever happened throughout time.
Works Cited:
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http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/uploads/pics/An_aerial_photograph_of_the_Dachau_concentration_camp.
__Photograph__06737___Small_.jpg
http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/more_resources.asp
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=311&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=143&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=314&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=290&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=161&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=275&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=282&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=299&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=283&referer=s
http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=104&id=326&referer=s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust#Aftermath_and_historiography
http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/holocaustappendices.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Did_six_million_really_die.jpg
Notes taken in my history class