What are Concentration Camps?
Concentration camps are often inaccurately compared to a prison in modern society. But concentration camps, unlike prisons, were independent of any judicial review. Nazi concentration camps served three main purposes:
- To incarcerate people whom the Nazi regime perceived to be a security threat. These people were incarcerated for indefinite amounts of time.
- To eliminate individuals and small, targeted groups of individuals by murder, away from the public and judicial review.
- To exploit forced labor of the prisoner population. This purpose grew out of a labor shortage.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (2019, June 27). Concentration camps, 1933-3: Purposes of the camp system. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/concentration-camps-1933-39
- Holocaust Encyclopedia: Concentration Camps SeriesArticles, maps, media essays, and photo collections from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Nazi Concentration Camps.
A view of the electrified barbed wire fence, the moat and the watch tower in Dachau, May 1945. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Discussion Question
How did the functions of the camp system expand once World War II started?
Further Research
Other resources may be found in the Wright State University Libraries' Catalog and databases.
Choose "View Entire Collection" or "Dunbar Library - Books" from the drop-down box near the Search button.
The Auschwitz Concentration Camp by Call Number: D805.5.A96 W43 2018ISBN: 9783838211060Publication Date: 2018-04-24History, biographies, remembrance
The Nazi Concentration Camps, 1933-1939 by Call Number: DD256.5 .N3553 2012ISBN: 9780803227828Publication Date: 2012-07-01"This collection brings together revealing primary documents on the crucial origins of the Nazi concentration camp system in the prewar years between 1933 and 1939, which have been overlooked thus far. Many of the documents are unpublished and have been translated into English for the first time. These documents provide insight into the camps from multiple perspectives, including those of prisoners, Nazi officials, and foreign observers, and shed light on the complex relationship between terror, state, and society in the Third Reich" — Publisher description
Concentration Camps in Nazi Germany: The New Histories by Call Number: D805.G3 C5918 2010ISBN: 9780415426503Publication Date: 2010-01-22Collection of essays on aspects of the Nazi concentration camps, edited by Jane Caplan and Nikolaus Wachsmann.
