What were concentration camps like?

There were different types of camps built during the holocaust. There were concentration camps, transit camps, work camps and extermination camps. This post will go into detail about how the concentration camps were run.

The concentration camps were usually established and managed by the SS. There would be a main entrance where the administration took place and there were many buildings inside including support buildings and a prison block. The camps were surrounded by electrified barbed wire, ditches, walls and guard towers so it was really hard to escape.

In the support buildings, there would be kitchens, laundry rooms, showers and workshops but the prisoners would have to work hard. Often they would have to stand for hours in a square while they were being counted. The prisoners would stay in wooden or brick barracks but they were packed into these places. Sometimes up to 1200 prisoners would be stuck in what was only supposed to house 400 people.

The prisoners were separated according to their gender and also according to whether they were Jewish, Roma, a political prisoner or other similar groups.

The prisoners were kept in awful conditions. They would only be given little food and water. Breakfast was some herbal tea or fake coffee. Lunch was watery soup and if they were lucky they might find some vegetable peel in it. Dinner was a small piece of black bread, occasionally with a small portion of marmalade or cheese. Some prisoners had to endure terrible things such as torture.

When they arrived at the concentration camps, the people had their clothes taken away, their hair shaved off and they were given a uniform. We sometimes refer to this as striped pyjamas. Clothes were changed every six weeks. Can you imagine this? Having to eat, sleep and work in the same clothes for 6 whole weeks?

Sometimes, prisoners were distinguished by an inverted triangle. Green was for criminals, red for political opponents, pink for homosexuals, purple for Jehovah’s witnesses, black for Roma and a yellow star for Jews.

Prisoners were forced to work. Some worked inside the camp but many had to travel several kilometres to factories or farms.

Overall, the conditions were awful for those in the concentration camps and huge respect must be given to those who went through this awful situation.