Extermination camp: Difference between revisions
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'''Extermination camps''' (''Totenlager'') were a subset of six Nazi [[concentration camp]]s in [[The Holocaust]], designed principally for killing ideological and racial undesirables as part of the [[Final Solution]]. They kept only enough slave labor to operate the camp and immediately killed the other arriving captives, unless there was a special requirement such as the [[Nazi medical experiments]] at [[Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp|Auschwitz-Birkenau]], a major subcamp of [[Auschwitz Concentration Camp]]. | |||
The camps, all in Poland, were: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! Camp | |||
! Deaths<ref name=WATJ>{{citation | |||
| title = The War against the Jews, 1933-1945 | |||
| edition = 10th Anniversary | |||
| publisher = Bantam Books | |||
| author = [[Lucy Dawidowicz]] | |||
| year = 1975 | |||
| isbn = 0-553-34532-X}}, pp. 148-149</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| Auschwitz-Birkenau | |||
| 2,000,000 | |||
|- | |||
| [[Belzec Concentration Camp|Belzec]] | |||
| 600,000 | |||
|- | |||
| [[Chelmno Concentration Camp|Chelmno]] | |||
| 340,000 | |||
|- | |||
| [[Madjanek Concentration Camp|Madjankek]] | |||
|1,380,000 | |||
|- | |||
| [[Sobibor]] | |||
| 250,000 | |||
|- | |||
| [[Treblinka Concentration Camp|Treblinka]] | |||
| 800,000 | |||
|} | |||
==Command and organization== | |||
{{seealso|WVHA}} | |||
Even the death camps were under the [[SS]] economic organization, the [[WVHA]], intended to get the maximum value from the victims and their possessions. Prisoners arrived at the camp by rail, and went through a "selection" procedure, in which slave workers and other people, not to be killed immediately, were directed to one line. The other line were told they were going for a shower and disinfection, undressed in a changing room, and put into an apparent shower room. | |||
The shower heads were fake and the bars of soap were stone, but many of the victims did not realize that until the airtight doors closed. Poisonous gas, or gas generating solids, were introduced into the chamber. Auschwitz used [[Zyklon B]], a solid onto which cyanides were adsorbed. The other camps used engines to generate [[carbon monoxide]]. | |||
==Methods== | |||
While the camps differed in the nature of their gas chambers and crematoria, the basic procedure was the same for all. | |||
==References== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
Revision as of 04:14, 19 January 2011
Extermination camps (Totenlager) were a subset of six Nazi concentration camps in The Holocaust, designed principally for killing ideological and racial undesirables as part of the Final Solution. They kept only enough slave labor to operate the camp and immediately killed the other arriving captives, unless there was a special requirement such as the Nazi medical experiments at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a major subcamp of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
The camps, all in Poland, were:
| Camp | Deaths[1] |
|---|---|
| Auschwitz-Birkenau | 2,000,000 |
| Belzec | 600,000 |
| Chelmno | 340,000 |
| Madjankek | 1,380,000 |
| Sobibor | 250,000 |
| Treblinka | 800,000 |
Command and organization
- See also: WVHA
Even the death camps were under the SS economic organization, the WVHA, intended to get the maximum value from the victims and their possessions. Prisoners arrived at the camp by rail, and went through a "selection" procedure, in which slave workers and other people, not to be killed immediately, were directed to one line. The other line were told they were going for a shower and disinfection, undressed in a changing room, and put into an apparent shower room.
The shower heads were fake and the bars of soap were stone, but many of the victims did not realize that until the airtight doors closed. Poisonous gas, or gas generating solids, were introduced into the chamber. Auschwitz used Zyklon B, a solid onto which cyanides were adsorbed. The other camps used engines to generate carbon monoxide.
Methods
While the camps differed in the nature of their gas chambers and crematoria, the basic procedure was the same for all.
References
- ↑ Lucy Dawidowicz (1975), The War against the Jews, 1933-1945 (10th Anniversary ed.), Bantam Books, ISBN 0-553-34532-X, pp. 148-149