Life in the Concentration Camps

The entrance to Auschwitz read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work will make you free." Those sent to the concentration camps thought they were going to labor camps. It was illogical and incievable that the Nazi would be sending millions of Jews to their death when they could be used for labor. However, for over 80% of those who arrived at Auschwitz and other death camps like it, death was immediate. Most of those who arrived were sent to the gas chambers immedately.

Upon arrival at the concentration camps prisoners underwent Selection. Pregnant woment, children, the elderly, handicapped, and the sick were immediately sent to the gas chambers. They were marched to the gas chamber, which looked like a shower, and told to undress. The SS guards told the prisoners that they were going to be washed then given new clothes and a warm meal. Prisoners rushed into the gas chambers willingly, unaware that poisonous gas, not water, would soon fill the dark room.

The few who were chosen to live were forced to hand over all their belongs (including jewelry) and sent to be Processed. They were forced to take off their clothes. Next they were shaved, tatooed, and sent into the Showers. First, scalding hot water poured down on the prisoners, followed by freezing cold water. When everyone had filed out of the shower they were given one uniform - made of thin, uncomfortable material. They were not given any undergarments or socks. 

(above left) Wedding Rings taken from inmates upon arrival at the concentration camps (above right) Display of prisoners uniforms at Washinton DC Holocaust Museum (photo by Edward Owen 1995) 

The clothing, hair, and gold taken from new arrivals to concentration camps were recycled. The clothing was distributed to the poor, the gold was melted down so it could be used for currency and new gold products, and hair was used to make thread, felt, and socks. It is estimated that Nazis collected over 60 tons of hair during the Holocaust.

Bales of Hair found by Auschwitz concentration camp liberators

Living Conditions in the Camps were terrible. Inmates were murdered, tortured, and starved. They were forced to endure hard labor, they were exposed to sickness, poor living conditions, and psychological abuse from SS guards.

Food was sparse. It has been estimated that the inmates of concentration camps were only given between 200 and 1500 calories per day. Usually breakfast would be a bowl of brown water (very weak coffee) and a small scrap of bread. Then for lunch and dinner prisoners might be given some watery soup with a small portion of rotten meat and vegetables, if they were available.

The daily routine was grueling. Prisoners were awakened as early as 4:00 AM for appel (roll call). Appell often lasted for hours, during which inmates could not talk or sit. Standing in the heat and cold and with weakened bodies many died or fainted during roll call. In one appell at Auschwitz 120 prisoners died. If a prisoner fainted during roll call they were either severely punished or killed.

Prisoners lived in long, crowded Barracks, which were lice infested. They slept on bunks - six men to one bed. These bunks were low and did not allow enough space for inmates to sit up in them. If they had a mattress, it was made of straw in a sack. In most cases, they had no blankets or place to wash. Disease easily spread in these unsanitary conditions.

(above left) Male prisoners laying on wooden bunks inside a barrack at Buchenwald (above right) Reconstructed bunk at the USHMM taken on December 5, 1991 by Arnold Kramer

Prisoners Worked for 10-11 hours a day. They might work in the camp, fields or in a nearby factory. Many prisoners Worked in Crematorium, others were "rented" to factories outside the camp. The wages of those working outside the camp were garnished and used by Nazis to fund the concentration camps. Among the companies which used slave labor from the concentration camps during the Holocaust are IG Farben Pharmaceutical Company (which was renamed Bayer after WWII), Volkswagen, BMW, Krupp, Daimler Crysler. Amunitions factories commonly employed concentration camp inmates as well.

"Everyone worked so hard, got beaten up…and came back to the camp -- the exhaustion alone pushed him to the bunk to lie down and sleep throughout the night and get enough strength so that s/he might be able to do that again tomorrow. …In the morning, sixty percent of the six people [in the bunk] did not wake up. The other forty percent went over the pockets of the dead people to find a piece of bread…The hygienic condition was very, very poor in that period. I remember that I searched a dead body in the bunk and I found a piece of bread. That piece of bread was crawling with lice and you shook them off the bread and put it in your mouth and ate it. We all were crawling with lice. Taking a shower was not an option.

~ Jack Oran (Auschwitz survivor)

To go on a virtual tour of Auschwitz Concentraion Camp click Here

Timeline of Auschwitz

Or learn more about Auschwitz by exploring Auschwitz.org

Return to Concentration Camps home page or continue on and read about Death in the Concentration Camps.