Prisoners in Their Bunks
As you can imagine life in the concentration camp was far from a utopia.
Between the SS officers, the other prisoners in the camp, and just the conditions
that the prisoners had to live in were atrocious. There are many accounts of
survivors that tell the gruesome tales of their life in the concentration camps
and the stories of the appalled soldiers who liberated the camps. For the people
who never experienced these terrors first hand it is hard to imagine what life
was like for these people in the camps, but here is a glimpse of what it might
have been like. The first thing the prisoners would see upon reaching the camp
was the enormous grid iron gate at the main entrance of the camp. Unlike
other concentration camps with the words on the outside of the gate this
particular camp had the words on the inside which said, "Jedem Das Seine" or "To
Each His Own" or "Everyone gets what he deserves". When the prisoners first
arrived they were divided, those that could work went one way and all the ones
that could not went another. The people that could not work were set off to
their deaths and the ones that could work were sent off to a living hell. The
first thing the prisoners(that could work) went through was the stripping of all
their clothes and the shaving of their heads. The prisoners were given black
and white striped outfits to wear. so This was done so the SS officers/soldiers could tell who
was a prisoner with just a look. Then the prisoners were shown their new
"bedrooms" for the time being. The living space for these people was scarce.
There was about six square feet per six people in the bunk area. People complain
about sharing rooms with their siblings, imagine if those people had to share an
even smaller space with at least six strangers. Along with the tight quarters
came diseases and sicknesses and since everybody lived together the sicknesses
and diseases spread quick. One of the biggest epidemics was lice that is why
all the prisoners had to have their heads shaved once they arrived at the camp.
These poor people had a very tough life they had poor, to no hygiene and so
many people died just from diseases and sicknesses due to the lack in
cleanliness in the camp. Along with having poor hygiene the prisoners were
inadequately fed. According to one survivors' account if the guards were happy
the prisoners would receive greasy soup and if the guard were in an unpleasant
mood the prisoners would be lucky if they received any food for at a length of
eight days at a time. Another account reguadring the food was that the soup was made
out of rats. Another survivor said they received one hundred grams of bread a
week. So as one can imagine if seeing a person in this state they would look
more like a skeleton then a human being. There are many accounts of what people
had to do during the day some had to carry rocks from one place to another, some
had to dig tunnels all day long, some worked in the factories to build supplies
for the war, and some had to carry the dead bodies of their fallen prisoners.
All those bodies were either buried, cremated in the oven the Germans had
installed on the camp's ground, or eaten by dogs the officers let loose in the
camp. Physical labor was just one of the things the prisoners had to go through
some were susceptible to surgeries and medical tests done by doctors in the camp's
"doctors office". It really was not a doctor's office because it was just a
place for test to be run on the prisoners. When the camp was liberated the
accounts of the things seen in these hospitals was appalling. Some say there were
human heads in jars, tattooed human flesh, and skin on the walls just to name a
few of the possible sights.
Between the SS officers, the other prisoners in the camp, and just the conditions
that the prisoners had to live in were atrocious. There are many accounts of
survivors that tell the gruesome tales of their life in the concentration camps
and the stories of the appalled soldiers who liberated the camps. For the people
who never experienced these terrors first hand it is hard to imagine what life
was like for these people in the camps, but here is a glimpse of what it might
have been like. The first thing the prisoners would see upon reaching the camp
was the enormous grid iron gate at the main entrance of the camp. Unlike
other concentration camps with the words on the outside of the gate this
particular camp had the words on the inside which said, "Jedem Das Seine" or "To
Each His Own" or "Everyone gets what he deserves". When the prisoners first
arrived they were divided, those that could work went one way and all the ones
that could not went another. The people that could not work were set off to
their deaths and the ones that could work were sent off to a living hell. The
first thing the prisoners(that could work) went through was the stripping of all
their clothes and the shaving of their heads. The prisoners were given black
and white striped outfits to wear. so This was done so the SS officers/soldiers could tell who
was a prisoner with just a look. Then the prisoners were shown their new
"bedrooms" for the time being. The living space for these people was scarce.
There was about six square feet per six people in the bunk area. People complain
about sharing rooms with their siblings, imagine if those people had to share an
even smaller space with at least six strangers. Along with the tight quarters
came diseases and sicknesses and since everybody lived together the sicknesses
and diseases spread quick. One of the biggest epidemics was lice that is why
all the prisoners had to have their heads shaved once they arrived at the camp.
These poor people had a very tough life they had poor, to no hygiene and so
many people died just from diseases and sicknesses due to the lack in
cleanliness in the camp. Along with having poor hygiene the prisoners were
inadequately fed. According to one survivors' account if the guards were happy
the prisoners would receive greasy soup and if the guard were in an unpleasant
mood the prisoners would be lucky if they received any food for at a length of
eight days at a time. Another account reguadring the food was that the soup was made
out of rats. Another survivor said they received one hundred grams of bread a
week. So as one can imagine if seeing a person in this state they would look
more like a skeleton then a human being. There are many accounts of what people
had to do during the day some had to carry rocks from one place to another, some
had to dig tunnels all day long, some worked in the factories to build supplies
for the war, and some had to carry the dead bodies of their fallen prisoners.
All those bodies were either buried, cremated in the oven the Germans had
installed on the camp's ground, or eaten by dogs the officers let loose in the
camp. Physical labor was just one of the things the prisoners had to go through
some were susceptible to surgeries and medical tests done by doctors in the camp's
"doctors office". It really was not a doctor's office because it was just a
place for test to be run on the prisoners. When the camp was liberated the
accounts of the things seen in these hospitals was appalling. Some say there were
human heads in jars, tattooed human flesh, and skin on the walls just to name a
few of the possible sights.