Group5p2

During the War, concentration camps for Jews and other "undesirables" were spread throughout Europe, with new camps being created near centers of dense "undesirable" populations, often focusing on areas with large Jewish, Polish intelligentsia, communist, or Roma and Sinti (Gypsy) populations. Concentration camps also existed in Germany itself. Most of the camps were located in the area of General Government in occupied Poland, but there were camps in every country occupied by the Nazis. The transportation of prisoners was often carried out under horrifying conditions using rail freight cars, in which many died before they reached their destination.

While not specifically designed as a method for systematic extermination, many concentration camp prisoners died because of harsh conditions or were eventually executed.

Upon admission, some camps tattooed prisoners with a prisoner ID. Those fit for work were dispatched for 12 to 14 hour shifts. Before and after, there were roll calls that could sometimes last for hours; sometimes, prisoners would die of exposure.

Between the time of registration into the camp and death, prisoners were subjected to a number of demeaning and torturous ordeals. Prisoners were often beaten, whipped, or hung from beams with their hands behind them. This ordeal was done with their feet just inches from the ground. Prisoners were also shot arbitrarily.

These dreadful ordeals combined to create a miserable experience within the camps. As a result, many inmates embraced or welcomed death media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=europe&ie=UTF8&ll=54.525961,15.255119&spn=87.658885,157.5&z=3&output=embed" width="425" height="350"
 * [|**Rise of the Nazi Party (1918-1933).**] During the fourteen years following the end of World War I, the Nazi party grew from a small political group to the most powerful party in Germany.
 * [|**Nazification (1933-1939).**] Once Hitler became Chancellor and later Reichsführer, the Nazi party quickly changed Germany's political, social, and economic structure.
 * [|**The Ghettos (1939-1941).**] Confining Jews to ghettos was another critical step in Hitler's Final Solution.
 * [|**The Camps (1941-1942).**] The concentration camps were Hitler's final step in the annihilation of the Jews.
 * [|**Resistance (1942-1944).**] People resisted by any means possible, from stealing a slice of bread to sabotaging Nazi installations.
 * [|**Rescue and Liberation (1944-1945).**] Some survived through the heroics of neighbors; others were liberated by the Allies.
 * [|**Aftermath (1945-2000).**] After the war, Nazi perpetrators faced punishment for their war crimes and survivors began rebuilding their lives.
 * | [|Nazi Party] | [|Nazification] | [|Ghettos] | [|Camps] | [|Resistance] | [|Liberation] | [|Aftermath] | [[image:http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/I/menubar.gif width="364" height="20" link="http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/I/menubar.map"]][[image:http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/I/mapdex.gif width="120" height="20" link="http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/sitemap/sitemap.htm"]]