Dachau, the first concentration camp, was established near Munich in March 1933, two months after Hitler's appointment as chancellor of Germany.The mayor of Munich at the time described the camp as a place to detain political opponents of the Nazi policy. The Dachau concentration camp was established in 1933 and operated continuously until the end of the war in 1945. Especially in 1943 and 1944, hundreds of subcamps were established in or near industrial plants.

It referred to forced marches of concentration camp prisoners over long distances under heavy guard and extremely harsh conditions. The locations of the various concentration camps from the holocaust during World War 2. Nazi concentration and death camps in Eastern Europe. Concentration Camps Maps: Table of Contents|In France & Belgium|In Poland. British forces liberated camps in northern Germany, including Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen. Transit camps such as Westerbork, Gurs, Mechelen, and Drancy in western Europe and concentration camps like Bolzano and Fossoli di Carpi in Italy were used as collection centers for Jews, who were then deported by rail to the extermination camps. Washington, DC 20024-2126 The mayor of Munich at the time described the camp as a place to detain political opponents of the Nazi policy. We would like to thank The Crown and Goodman Family and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing The Soviets also liberated major Nazi camps at Auschwitz, Stutthof, Sachsenhausen, and Ravensbrück.

Donate. During death marches, SS guards brutally mistreated the prisoners and killed many.

In January 1945, the Third Reich stood on the verge of military defeat.

Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library. Expansion at the Outbreak of World War II, Women and World War II: Concentration Camps, Dachau: The First Nazi Concentration Camp, Arbeit Macht Frei Sign at Entrance of Auschwitz I, Overview of the Holocaust During World War 2, Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi Who Planned Murder of Millions, Role of Kapos in Nazi Concentration Camps, 11 Facts About Dr. Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz "Angel of Death", Industry and Agriculture History in Europe, B.A., History, University of California at Davis. The methods developed at Dachau over the next year would be transmitted to every other forced labor camp built by the Third Reich. From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. Sources: Yad Vashem. Throughout German-occupied Europe, the Germans arrested those who resisted their domination and those they judged to be racially inferior or politically unacceptable. Subcamps were generally smaller camps administered by the main camps, which supplied them with the required number of prisoners. ThoughtCo/ Jennifer Rosenberg. The Nazi camp system expanded rapidly after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, as forced labor became important in war production. We would like to thank The Crown and Goodman Family and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing Category » Ghettos & Concentration Camps: Join our mailing list. View the list of all donors. Major Nazi camps in Europe, January 1944. Main telephone: 202.488.0400
Concentration Camps Maps: Camps in Germany. Transit camps such as Westerbork, Gurs, Mechelen, and Drancy in western Europe and concentration camps like Bolzano and Fossoli di Carpi in Italy were used as collection centers for Jews, who were then deported by rail to the extermination camps. Auschwitz, the most infamous Nazi camp, was just one of more than 850 camps; There were 20 main concentration camps, plus another four extermination camp complexes This led to the increased use of concentration camp prisoners as forced laborers in German armaments industries.

In 1942, three more death camps were built (Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec) and used solely for mass murder. Only three months later, the organization of administration and guard duties, as well as the pattern of ill-treatment of prisoners, had already been implemented. According to the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, there were 23 main concentration camps (German: Stammlager), of which most had a system of satellite camps.


Extermination camps were killing centers designed to carry out genocide.

Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics, Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically, Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust, Explore the ID Cards to learn more about personal experiences during the Holocaust.

From 1933 to 1945, more than 40,000 concentration camps or other types of detainment facilities were established by the Nazi regime.

Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics, Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically, Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust, Explore the ID Cards to learn more about personal experiences during the Holocaust. The Germans deported Jews from all over occupied Europe to extermination camps in Poland, where they were systematically killed, and also to concentration camps, where they were used for forced labor.

Throughout German-occupied Europe, the Germans arrested those who resisted their domination and those they judged to be racially inferior or politically unacceptable.

Throughout German-occupied Europe, the Germans arrested those who resisted their domination and those they judged to be racially inferior or politically unacceptable. The largest death marches were launched from Auschwitz and Stutthof. TTY: 202.488.0406, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. Around this time, killing centers were also added at the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Majdanek. Major Nazi camps in Europe, January 1944. Dachau, the first concentration camp, was established near Munich in March 1933, two months after Hitler's appointment as chancellor of Germany. From Political Prisons to Concentration Camps.

People arrested for resisting German rule were mostly sent to forced-labor or concentration camps. Camps such as Auschwitz in Poland, Buchenwald in central Germany, Gross-Rosen in eastern Germany, Natzweiler-Struthof in eastern France, Ravensbrueck near Berlin, and Stutthof near Danzig on the Baltic coast became administrative centers of huge networks of subsidiary forced-labor camps.

Story highlights.

Nazi concentration and death camps in Eastern Europe.

By 1941, the Nazis began building Chelmno, the first extermination camp (also called a death camp), to "exterminate" both Jews and Gypsies. At first, these concentration camps were meant to hold political prisoners; but by the beginning of World War II, these concentration camps had transformed and expanded to house vast numbers of non-political prisoners whom the Nazis exploited through forced labor. It was the first concentration camp of the Nazi regime and it is estimated that at least 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated there between 1933 and 1945. People arrested for resisting German rule were mostly sent to forced-labor or concentration camps. close. This expanded to include Jews and other people seen as inferior by the Nazi regime. Germany officially declared war and began taking over territories outside its own in September of 1939. These huge groups of incoming prisoners resulted in the rapid building and expansion of concentration camps further across Eastern Europe.

Main telephone: 202.488.0400 This led to the increased use of concentration camp prisoners as forced laborers in German armaments industries. work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia.