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Tara Stockage
Mrs. Kester
Senior Project
March 15, 2013
Research Paper
Concentration Camps
The years 1939-1942 marked the expansion of the concentration camps system. The
concentration camps took in Jewish prisoners for economic profit. The concentration camps also
became sites for the mass murders of small targeted groups by the Nazi authorities. The
concentration camps were a major role in the Holocaust, changing the lives of every Jew, and
leaving horrible memories for those who did survive the concentration camps.

The first concentration camp was camp Chelmno. Camp Chelmno was known for being
an extermination camp, which was a typical death camp. Any Jew that was brought to this camp
was authorized to die with no questions asked. There were only a small group of Jewish
prisoners that would survive, but they were later chosen by the German authorities. Being
surrounded by a high wooden fence,. Chelmno was a very secretive extermination camp. Those
who were brought here for destruction were convinced till the very last moment that they were to
be employed on fortification work in the Easy. They were told that, before going further, they
would have a bath, and that their clothes would be disinfected. (Zamosc, 2). The Holocaust
victims were tricked by the Germans. Immediately after their arrival at the camp they were

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taken to the large hall of the house, where they were told to undress, and then they were driven
along a corridor to the front door, where a large lorry also known as a wagon , made up as a gaschamber, was standing. (Zamosc, 2) At this point, the Jews thought they were going to be
bathing and cleaning up themselves. Instead, when the wagon was full, the door was locked, the
engine started, and carbon monoxide was introduced into the interior through a specially
constructed exhaust pipe. (Zamosc, 2) The Jews were trapped in this wagon for as long as
forty-five minutes. Furthermore, When the cries and struggles of the suffocating victims were
heard no more, the wagon was driven to the wood, which was enclosed with a high fence and
surround with outposts. Here the bodies were unloaded and buried, and afterwards burnt in one
of the clearings (Zamosc, 2). At Chelmno concentration camp, the Jews were put into labour.
Jews were treated cruelly at this camp, dying from starvation and extremely poor conditions.
More than 300,000 Jews were murdered at the camp of Chelmno. Camp Chelmno was a life
changing camp for every Jew imprisoned there.
The Auschwitz camp was one of the worst concentration camps in Holocaust history.
Auschwitz was made of three main camps that were known to put enslaved prisoners to work.
Auschwitz was to serve three main purposes:
1.) To incarcerate real and perceived enemies of the Nazi regime and the German
occupation authorities in Poland for an indefinite period of time; 2.) to have available a
supply of forced labourers for deployment in SS-owned, construction-related enterprises
(and, later, armaments and other war related production); and 3.) to serves as a site to
physically eliminate small, targeted groups of the of the populations whose death was
determined by the SS and police authorities to be essential to the security of Nazi
Germany (U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2). ).
The German Nazis would do whatever it would take to diminish the lives of Jews to get their
job done .Later through the years, Nazis started using the poisonous gas method to get rid of
some of the Jews. Jews were forced to work, eleven to twelve hours days. They worked on huge

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farms, coal mines, in stone quarries, in fisheries, and especially in armaments industries (U.S
Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2). Jewish prisoners were registered and tattooed so Germans
could keep track of each of them. A total of 1.2 million Jews were killed during the captive time
of Auschwitz. ( Dwork,6). Auschwitz will always be seen as a place that shall be remembered
throughout history. Lives were taken but the memories shall prevail.
Another concentration camp was Belzec, which was also an extermination camp. Like
Chelmno, this camp was carefully hidden from the outside world. The outer fence was
camouflaged with tree branches. During the later reorganisation of the camp, the space between
the two fences was filled with rolls of barbed wire. On the eastern side, another barrier erected
on a steep slope by fixing the tree trunks of wooden planks (The Belzec Death Camp, 1).
Eventually, a line of trees were planted to cover any other appearances of the existing camp. At
first, Jews were killed in cells which were filled with diesel fumes; however in August 1942,
Zyklon-B, the quick-acting hydrogen cyanide gas, was first demonstrated at Belzec. The camp
was closed in the spring of 1943 and all traces of The Belzec Death Camp were demolished.
After the Jews died, the Germans searched every single body. Each corpse was searched for
valuables and any gold teeth removed before the bodies were lowered in the pits (The Belzec
Death Camp, 3). Such horrible things happened to Jews at this camp. Between March and
December of 1942, approximately 550,000 to 600,000 Jews were killed. (Yitzhak, 17) The
Belzec Camp changed the lives of many Jews and other people that were part of the camp. The
Belzec Death Camp left survivors with the remembrance of a tragedy that could never be
forgotten.

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Camp Sobibor was established in March 1942. Like previous camps, Sobibor was also an
extermination camp, secretly guarded by barbed fence. The site measured roughly 1,300 by
2,000 feet, surrounded by a triple line of barbed wire fencing and guarded by watchtowers. It
was sub-divided into a reception area and three camps (Sobibor Poland, 1). Jews were forced to
leave all belongings such as luggage and clothing, leaving them naked when they reached the gas
chambers. Jews were then were taken to an isolated part of the camp that was covered by tree
branches that were intertwined with the barbed wire. The chambers at Camp Sobibor could hold
up to 160-180 people.
Carbon monozide generated by a diesel engine mounted outside was piped into the gas
chambers. The corpses were removed from a second door and buried in huge, specially
excavated pits. Carts, and later trolleys on a small rail track, were used to carry deportees
who were infirm to walk to burial pits where they were shot so not to delay the killing
process (Sobibor Poland, 2).

The Nazi Germans wanted to get the killing over and done with; therefore, all traces of this camp
were demolished and disguised as a farm. A total of 250,000 Jews were exterminated.
In November 1941, Camp Treblinka was established. There, both Jews and Polish
inmates were imprisoned. The imprisoners of Camp Treblinka were deployed at forced labor,
which mostly took place in a gravel pit. Like previous camps before, this camp was hidden from
outsiders with barbed-wire fence and trees. The camp consisted of three areas: the reception area,
the living area, and the killing area. The living area was to house the German staff and the
guards. It also contained barracks that housed those Jewish prisoners selected from incoming
transports to provide forced labor to support the camps function: mass murder (HMM, 1). In
the killing area, Jews were forced to run naked along the path leading to the gas chambers, which
were labeled as showers. Once the chamber doors were sealed, an engine installed outside the
building pumped carbon monoxide into the gas chambers, killing those inside (HMM, 2). Mass

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graves were used to bury the bodies of the Jews from the gas chambers. Later, Jews were forced
to dig up the already buried bodies and dispose of the bodies by burning them in huge trenches in
ovens that were made of rail track. At Camp Treblinka, the Jews were forced with hard labor
that resulted in many sick Jews. The prisoners who became sick were told that they would be
able to see a doctor to be cured. The Nazis disguised themselves as the Red Cross, and shot the
poor Jews. This camp was a camp of death that resulted in between 870,000 to 925,000 deaths of
Jews.
The last and final camp was Stutthof. Stutthof was covered with electrified barbed-wire
fence. Conditions of the camp were brutal; Jews were beaten and had to give up all their
possessions as they entered the gates. This camp was like a boot camp; each Jew had his or her
own barrack to sleep in and had to perform labour in the mornings. Jews were also forced to
march to the Baltic Sea coast where they were shot down by machine guns. The surviving Jews
were forced to march back to Stutthof. Marching in severe winter conditions and treated
brutally by SS guards, thousands died during the march. (Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1) Jews
had to experience long work days, with a little or no break. Some Jews had the privilege to work
inside, away from the brutal weather conditions. However, Jews were not fed that much. Meals
consisted of under 1000 calories a day; therefore, thousands of Jews died from this. Jews
experienced horrible conditions, leaving only three thousand of the Jews to survive in the midst
of the millions that were killed.
There are few survivors from these concentration camps. It is a shame that human beings
had to go through such torture. There are so many unanswered questions still to this day. How
can the Nazi armies live with themselves for killing so many innocent people? Due from these

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concentration camps, survivors today will tell their tragedies that had happened to them so other
people can relive the story too.

Manya Perel, a Holocaust survivor, now changes the lives of many individuals through
her inspirational story. Manya Frydman Perel, born in 1924 in Radom, Poland, was one of ten
children. Manya attended a public school as teenager, and she always had the hope to go to
college. However, these plans were demolished in September 1939 when the Nazi army marched
into the city and removed homes and businesses, and, eventually, confined all the Jewish people.

Manya Perel was imprisoned in a The Radom Ghetto in April 1941 and then later
deported to several death camps including Ravensbrck, Plaszow, Rechlin, Gundelsdorf, and
Auschwitz. She completed hard labor and nearly starved to death. Mayna, on some days, only ate
a crumb of bread per day. Despite the horrible living conditions, scarce food rations and the
constant threat of the gas chambers and death, Manya risked her life to save others. Her bravery,
in the face of such hardship, is an inspiration to others.

In 1945, Manya and a friend Hannah escaped a death march from Auschwitz by running
off into a dark forest at night and on May 5 the Russians liberated them. In July 1945 she was
taken to a displaced-persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany where she was reunited with the
remaining members of her family. She recovered here and waited for her turn to leave Europe
and immigrate to North America.

Eventually, she married and moved from Montreal, Canada, and later to Philadelphia
where she raised a family and is now a proud grandmother. Her family has promised to take over
her task and carry on her story from generation to generation. She says, I hope that my life will

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be an example for others not to take life for granted, not to be prejudiced toward others, and to
respect one another. After all, we only have one life to live.
Many people lost their lives and lives of family members during the rough years of The
Holocaust. Having the opportunity to interview Manya Perel made me realize some things in life.
She made me realize not to take life for granted because there is someone out there that has it
worse than you. Interviewing Manya taught me not to be prejudice and respect every one for
who they are. Manyas story has inspired me and made me have a complete different look on life
because after all we only have one life to live.

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Works Cited
Arad, Yitzhak. Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: the Operation Reinhard death camps. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1987. Print.
"Auschwitz." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189>.
"Belzec Death Camp www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Holocaust Education & Archive
Research Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/belzec.html>.
"Belzec Extermination Camp (Poland)." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.jewishgen.org/forgottenCamps/Camps/BelzecEng.html>.
Dwork, Deborah, and R. J. van Pelt. Auschwitz. Norton pbk. ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002.
Print.
Gumkowski, Janusz, Adam Rutkowski, and Warsaw Monuments. Treblinka. Warszawa: Council
for Protection of Fight and Martyrdom Monuments, 1961. Print.
Lawton, Clive. Auschwitz. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.
Perel, Manya, Nora Levin, and Michael Steinlauf. Holocaust testimony of Manya Perel, nee
Frydman: transcript of audiotaped interview : historical comments by Michael Steinlauf.
Melrose Park, PA: Gratz College, 1996. Print.
"Sobibor Extermination Camp (Poland)." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.jewishgen.org/forgottencamps/camps/sobiboreng.html>.

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Zamosc, Leon. "Chelmno Extermination Camp." Chelmno. (Gabin, Poland, Jewish Genealogy),
n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <weber.used.edu/-lzamosc/gchelmno.html>.