World War II Concentration Camps By: Megan Hanawalt

Starting in 1933, the Nazi's set up extermination, or labor camps most frequently known as concentration camps within Europe, many established by the German authorities, to hold political prisoners and "undesirables". After 1939 with the beginning of the second world war, these camps became places of the Nazi enemies, including: Jews, POWS, homosexuals, and disabled people. They were either killed, or forced to act a slave laborers. These people were undernourished and tortured. Over 11 million people were killed within these camps. This period in time was known as Hilter's "Final Solution." (The genocide of the Jew's).

Inside the camps the prisoners were forced to wear various colored triangles. Each color telling which group he or she was in. The writing within the triangular badge told what country they were from.

To accomplish the " Final Solution" the Nazi's open extermination camps in Poland. Chelmno was the first opened in December 1941. In 1942 the Nazi's open Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka to murder the Jews. Opening more camps was a quicker way to get rid of the "undesirables". To increase these killings the Nazi's constructed gas chambers. In some camps there was up to four chambers. Almost 8,000 Jews' were gassed everyday.

Badge of Homosexual's

Badge of Jew's

For more information about the Holocaust try this site.

For information about Adolf Hitler try this site.