Living and Dying in Nazi Concentration Camps

Of the estimated six million Jews who died during the Holocaust, it is believed that at least three million died in work camps, where Jews were forced on pain of death to work on behalf the German military or perform backbreaking labor, and death camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. Originally built as prisons for Adolf Hitler’s political opponents, these camps became the last stop for those deemed unacceptable under the Nazi regime, whether because of their race, religion, sexuality, or other attribute. Readers will learn of the horrors of the gas chambers, which could kill hundreds at once, the countless crematoria for burning dead bodies, and the horrific experiments of the infamous Joseph Mengele. Survivors’ accounts of these atrocities will spur student discussion of trauma and PTSD, while tales of resistance attempts will engender conversation about courageous action in the face of almost certain death.