The first concentration camps of the fascists began to be created in the Third Reich itself immediately after the Nazi Party came to power. Their original purpose was to isolate individuals who were suspected of opposing the new regime. The first to fall into the concentration camps of the fascists as far back as 1933-34, were their main opponents from the time of the Weimar Republic - Communists and Socialists. Already in July 1933, the number of prisoners reached the mark of 26 thousand people throughout the country. However, after The first stage, when the National Socialist Party established its total authority throughout the country, the number of arrests slightly decreased. Moreover, many of the undeservedly arrested were released.
The pre-war period
A new round of mass arrests begins in the late 1930s. Now the concentration camps of the fascists are intensively replenished by the German Jews. In addition to these, various antisocial elements, such as drunkards, homeless people, and others, often came here. In 1938, in connection with the first territorial acquisitions, while the bloodless (Anschluss Austria), the number of prisoners is even greater. In the same period, the camps begin to acquire a unified structure. There are women's concentration camps, like, for example, Ravensbrück, located in Pomerania. But the whole horrible scope of this whole system reaches already in the war period.
Activities during the Second World War
During the war the camp system was constantly expanding, which is natural. In addition to the prisoners from the occupied regions, the number of German political prisoners protesting the aggressive policy of Germany also increased. There are camps not only in the Reich itself, but also in the occupied territories: Majdanek, Treblinka, Auschwitz and dozens of others more or less known today. The policy of persecution of homosexuals, religious sectarians, Gypsies, Jews is gaining momentum. Torture in the concentration camps of the fascists was also infrequent. After the invasion of the Soviet Union begins the most monstrous stage in the existence of these structures. Concentration camps of the fascists literally turn into factories of death. Thus, the world-famous Auschwitz has fully earned since January 1942. The fact is that it was during this period that the Nazi Party finally took the course toward the complete annihilation of the Jews, after which they became the main victims of the concentration camps. Thus, Rudolf Goess, the chief commandant of Auschwitz (not to be confused with a high-ranking member of the NSDAP, Rudolf Hess, who, to that Time was in British captivity) was the first to think of using a pesticide crystal, called "Cyclone B," as a poisonous substance. And he was very proud of his decision, repeatedly boasting among Nazi officers that this allowed to increase the number of victims and make Auschwitz the most effective death machine in the entire Nazi system. Another diabolical innovation of this concentration camp was the construction of huge gas chambers, which allowed increasing their throughput. Thus, the concentration system of Nazi bonz has become one of the most important tools in the infamous occupation policy and mass destruction of people in the occupied territories.