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A review by mishlist
KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann
5.0
KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps is a good piece of writing. It uses headings effectively, has chapters that are structured to flow logically on from each other, uses simple factual language; it deals with the evolution of the camps in largely chronological order and in doing so, makes this part of history easier to understand. I'm not saying that it is easy reading - it does not glorify survivors and does not diminish their experiences by glossing over what happened in the camps - so it can be graphic. It's disturbing to see, so plainly on the page, the numbers of dead, the names of those murdered, and the descriptions of how they died, in so many ways: starving, freezing, shot, tortured, gassed.
But in setting out and following the establishment and running of the camps, and weaving in the broader context of war and German sentiment at the time, it has more than achieved its objective: to tell the story of multiple camps, especially to shed light on satellite camps and the lesser known suffering of prisoners outside of Auschwitz; to link up the Nazis staffing the camps and the structures that led to the Holocaust; and finally to tell the stories of some of those who lived and died in the camps.
It is a very comprehensive history - it talks the administrative structures of the camps, the terrible burden of the Special Squads, the lives of the SS guards and Commandants, the corruption and theft and the differences between camps - where there were women only camps for example. I learnt a number of things about the concentration camps that I did not know before, including that:
- camps were set up as early as 1933 and attempts were made to destroy them as the Allies advanced in
- early on, camps were still considered places of rehabilitation, so prisoners were often released once they had learned their lessons
- Jewish prisoners were not the majority of those held in the concentration camps until much later
- prisoners included POWs, political enemies, those deemed mentally ill, disabled people, even a few instances of SS locked up, accused of corruption and mistreating prisoners!
- many prisoners kept records while in the camps, in buried diaries or papers thrown off trains, and could also write letters (although these were heavily censored)
- there were thousands of satellite camps, some holding very few prisoners, acting as holding camps, while others held thousands.
I learnt that conditions and treatment in camps were even worse than I could have imagined - or had known about before I read this history. The misery in the camps is compounded knowing that each individual experienced it differently - that some prisoners like Norwegian prisoners of war, had more food than others because of access to Red Cross food packages; that the SS guards exploited national and racial prejudices to create conflict; that prisoners elevated to Kapo positions were forced to act like their oppressors, and suffered for it, while some Kapos enjoyed it.
More importantly, in my opinion, the evolution of the camps as it is set out in the book reminds readers of how this kind of regime happens in the first place.
When we come across horrific people, and situations and when we proclaim that we don't know how such things can happen - we try to explain it away as un-explainable - almost supernatural, always unusual and unstoppable. But as this history details, genocide doesn't happen suddenly. This history draws us back to the very beginning and shows us the very root of things, the multitude of factors that lead to humans treating other beings as lesser.
We see it begins with a political party with racist and xenophobic ideologies, seeking to make over the republic. In 1933, camps start from the arrests of political opposition and the arrests of Communists, and members of the previous government. This persecution transitions just as quickly to protecting ordinary Germans from the 'other' - petty criminals, career criminals, 'asocials', even the unemployed - and shoring up the Nazi base by rooting out the 'enemy'. Diversity causes division. Concentration camps become economic, driven by industry profits and the demand from war. All this augmented by propaganda, conflict and unchecked intolerance, and in the background, very difficult life circumstances, with high unemployment and the break out of war in 1941.
KL highlights that the eventual reality of concentration camps was not inevitable - that many factors along the way led to the systematic killings of Jews, Poles and millions of other prisoners. It also highlights that many Germans were aware of the concentration camps, and what was happening there. This dispels the idea that concentration camps were built and killing occurred, without the support and consent of German citizens. While not all details were evident, the proximity of the camps to towns and villages and other persecution mean that much of this terror and oppression was happening right in front of citizens who were persuaded of its good. Other persecution being the changes to laws that prevented marriage with Jews, the deposit holding laws that stole and consolidated the resources of Jews and the steady expulsion of Jewish people from Germany, and then the crowding of Jewish people into ghettos, onto trains and into concentration camps.
When Wachsmann breaks this down for readers, it seems familiar rather than alien. The development of concentration camps becomes more understandable rather than an impossible radical, extreme idea. We can always draw the parallels from history, to some of what is happening right here, right now - economic upheaval, rising nationalism, systemic racism that goes on unaddressed and is supported by a vocal and visible cohort of far-right extremists. This history tells us what to watch out for.
But in setting out and following the establishment and running of the camps, and weaving in the broader context of war and German sentiment at the time, it has more than achieved its objective: to tell the story of multiple camps, especially to shed light on satellite camps and the lesser known suffering of prisoners outside of Auschwitz; to link up the Nazis staffing the camps and the structures that led to the Holocaust; and finally to tell the stories of some of those who lived and died in the camps.
It is a very comprehensive history - it talks the administrative structures of the camps, the terrible burden of the Special Squads, the lives of the SS guards and Commandants, the corruption and theft and the differences between camps - where there were women only camps for example. I learnt a number of things about the concentration camps that I did not know before, including that:
- camps were set up as early as 1933 and attempts were made to destroy them as the Allies advanced in
- early on, camps were still considered places of rehabilitation, so prisoners were often released once they had learned their lessons
- Jewish prisoners were not the majority of those held in the concentration camps until much later
- prisoners included POWs, political enemies, those deemed mentally ill, disabled people, even a few instances of SS locked up, accused of corruption and mistreating prisoners!
- many prisoners kept records while in the camps, in buried diaries or papers thrown off trains, and could also write letters (although these were heavily censored)
- there were thousands of satellite camps, some holding very few prisoners, acting as holding camps, while others held thousands.
I learnt that conditions and treatment in camps were even worse than I could have imagined - or had known about before I read this history. The misery in the camps is compounded knowing that each individual experienced it differently - that some prisoners like Norwegian prisoners of war, had more food than others because of access to Red Cross food packages; that the SS guards exploited national and racial prejudices to create conflict; that prisoners elevated to Kapo positions were forced to act like their oppressors, and suffered for it, while some Kapos enjoyed it.
More importantly, in my opinion, the evolution of the camps as it is set out in the book reminds readers of how this kind of regime happens in the first place.
When we come across horrific people, and situations and when we proclaim that we don't know how such things can happen - we try to explain it away as un-explainable - almost supernatural, always unusual and unstoppable. But as this history details, genocide doesn't happen suddenly. This history draws us back to the very beginning and shows us the very root of things, the multitude of factors that lead to humans treating other beings as lesser.
We see it begins with a political party with racist and xenophobic ideologies, seeking to make over the republic. In 1933, camps start from the arrests of political opposition and the arrests of Communists, and members of the previous government. This persecution transitions just as quickly to protecting ordinary Germans from the 'other' - petty criminals, career criminals, 'asocials', even the unemployed - and shoring up the Nazi base by rooting out the 'enemy'. Diversity causes division. Concentration camps become economic, driven by industry profits and the demand from war. All this augmented by propaganda, conflict and unchecked intolerance, and in the background, very difficult life circumstances, with high unemployment and the break out of war in 1941.
KL highlights that the eventual reality of concentration camps was not inevitable - that many factors along the way led to the systematic killings of Jews, Poles and millions of other prisoners. It also highlights that many Germans were aware of the concentration camps, and what was happening there. This dispels the idea that concentration camps were built and killing occurred, without the support and consent of German citizens. While not all details were evident, the proximity of the camps to towns and villages and other persecution mean that much of this terror and oppression was happening right in front of citizens who were persuaded of its good. Other persecution being the changes to laws that prevented marriage with Jews, the deposit holding laws that stole and consolidated the resources of Jews and the steady expulsion of Jewish people from Germany, and then the crowding of Jewish people into ghettos, onto trains and into concentration camps.
When Wachsmann breaks this down for readers, it seems familiar rather than alien. The development of concentration camps becomes more understandable rather than an impossible radical, extreme idea. We can always draw the parallels from history, to some of what is happening right here, right now - economic upheaval, rising nationalism, systemic racism that goes on unaddressed and is supported by a vocal and visible cohort of far-right extremists. This history tells us what to watch out for.