Concentration camps, transit camps, and ghettos were established throughout Europe in order to carry out the Nazi plan. Many of these camps were actually built using the unpaid labor of the prisoners, and others were set up in places that originally had other uses.

The living conditions and arrangements varied somewhat from camp to camp, but in all the Nazi concentration camps, conditions were dismal and harrowing and were intended as a part of the punishment and oppression of those imprisoned. Largely due to the unbearable conditions, each day became a struggle to survive.

No Room to Move

Overcrowding was a problem that increased as more and more people arrived in the camps. Bergen-Belsen in Germany was originally a prisoner-of-war camp to which temporary camps were added. It was initially equipped for a few thousand prisoners, but its population grew...