Life in a Nazi forced labor camp was far worse than anything the prisoners had imagined or experienced. Even those who had survived the harsh conditions of the ghettos found that, incredible as it was, things got worse. There was less food, less space, less opportunity to be with friends or family. The labor was even more difficult and exhausting; there was constant punishment and stricter rules and regulations regarding every intimate detail of life.

Concentration camp life was intended to result in humiliation, dehumanization, and death. Even if a person was able to adapt quickly to the impossible conditions, death was still the most likely outcome. Those who wished to remain alive in the concentration camp had to learn quickly to follow the unofficial rules of survival. The older, veteran inmates would pass on these unofficial rules, the first of which...