TABLE OF
             CONTENTS
             Introduction page 1 Concentration Camps
             pages 2-5 Death Camps page 6 Buchenwald pages 7-11
             Conclusion page 12-13 Endnotes pages 14-15 Bibliography
             page 16 (1) INTRODUCTION
            
             The Holocaust is the most
             horrifying crime against humanity of all times. "Hitler, in an
             attempt to establish the pure Aryan race, decided that all
             mentally ill, gypsies, non supporters of Nazism, and Jews
             were to be eliminated from the German population. He
             proceeded to reach his goal in a systematic scheme." One of
             his main methods of "doing away" with these "undesirables"
             was through the use of concentration camps. "In January
             1941, in a meeting with his top officials, the 'final solution'
             was decided". The Jewish population was to be eliminated.
             In this paper I will discuss concentration camps with a
             detailed description of the worst one prior to World War II,
             Buchenwald. (2)
             CONCENTRATION CAMPS The first
             concentration camps were set up in 1933. In the early days
             of Hitler's regime, concentration camps were places that held
             people in protective custody. Victims for protective custody
             included those who were either physically or mentally ill,
             gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Jews and anyone
             against the Nazi regime. "Gypsies were classified as people
             with at least two gypsy great grandparents." By the end of
             1933 there were at least fifty concentration camps
             throughout occupied Europe. "At first, the camps were
             controlled by the Gestapo (police), but by 1934 the SS,
             Hitler's personal security force, were ordered, by Hitler, to
             control the camps." Camps were set up for several different
             purposes. Some for forced labor, others for medical
             experiments and, later on, for death/extermination. Transition
             camps were set up as holding places for death camps.
             "Henrick Himmler, chief of the German police, the Gestapo,
             thought that the camps would provide an economic base for
             the soldiers." This did not ha...