Sign in or 
| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 18 2008, 8:01 PM EDT (current) | BarbaraFrey | 2 words added |
| Jun 18 2008, 7:49 PM EDT | BarbaraFrey | 1 word added, 1 word deleted |
Changes
Key: Additions Deletions
GROSS-ROSEN
Gross-Rosen, a German (Nazi) concentration camp was established in the summer of 1943 as a satellite camp of SACHENHAUSEN, in the vicinity of the granite quarry of Gross-Rosen, in Lower Silesia, Poland. On May1, 1941 Gross-Rosen became an independent camp and functioned as such until its evacuation in February 1945. Altogether, 125,000 prisoners passed through this camp; 40,000 perished.
Jews represented the largest group among the victims of Gross-Rosen. Beginning in late 1943, 57,000 Jews were brought there, including 26,000 women. The assignment of Jews to the camp, and their use as slave manpower fot the Germen war economy, resulted from a reorganization of the SS methods for exploiting Jews and from the evacuation of the PLASZOW camp and of AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU. The Jews, among them a high proportion of women, were distributed among Satellite camps outside the main camp. The living and working conditions of the Jewish prisoners were extraordinarily harsh and inhumane. In addition to the backbreaking work in the quarry and the construction of the camp, they were exploited for special work assignments during what were supposed to be their hours of rest. Food was barely enough to keep the prisoner alive and they were denied medical attention. The mortality rate was very high.
Before 1944 there were no large transfers of Jewish prisoners from Gross-Rosen to other concentration camps. There were, however, frequent internal transfers from one satellite camp to another to meet current requirements of the war economy, and later as parts of the gradual liquidation of the camp. Many prisoners were evacuated by foot, in what came to be known as DEATH MARCHES, in the cold of winter and without food. The main camp, GROSS-ROSEN itself, was evacuated in February 1945, and the remaining satellite camps soon after.
Including the transfers made in 1944, a minimum of 19,500 Jewish prisoners were moved from GROSS-ROSEN to concentration camps in the Reich, about 35 percent of the JEWISH prisoners in the camp. The fate of the other 37,500 has not been established so far. About half of the Jewish prisoners in the satellite camps are known to have been left behind.
Even from these incomplete data it is clear that a large proportion of the prisoners lived to see the Nazi regime’s downfall. When the satellite camps were liberated, Jewish committees were formed in them that took the prisoners under their care, especially the many who were sick. They obtained food and clothing and assisted in the prisoners repatriation to their countries of origin. Many of the former Gross-Rosen prisoners gathered in Reichenbach, and on June 17, 1945, representatives of the Jewish committees of six Lower Silesian towns convened there and formed a district committee of Polish Jews. The purpose was to coordinate activities on behalf of the surviving Jewish population under the new social and political conditions.
SOURCES
Gutman, Y., and A. Saf, eds. The Nazi Concentration Camps, Jerusalem, 1980
Moldawa, M. Gross-Rosen: Oboz koncentracyjny na Slasku. Warsaw, 1967
“Gross-Rosen.” Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Eds. Robert Rozett and Shmuel Spector. New York: Facts on File, 2000
Gross-Rosen, a German (Nazi) concentration camp was established in the summer of 1943 as a satellite camp of SACHENHAUSEN, in the vicinity of the granite quarry of Gross-Rosen, in Lower Silesia, Poland. On May1, 1941 Gross-Rosen became an independent camp and functioned as such until its evacuation in February 1945. Altogether, 125,000 prisoners passed through this camp; 40,000 perished.
Jews represented the largest group among the victims of Gross-Rosen. Beginning in late 1943, 57,000 Jews were brought there, including 26,000 women. The assignment of Jews to the camp, and their use as slave manpower fot the Germen war economy, resulted from a reorganization of the SS methods for exploiting Jews and from the evacuation of the PLASZOW camp and of AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU. The Jews, among them a high proportion of women, were distributed among Satellite camps outside the main camp. The living and working conditions of the Jewish prisoners were extraordinarily harsh and inhumane. In addition to the backbreaking work in the quarry and the construction of the camp, they were exploited for special work assignments during what were supposed to be their hours of rest. Food was barely enough to keep the prisoner alive and they were denied medical attention. The mortality rate was very high.
Before 1944 there were no large transfers of Jewish prisoners from Gross-Rosen to other concentration camps. There were, however, frequent internal transfers from one satellite camp to another to meet current requirements of the war economy, and later as parts of the gradual liquidation of the camp. Many prisoners were evacuated by foot, in what came to be known as DEATH MARCHES, in the cold of winter and without food. The main camp, GROSS-ROSEN itself, was evacuated in February 1945, and the remaining satellite camps soon after.
Including the transfers made in 1944, a minimum of 19,500 Jewish prisoners were moved from GROSS-ROSEN to concentration camps in the Reich, about 35 percent of the JEWISH prisoners in the camp. The fate of the other 37,500 has not been established so far. About half of the Jewish prisoners in the satellite camps are known to have been left behind.
Even from these incomplete data it is clear that a large proportion of the prisoners lived to see the Nazi regime’s downfall. When the satellite camps were liberated, Jewish committees were formed in them that took the prisoners under their care, especially the many who were sick. They obtained food and clothing and assisted in the prisoners repatriation to their countries of origin. Many of the former Gross-Rosen prisoners gathered in Reichenbach, and on June 17, 1945, representatives of the Jewish committees of six Lower Silesian towns convened there and formed a district committee of Polish Jews. The purpose was to coordinate activities on behalf of the surviving Jewish population under the new social and political conditions.
SOURCES
Gutman, Y., and A. Saf, eds. The Nazi Concentration Camps, Jerusalem, 1980
Moldawa, M. Gross-Rosen: Oboz koncentracyjny na Slasku. Warsaw, 1967
“Gross-Rosen.” Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Eds. Robert Rozett and Shmuel Spector. New York: Facts on File, 2000
