Extermination camp (original) (raw)

An extermination camp (German Vernichtungslager; also called death camp or death factory) was a kind of concentration camp set up by Nazi Germany during World War II, for the express purpose of killing Jews and other groups which were considered undesirable by the Nazi government. This was part of the Holocaust; the systematic murder of all Jews was termed the "final solution" (Endl�sung) in Germany.

Unlike concentration camps such as Dachau and slave labor camps, where there were horrendous death rates as a byproduct of starvation and ill treatment, the extermination camps were designed specifically for the elimination of persons through gas chambers or other means.

All six German extermination camps were built in occupied Poland. They were

• Auschwitz II (Auschwitz-Birkenau)
• Belzec
• Chelmno (Kulmhof)
• Majdanek
• Sobib�r
• Treblinka

Of these, Auschwitz and Chelmno were located within areas of western Poland annexed by Germany - the other four were located within the General Government area.

The Croat Ustaše puppet regime also operated an extermination camp at Jasenovac.

Treblinka, Belzec and Sobib�r were constructed during Operation Reinhard. These camps, plus Chelmno were pure extermination camps, built solely to kill vast numbers of Jews within hours of arrival. No non-Jews were ever sent to any of these four camps.