The Secret of Wars

If you were targeted by the Nazis, you would be taken to a concentration camp. The journey there is meant to instill fear, shame, and terror. You would be crammed into a vehicle with other prisoners, denied basic necessities. The journey could take days, filled with suffering and uncertainty. You may lose sight of family members. There is no hope of seeing them again. Being caught by the SS or Gestapo meant persecution and being sent to a concentration camp. As a persecuted minority, like a Jew in the 1930s and 40s, you were at risk of being captured and sent to a camp. The fear of being taken off the streets for simply being Jewish was a constant worry. The uncertainty of when it would happen made the situation even more terrifying. Your journey to a Nazi concentration camp is never a single, clear-cut, or straightforward

route.

It twists and turns, influenced by your background and the shifting whims of the Nazi regime’s

arbitrary quota.

To reiterate, perhaps you find yourself here because of your ties to groups opposing the

Nazis - communists, socialists, trade unionists, or anyone suspected of dissent.

Or maybe you were deemed undesirable for the Nazi vision of society - homeless, homosexual,

mentally ill, petty criminal, or simply seen as unproductive.

Some unfortunate souls ended up here through random mass arrests where they were caught

in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Others faced imprisonment for their religious beliefs, like Jehovah's Witnesses, who refused

to bow to the new order.

Or maybe you are simply one of the primary targets of Hitler’s brimming hatred- a member

of the Jewish faith and ethnicity, considered worth nothing more than gum beneath the German

boot.

The journey to concentration camps is influenced by various factors, including ties to opposing groups, undesirable societal characteristics, religious beliefs, or being a target of Hitler's hatred. The Nazi regime's quotas and arbitrary quotas aim to crush the spirit and subject individuals to unimaginable abuse. Once taken, they are forcefully loaded into vehicles and transported to a concentration camp chosen by the soldiers. In the camp, they meet other Jews of all ages, cowering in fear and terror. The uncertainty of their fate and the uncertainty of where they are being taken can take days, with no hope of cross-paths. The process is even more frightening when they are never told where they are being sent. If arrested in the later part of the Holocaust, they may have heard rumors of concentration camps in the East. Regardless of their knowledge, they can only wait with dread and painful agitation, waiting for their fate within the barbed wire fences of concentration camps.

The Nazis intended to crush the spirit of Jews, subjecting them to unimaginable abuse and dehumanization. They forcefully loaded them into vehicles and transported to a concentration camp, where they met other Jews of all ages in fear and terror. The cramped space, lack of water, food, and toilet facilities made them starved and dehydrated. The uncertainty of their fate made the journey difficult, and they may never find out where they are being sent. If they were arrested in the later part of the Holocaust, they may have heard rumors of concentration camps in the East. The transport felt like a march toward death, but the misfortune awaiting them within the barbed wire fences of concentration camps was unimaginable.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews were deemed unfit for labor in concentration camps during those dreadful days. A German soldier escorted them off and into gas chambers, where he sealed them. If they made it through, they had to face the atrocities of being separated from their possessions, being surrounded by frightened people, and being separated from their self. Everything associated with their previous existence was removed and stacked on a platform, never to be seen again.