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Nazi concentration camps were for all who were perceived as enemies of the Third Reich. That included "born" enemies such as Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals et al, as well as communist sympathizers, political dissidents...anyone who in any manner radiated the idea that they were not enthusiasts for the regime.
The extermination camps were predominantly, but not exclusively used to murder Jews. Not all concentration camps were extermination camps, most were forced labor exploitation centers.
Yes there were lots of people who were not Jewish put into concentration camps. One example is the Roma. Furthermore the Nazis were not the first to use concentration camps nor the last. The Spanish used them against the Cubans during their wars in Cuba and the English used them against the Boers in South Africa. In fact, North Korea still maintains at least 6 known concentration camps.
The first known and documented victims of the Holocaust were the mentally ill and disabled that had been placed in state run institutions. Everyone from those with Down Syndrome to bi-polar disorder to people with congenital birth defects. It was the first move in attempting to create a "pure" race. After that; homosexuals, Roma, Poles (non-Jewish Poles were among the first victims at Auschwitz), Slavs from any nation, Jehovah's Witnesses, political dissidents, etc. Basically anyone that was viewed as a threat, deemd to be an 'undesirable' or acted as a dissident against the Nazi's. All told of the 11 million (commonly accepted number) victims of the Holocaust, approximately 5 million were non-Jews.
Japanese were put into American concentration camps. In fact, people of Japanese ancestry in Peru were kidnapped there, and brought to the USA, where where they were put into concentration camps along with Japanese-Americans.
About 1800 Japanese-Peruvians were stripped of their property and and brought to the USA, where they were first placed with Japense-Americans, and then moved to their own internment camps. After about two years, they were moved to New Jersey, where they were placed in forced labor camps to do agricultural work. Only about 80 of them ever returned to Peru.
There are some informative recent books and documentaries out if you are interested...I have become so in the last few yrs.
The book, Auschwitz, by Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt, details just how, why this facility came into being, who was sent there and when...etc. 1,200,000 murdered here, the epicenter of the "final solution"...
The documentary, The Relief of Belsen, re the liberation of Belsen camp by British, and their attempts to keep 60,000 prisoners from continuing to die, even after camp liberation. (from intractable starvation, diseases etc.) Usually described as Bergen-Belsen camp, there were two camps in same vicinity, one for women.
The Relief of Belsen can be seen free, on hulu.com
Hulu also offers docs on The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; Valkyrie, an attempt at assassination of Hitler...and more docs re WWII.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elizdreams
Were there any people, who weren't Jewish, put into concentration camps? Have you ever seen a picture or read a documented story of such a thing?
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