Bergen-Belsen

Bergen-Belsen, also called Belsen, was a concentration camp that was established in 1940, and then liberated on April 15, 1945. Unlike Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen did not have gas chambers, but this did not make the camp any less execrable. During the five years of its standing, 50,000+ prisoners died of being overworked, shot, hung, starved and catching diseases. Because of SS men and women in Bergen-Belsen such as Josef Kramer and Josef Mengele, thousands suffered each and every day during the darkest days of history.

The daily life of prisoners in Bergen-Belsen was a harsh, laborious day. At around 4:00 am, the prisoners were woke up by the kapo. They had to make their straw beds in a perfect military manner, which was nearly impossible to do. If the bed were made wrong, the kapo would beat the prisoners. Then the prisoners would have to go to the sanitary stations, then after being given a few minutes to wash, it would almost be time to go to roll call. Before roll call, the prisoners would get the morning meal. The morning meal consisted of 10 ounces of bread and a little bit of coffee. Then the prisoners would have to attend roll call. During roll call, the prisoners must stand at attention for hours and hours on end. Some prisoners would catch colds and die shortly after, or some would just die right then from being too weak to stand. Then the prisoners would have to run to your work team under the strict supervision of the kapo. When working, the more fortunate prisoners would get tools, such as a pick ax or a shovel. Others would have to work with their hands, which usually meant they didn't work very fast. Working slow often resulted in death by the kapo. For 12-14 hours, the prisoners will be doing hard and probably useless work such as lifting heavy sandbags and stones. Some may work in a factory, but this is no less gruesome. If the prisoner stops even for a second, it could be considered sabotage and a death wish. There would be a whistle, which meant lunch break. Once again the prisoners got a small amount of food; but this time it would be soup with old carrots or rutabagas. Soon after the lunch break seemed to have begun, the whistle meaning lunch break was over blew. The prisoners would have to return to work at full force. A while afterwards there would be another final whistle. This one meant that the prisoners would return to camp, but this was not necessarily a relief. Sometimes on the way back the prisoners could be expected to sing and were forced to carry the bodies of the ones who had died. Once the prisoners returned to camp, there was the evening roll call. The prisoners would be lined up in rows of ten and like the morning roll call, would be forced to stand at attention. If someone tries to escape, the prisoners would have to stay at attention until the want-to-be escapee is caught and often definitely killed. The afternoon roll call was a time of punishments and hangings. After a hanging, the prisoners