The Theory and Practice of Hell by Eugen Kogon

blankets, benches, no water for drinking or washing, not even the most necessary clothing, no mess gear, spoons, laundry, drugs, drainage, latrines—in short, not even the most primitive necessities of life. From the first day the entire camp was haunted by the specter of an epidemic. The prisoner ad ministration tried feverishly to improve conditions in the tent camp. With material pilfered from SS depots, a water and sewerage line, latrines and a storeroom for bread were illegally constructed. Blankets, mess gear and spoons were scraped together. Dispensaries began to function, drainage ditches were dug, the roll-call area within the tent camp was paved, calcium chloride was frequently sprinkled throughout the area. Late in August the five tents were supplemented by a barracks constructed from salvaged lumber, and in the fall they were replaced by three barracks built to one side of the tents. The tents themselves were gradually torn down—the last one did not disappear until January 1945. The SS paid little further attention to the matter.
    Construction of this new Little Camp had actually begun as early as 1942, when the influx of non-Germans into the con centration camps began to reach staggering proportions. Together with the buildings just mentioned it ultimately num bered seventeen barracks. There were 1,500 and even 2,000
     

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    men to a barracks, instead of the maximum capacity of 500. They lived in groups of six to ten in multidecked bunks arranged on both sides of a central aisle, without adequate light or air, each with one blanket—if he was lucky! The latrines were located outside. As the war continued, these barracks became the scene of unimaginable tragedies. The worst period began in the fall of 1944. Deaths in the Little Camp rose so sharply that at times there were up to 150 or 200 a day in it alone. Bodies simply lay about in the open, for the living, in order to make room, would sometimes simply toss them out of the barracks. The forces of order were almost powerless in the face of this mass dying. The Senior Block In mates were faced by an impossible task, since hunger and deprivation unhinged many of the prisoners. There were in cidents almost beyond comprehension. Nature’s call was an swered atop naked dead bodies. On one occasion a young Hungarian Jew asked permission of the Senior Block Inmate to extract his dying father’s gold teeth, since otherwise they would be stolen by others. Savage struggles to the death took place over the pitiful daily ration, and the Barracks Orderlies could not break up the fights. The ravenous prisoners, fresh from death shipments, would tear out the light wires as soon as the food containers arrived, and a wild melee would ensue in which a few would get more than their share while most would get nothing. Mess gear was commonly used in place of the latrines, partly from feebleness that made it impossible to leave the barracks, partly from fear of the weather outside or of theft, partly because it was almost impossible to get out of the crowded bunks. Those on top often climbed to the roof, by removing boards and roofing, and fouled the rafters. The human mind is unequal to picture these awful scenes.
    Behind the roll-call area came the one-story wooden and two-story masonry barracks. Each wooden barracks had two wings, the two-story masonry barracks four (one generally reserved for the “ big shots,” Senior Inmate, clerks, foremen, etc.). A wing consisted of a day room and sleeping quarters for one to two hundred prisoners. When a camp had been fully established, a washroom and open privy might be in stalled between each two wings. This was where the prisoners secretly smoked when they had the chance, smoking in the barracks being strictly forbidden. In the sleeping quarters,
     

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    cots were arranged in tiers. They held straw pallets which until late 1941 were covered with checkered