The order of terror : the concentration camp

369 Pages·1997·2.818 MB·English

by  Wolfgang Sofsky

THE ORDER OFTERROR
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Wolfgang Sofsky
THE ORDER OF TERROR:
THE CONCENTRATION CAMP
Translated by William Templer
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
OriginallypublishedasDieOrdnungdesTerrors.DasKonzentrationslager
Copyright1993S.FischerVerlagGmbH,FrankfurtamMain
Englishtranslationcopyright1997byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,Chichester,WestSussex
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Sofsky,Wolfgang.
[OrdnungdesTerrors.English.]
Theorderofterror:Theconcentrationcamp/WolfgangSofsky:
translatedbyWilliamTempler.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-691-04354-X(cl:alk.paper)
1. Concentrationcamps—Germany—History. 2. WorldWar,1939–
1945—Concentrationcamps—Germany. 3. Concentrationcamps—
Psychologicalaspects. 4. NationalsozialistischeDeutscheArbeiter–Partei.
Schutzstaffel—History. I. Title.
DD256.5.S5813 1996
940.54′7243—dc20 96-19212 CIP
ThepublicationofthisworkhasbeensubsidizedbyInterNationes,Bonn
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinTimesRoman
PrincetonUniversityPressbooksareprintedonacid-freepaperandmeet
theguidelinesforpermanenceanddurabilityoftheCommitteeonProduction
GuidelinesforBookLongevityoftheCouncilonLibraryResources
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyPrincetonAcademicPress
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
It happened,
thereforeit canhappen again. ...
It can happen everywhere.
(Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved)
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Contents
ListofTablesandFigures ix
Acknowledgments xi
PARTI:INTRODUCTION 1
1. Entry 3
2. AbsolutePower 16
3. OntheHistoryoftheConcentrationCamps 28
PARTII:SPACEANDTIME 45
4. ZonesandCampPlans 47
5. BoundaryandGate 55
6. TheBlock 65
7. CampTime 73
8. Prisoner’sTime 82
PARTIII:SOCIALSTRUCTURES 95
9. TheSSPersonnel 97
10. ClassesandClassifications 117
11. Self-ManagementandtheGradationofPower 130
12. TheAristocracy 145
13. Mass,Exchange,Dissociation 153
PARTIV:WORK 165
14. WorkandSlavery 167
15. TheBeneficiaries 173
16. WorkSituations 185
viii CONTENTS
PARTV:ViolenceandDeath 197
17. TheMuselmann 199
18. Epidemics 206
19. TerrorPunishment 214
20. ViolentExcesses 223
21. Selection 241
22. TheDeathFactory 259
Epilogue 276
SelectedGlossaryandAbbreviations 283
AbbreviationsUsedinNotesandBibliography 289
Notes 291
Bibliography 343
Tables and Figures
Tables
Table1: NewAdmissionsandDeathsinFourCamps,1937–1945 36
Table2: AdmissionsandDeathsinSelectedCamps,1933–1945 43
Table3: TransportsandSelectedAdmissionstoAuschwitz,
August18–31,1943 253
Table4: DeathFactoriesinAuschwitzandtheImmediateVicinity:
CapacityandPeriodofOperation 263
Figures
Figure1: TheSystemofClassifications 120
Figure2: TheOrderingofSocialStructure 126
Figure3: TheSocialField 128