Camp life is somewhat an ironic way of titling this section, because in the camps, all that seemed to exsist was death. Once prisoners set foot into the camps, their life expectancy dropped from 70 years to about six months. Once the survivng prisoners arrived at the camp from the long days of riding in cattle cars, they were either selected to be immeadietly killed or allowed their lives to linger by being put into forced labor. Upon arriving prisoners were stripped of their clothes and belongings, tatooed with numbers and had their hair shaven. Those not fit enough to work were sent to the gas chambers, and then their bodies were burned in the crematories. Surviving in the camps was a trial on its own. Rations ranged from a bowl of soup and a crust of bread, or old rotten potato peelings. In the barracks, there were wooden bunks that served as beds, and often were crammed with 5 prisoners to a bunk. Disease was common, as bathing and washing was not allowed, and toilets were extremely limited. Escape was highly improbable, as barbwire and searchlights were positioned around the perimeter of the camps. In Auschwitz, there was a saying that “you enter through the gates, and leave through the chimmneys”. When knowledge of the camps was revealed to the American public, the reaction was shock and horror that human beings could be capable of such horrible things.
