Resistance in the Nazi Concentration Camps, 1933-1945

by Krzysztof Dunin-Wąsowicz

The book is concerned with only one aspect of camp history, namely with various forms of resistance from 1933 to 1945, within the Nazi concentration and extermination camps, which were under the political control of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA), the SS Reich Security Department. Though resistance also developed in other places of Nazi terror, such as prisons and detention centres, various types of camps including internment camps, ghettos, etc., these have not been taken into consideration. This approach made it possible for the author to present the problem as a whole and also to make a comparative analysis. The book is divided according to forms of resistance met with and comparisons are made only in the chapters dealing with the different types in turn. Because of the multitude of facts, names, and events it was necessary to adopt a synthetic approach. Certain chapters of a more general character are intended to give the reader a highly concentrated introduction to the general problems associated with these tragic institutions which were responsible for the martyrdom and death of so many millions of innocent victims. --- Introduction; 1.The Current State of Research and Available Source Materials; 2.The System and Organization of the Nazi Concentration Camps; 3.The Basic Concept of Resistance in the Concentration Camps and Its Forms; 4.Initial Forms of Mutual Aid, Solidarity. The Struggle for Trusty Posts; 5.Camp Hospitals and Their Contribution to Organized Resistance; 6.Political Activities in the Camps; 7.The Battle Against the Informers; 8.Liaison Between the Camps and the Outside World; 9.Escapes; 10.Sabotage; 11.Armed Resistance in the Camps; 12.Aspects of Cultural Life in the Concentration Camps; 13.Religious Life in the Concentration Camps; 14.A Summing-up of the Achievements of Organized Resistance in the Concentration Camps; List of Illustrations; Source Materials and Bibliography; Index of Persons

436 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1982