The phrase "Nazi concentration camp" is often used loosely to refer to various types of internment sites operated by Nazi Germany.[1] More specifically, Nazi concentration camps refers to the camps run by the Concentration Camps Inspectorate and later the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office.[2] The Nazi regime employed various types of detention and murder facilities within Germany and the territory it conquered and occupied, while Nazi allies also operated their own internment facilities.
The editors of Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos estimate that these sites totaled more than 42,500 locations, of which 980 were Nazi concentration camps proper.[3]
Types of detention and murder facilities employed by the Nazi regime included:[1] [2] [4]
| Type | German name | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civilian workers camp | Gemeinschaftslager | ||
| Custody camp | Haftlager | ||
| Internierungslager (Ilag) | Camp to hold Allied civilians, caught in areas that were occupied by the German Army | ||
| Camp for Jews | |||
| Konzentrationslager | Camp for the mass detention without trial of civilians, ethnic minorities, political opponents, etc. | ||
| Aktion T4 Euthanasia center | Euthanasie-Tötungsanstalt, T4-Tötungsanstalt | Center for murder of mentally ill or physically disabled people by involuntary euthanasia | |
| Vernichtungslager | Six killing centers for the dedicated purpose of systematic mass murder, primarily of Jews | ||
| Zwangsarbeitslager | |||
| Jüdischer Wohnbezirk | |||
| Zigeunerlager | |||
| Housing camp | Wohnlager | ||
| Arbeitslager | |||
| National Labor Service camp | RAD (Reichsarbeitsdienst)-Lager | ||
| Penal or punishment camp | Strafgefangenenlager and Straflager | ||
| Preferential camp | Vorzugslager | ||
| Kriegsgefangenenlager | Imprisonment camp for Allied military personnel captured and held under the terms of the Third Geneva Convention | ||
| Police custody camp | Polizeihaftlager | ||
| Außenkommando | Outlying camp under command of a main concentration camp main camps were Stammlager and subordinate camps were Außenlager | ||
| Security camp | Schutzhaftlager | ||
| Special camp | Sonderlager | ||
| Workers education camp | Arbeitserziehungslager | ||
| Work house | Arbeitshaus | ||
| Transit camp | Durchgangslager | Camps where prisoners were briefly detained prior to deportation to other Nazi camps. | |
| Youth protection camp | Jugendschutzlager | ||
| Youth detention camp | Jugendverwahrungslager |
Nazi allies also operated their own internment facilities, including:[5]