oaf@mit-vax.UUCP (Oded Feingold) (02/05/86)
>Which reminds me of one of Don Black's sources who saw >a dancing hall in one of Hitler's concentration camps ... > > Jan Wasilewsky ------------------------------ There certainly was one in Theresienstadt, (Terzin in Czech) which was used to make "documentaries" regarding humane German treatment of Jews. Prominent Jews (and other "opponents" of Nazism) were taken there. They were periodically paraded before movie cameras, so people areound the world could see people they knew (or knew of) alive and apparently well. [Near the end of the war, Hitler gave up the sham and sent several trainloads of these people for liquidation at Auschwitz.] There may have been others, whether to maintain illusions (of possible survival) for the inmates or to boost morale so they would work harder. Many of the Vernichtungslager had labor divisions too - even Auschwitz had the associated Birkenau camp, where enslaved inmates worked for IG Farben. [Borten, R., THE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT OF IG FARBEN.] If I'm not mistaken, Dachau provided slaves for the Krupp armaments factories: Although the average survival time of such a slave was 90 days, skilled workers (like ammunition packers) were worth preserving. Hence a dancehall might be considered to pay for itself. [Like I said, I'm just guessing. I've seen movies of Terzin, but nothing like that from any other camp.] Check Herman Wouk's WAR AND REMEMBRANCE for a clearer picture of Terzin. Admittedly, it's fiction, but grounded in reality. By the way, such practices haven't ceased: The Soviets are building or have built their side of the Siberia-Europe gas pipeline with Zeks from the Gulag. Nice! -- Oded Feingold MIT AI Lab. 545 Tech Square Cambridge, Mass. 02139 OAF%OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA {harvard, ihnp4!mit-eddie}!mit-vax!oaf 617-253-8598