13. The Muselmann were tormented to death deliberately
Muselmmann (German for Muslim) was a term used in the camps to describe those doomed to die. It was a derisive slang term used by the prisoners, mostly Jewish, and the SS guards as well and applied to those who had simply given up and resigned themselves to their fates. According to a survivor of Sachsenhausen, the SS guards took it upon themselves to help them along the way. It was easy to become a Muselmann, a common cold could weaken a prisoner to the point that it was noticed by the guards, who would then beat them, further weakening them, and beginning the downward trend. Anyone could become a Muselmann through simple bad luck.
The Muselmann came back from work, “…dirtier and more exhausted…than the others. Because they were always pushed to the back they often did not manage to eat their lunchtime soup”. Missing meals meant further weakening, greater exhaustion, poorer work performance, and more beatings as the cycle continued downward. A Jewish survivor of Sachshausen wrote, “Finally they would become numb and stupid, losing their will and their control of themselves – that was the typical Muselmann.” Muselmannen were quickly selected for extermination after the Final Solution was implemented.