25. The prisoners had “money” and the Germans provided means to spend it
Prisoners arriving at the concentration camps had all their valuables confiscated by the SS, including their money. At most camps, they were distributed an allowance in the form of prison currency. A class system developed in the camps based on the status of the prisoners. Some were VIPs, usually those held for political purposes. Their future value was considered by the SS when they granted them greater privileges. Others were functionaries of the camp itself. Others were the Kapos who assisted the SS in maintaining and operating the camps. The amount of camp currency received by each prisoner was dependent on where they found themselves within the camp’s hierarchy.
The SS provided the means of spending the currency earned within the camp. Although in most camps Jews were excluded from using their earnings. Who could use various facilities, and to what level, depending on one thing. The color of the triangular badges worn by all prisoners determined their priority. Jews wore two yellow triangles which formed the Star of David. Homosexuals wore pink triangles, which allowed them to use the Lagerbordell, a camp brothel established by the Germans at nearly all camps. The women who staffed them were mostly prisoners from Ravensbruck (Auschwitz selected them from its own prisoners). Himmler encouraged homosexuals to be allowed to use the brothels in the belief it might “cure” them of the deviancy which had caused their imprisonment.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps”. Nikolaus Wachsmann. 2015
“Germany and the Camp System”. Auschwitz, Inside the Nazi State. PBS.org. Online
“Enemies of the State”. Entry, The Holocaust Encyclopedia. US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Online
“Dora-Mittelbrau/Nordhausen”. Article, Holocaust Education & Research Team. Online
“Daily Routines”. Article, The Holocaust Explained. Wiener Library. Online
“Euthanasia Killings”. Article, US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Online
“Terezin (Theresienstadt): The ‘Model’ Ghetto”. Article, The Jewish Virtual Library. Online
“The Order of the Day”. Article, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Online