Ravensbruck: The Concentration Camp for Women
Inside Ravensbrück, the Nazi concentration camp for women, tens of thousands lost their lives. Although it may not be as well-known as Auschwitz or Dachau, Ravensbrück was the Nazis' main concentration camp built specifically for women.
The camp, which opened in May 1939, was designed to hold women deemed "asocial" or "politically dangerous" by the Nazis, including communists, social democrats, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, Roma, Sinti, and sex workers. Later, it became a prison for female resistance fighters from across occupied Europe.
The compound was run by the SS and staffed with female guards, hundreds of whom trained there before being sent to other camps. The camp's harsh conditions, including barbed wire, watchtowers, long roll-call squares, and physical abuse, made it a bleak backdrop for one of the darkest chapters of the war.
Ravensbrück was the backdrop for what we consider one of the bleakest chapters of the war.
Author's summary: Ravensbrück was a Nazi concentration camp for women where tens of thousands lost their lives.