Terror was central to the Nazi regime, and the Nazi concentration camps were places of horror where prisoners were dehumanized and robbed of their dignity and where millions were murdered. How did prisoners cope with the brutal and degrading conditions of life within the camps?

In this highly original book Maja Suderland takes the reader inside the concentration camps and examines the everyday social life of prisoners - their daily activities and routines, the social relationships and networks they created and the strategies they developed to cope with the harsh conditions and the brutality of the guards. Without overlooking the violence of the camps, the contradictions of camp life or the elusive complexity of the multicultural prisoner society, Suderland explores the hidden social practices that enabled prisoners to preserve their human dignity and create a sense of individuality and community despite the appalling circumstances.

This remarkable account of social life in extreme conditions will be of great interest to students and scholars in history, sociology and the social sciences generally, as well as to a wider readership interested in the Holocaust and the concentration camps.

About the Author
Maja Suderland teaches sociology at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.

Reviews

"Maja Suderland has written an innovative and tremendously exciting book. The meticulous examination of the complex reality of the concentration camps, the balanced analysis and careful reading which makes it possible to detect the finest nuances, and finally, the clear, precise and differentiated language make this an outstanding sociological work that sets new standards."
Beate Krais, Technical University of Darmstadt

"Maja Suderland's book is the first convincing sociological analysis of the Nazi concentration camps. She goes beyond specific historical cases and achieves an analytical depth which explains how the concentration camps functioned in terms of the social categories we are familiar with from 'normal' society."
Claus Fullberg-Stolberg, Leibniz University, Hannover

"This is clearly a unique study."
(Choice)

Book Information
ISBN 9780745663357
Author Maja Suderland
Format Hardback
Page Count 300
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 635g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 163mm * 31mm