The phrase "Nazi concentration camp" is often used loosely to refer to various types of internment sites operated by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
.
More specifically,
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
refers to the camps run by the
Concentration Camps Inspectorate
The Concentration Camps Inspectorate (CCI) or in German, IKL (''Inspektion der Konzentrationslager''; ) was the central SS administrative and managerial authority for the concentration camps of the Third Reich. Created by Theodor Eicke, it was or ...
and later the
SS Main Economic and Administrative Office
The SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (; SS-WVHA) was a Nazi organization responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects of the (a main branch of the ; SS). It also ran the concentration camps and was instru ...
.
['']Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...
'', volume I, Editor’s Introduction to the Series and Volume I The Nazi regime employed various types of detention and murder facilities within Germany and the territory it conquered and occupied, while Nazi allies also operated their own internment facilities.
The editors of ''
Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...
'' estimate that these sites totaled more than 42,500 locations, of which 980 were Nazi concentration camps proper.
Nazi Germany
Types of detention and murder facilities employed by the Nazi regime included:
Nazi Allies
Nazi allies also operated their own internment facilities, including:['']Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...
'', volume III, table of contents
* Internment camps in Bulgaria
*Concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia
During World War II, numerous concentration camps existed in the Independent State of Croatia. Most of them were operated by the Croatian Ustaša authorities, but some of them were operated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
Ustaša-operated cam ...
* Internment camps in Finland
*Internment camps in France
Numerous internment camps and concentration camps were located in France before, during and after World War II. Beside the camps created during World War I to intern German, Austrian and Ottoman civilian prisoners, the Third Republic (1871–194 ...
** Internment camps in French North Africa
* Internment camps in Hungary
* Internment camps of Italy
* Concentration camps in Norway
* Internment camps of Romania
* Internment camps in the Slovak State
* Concentration camps in Tunisia
See also
* List of Nazi extermination camps and euthanasia centers
* List of Nazi concentration camps
According to the '' Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos'', there were 23 main concentration camps (), of which most had a system of satellite camps. Including the satellite camps, the total number of Nazi concentration camps that existed at one ...
References
{{reflist
World War II internment camps