World War II brought many deaths around the world. People of different races died because the guards killed them. Some occurred in camps and gas chambers, others took place in a battle. The concentration camps had many deaths and many more secrets. Ravensbrück, the second largest concentration camp right behind Auschwitz, had only women prisoners. During the Holocaust, many people feared for their lives at Ravensbrück because of the lack of food, the poor living conditions, and the amount of work. The women in Ravensbrück had to live there with little to no food. When the numbers of women in the camp increased, the number of food rations decreased. When prisoners first arrived into the camp the guards stored them in a circus-like tent, without …show more content…
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), a typhus epidemic spread through the camp. They say, “By January 1945 the barracks were horribly overcrowded. This overcrowding, aggravated by abominable sanitary conditions, resulting in a typhus epidemic that spread throughout the camp” (qtd. in “Ravensbrück”). The rare disease called typhus, an uncommon disease of a bacteria, spreads by infected lice. Even though the disease is rarely seen nowadays, typhus has caused deaths in the past. Women had to do a lot of physical labor at the camp. The guards forced the prisoners to work in factories. The United States Holocaust Museum mentions, “ . . . while other prisoners “volunteered” after the camp authorities promised the preferential treatment or release from the concentration camp after six months. None of the women were released early from the camp as promised” (qtd. in “Ravensbrück”). About 100 women worked in the factories. The guards did not force the women to work on Sundays. The guards allowed them to socialize with the other prisoners. According to Jewish Virtual Library, “On Sundays the women were not required to work, and socialized in the barracks or outside to the limited extent possible” (qtd. in “Ravensbrück Concentration Camp: History &