Question

Why did the Germans build extermination camps?

a) To house prisoners of war
b) To promote economic growth
c) To implement the Final Solution
d) To provide shelter for refugees

Answer 1

The Germans built extermination camps as part of the Final Solution during the Holocaust, for the purpose of systematically murdering Jews and other targeted groups through means such as poisoned gas in Auschwitz and other camps in occupied Poland.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Germans built extermination camps to implement the Final Solution, the Nazi plan for the systematic genocide of Jews and other groups they considered undesirable. The extermination camps, distinct from concentration camps, were designed solely for mass murder. By early 1942, the Nazi leadership decided that the most efficient method of mass murder was through the use of extermination camps. These camps played a crucial role in the Holocaust, with six main camps constructed in occupied Poland expressly for the purpose of mass executions, typically using poisoned gas.

The Function of Extermination Camps

The primary function of these death factories was not to house prisoners for slave labor, but to carry out systematic killings. Locations like Auschwitz-Birkenau served as the final destination for Jews, facilitating murder on an industrial scale. Even as the war began to turn against them, the Nazis continued to prioritize the Final Solution, deporting hundreds of thousands to face death at these camps.