Final answer:
The 'living skeletons' are emaciated Jewish prisoners, and they are to be sent to death camps like Treblinka for execution or other forced-labor camps. This was a common fate for many during the Holocaust, exemplified by the efficiency and deception used by the Nazis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The "living skeletons" Gerda meets in the Dulag are likely Jewish prisoners, emaciated and on the brink of death due to the harsh conditions of the Holocaust. They were meeting the fate of many victims of the Holocaust, facing transportation to death camps like Treblinka for immediate execution in the gas chambers or to other forced-labor camps such as Majdanek.
During the Holocaust, the Nazis used deceitful tactics to round up Jews, such as telling them they were to be resettled, only to be executed shortly after. The execution squads, known as Einsatzgruppen, were chillingly efficient as described by a leader named Ohlendorf during the Nuremberg Trials. He detailed the ruthless and systematic nature in which the executions were carried out, having drawn the victims in under false pretexts, only for them to realize their fate moments before death.
The recollection of Felix L. Sparks on the liberation of Dachau provides a haunting eyewitness account of the horrors discovered by Allied soldiers, further illustrating the dehumanization and brutality faced by the prisoners.