PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION »T-IHE author spent approximately one year in the two biggestJL German concentration camps for political prisoners, at Dachau and at Buchenwald. During this time he made observations and collected material, part of which will be presented in this paper.It is not the intention of this presentation to recount once more the horror story of the German concentration camp for political prisoners.It is assumed that the reader is roughly familiar with it, but it should be reiterated that the prisoners were deliberately tortured. 1 They were inadequately clothed, but nevertheless exposed to heat, rain, and freezing temperatures as long as seventeen hours a day, seven days a week. They suffered from extreme malnutrition, but had to perform hard labor. 2 Every single moment of their lives was strictly regulated and supervised. They were never permitted to see any visitors, nor a minister. They were not entitled to any medical care, and when they received it, it was rarely administered by medically trained persons. 3 The prisoners did not know exactly why they were imprisoned, and never knew for how long. This may explain why we shall speak of the prisoners as persons finding themselves in an "extreme" situation.The acts of terror committed in these camps arouse in the minds of civilized persons justified and strong emotions, and those emotions lead them sometimes to overlook that terror is, as far as the 1 For an official report on life in these camps see: Papers concerning the treatment of German nationals in Germany. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1939. 2 The daily food the prisoners received yielded approximately 1800 calories, whereas for the labor they were forced to perform the average caloric requirement is from 3000 to 3300 calories.

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