It is difficult for people today (or even then) to understand how a small number of guards could keep a large number of concentration camp prisoners in thrall.

The explanation lies in the experiences which all the prisoners underwent.

From being transported by cattle car without food or water, to being subjected to outright torture, to being forced to make horrible choices, each prisoner was humiliated.  The Germans knew perfectly well that this humiliation was the tool that would enslave their prisoners.

New prisoners were not able to understand why no one even objected to the ongoing abuse—-until they themselves were thus abused.

It was the shame that the prisoners felt that kept them enslaved: if they had chosen to stay alive, they felt ashamed of what they had endured to do so.   And even the ones who had given up—died ashamed.

Anyone who has not experienced this deep shame cannot understand its power.  Noble sentiments no longer exist: one lies, cheats, steals, even kills without remorse, anything to stay alive.  A prisoner is no longer fully human, and may never be fully human again.

This seemingly minor fact (the shame) accounts for all of the manifestations seen in concentration camp prisoners: they were deeply ashamed of who they had become.

                 Lou Gottlieb                              11/14/2017