From the beginning of his regime, Adolf Hitler used mass detention as a weapon, arresting and holding those whom he perceived as posing a threat to his power. The first of Hitler's political prisons were nothing more than improvised confinement facilities in basements, cellars, and other places. In such places, beginning in January 1933 when Hitler assumed the post of chancellor, the Sturmabteilung (SA), the brown-shirted muscle of the Nazi party, confined those they had rounded up. In March, the SA established larger camps at Nohra, Thuringia, and Oranienburg, Prussia. At this time, the Schutzstaffel (SS), working in concert with the Bavarian Political Police, established Dachau, generally considered the first true concentration camp of the Nazi regime.

Before the year ended, more camps--Sonnenburg, Lichtenburg, Börgermoor, Esterwegen, and Brandenburg--were established, all in Prussia. These were quickly followed by Sachsenburg in Saxony. In May 1934, administration of the camps, which now held about 80,000 inmates, was completely assumed by the SS. SS chief Heinrich Himmler assigned Theodor Ecke, who had been commandant at Dachau, to reorganize the camps. Ecke closed all the SA camps, reformed the administration of the others, and created the SS Death's Head units that served as guards. As inspector of concentration camps, Ecke was responsible for their physical administration, whereas incarcerations and releases were handled by the Gestapo.

Under Ecke, the number of prisoners was vastly decreased, at least temporarily, and the number of camps, as of the end of 1934, reduced to five: Esterwagen, Lichtenburg, Moringen (which held just 49 prisoners, all women), Dachau, and Sachsenburg. In 1935, five new camps were authorized to accommodate those arrested in actions against communists and those judged undesirable or "antisocial," including Gypsies and habitual criminals. Beginning in November 1938, after Kristallnacht, Jews began to arrive in substantial numbers as well. By this time, the camps had progressed beyond simple incarceration facilities and were now also used as quarters for forced labor in factories managed by the SS. . .

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