concentration camp

noun

: a place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard

—used especially in reference to camps created by the Nazis in World War II for the internment and persecution of Jews and other prisoners

The Nazi soldiers hauled [Mordechai] Strigler off to a concentration camp, and carved swastikas into his cheeks and forehead with a razor blade. Over the next five years, he was sent from one concentration camp or slave-labor camp to another.

—David Remnick

She ended up dying in a concentration camp, just a few months before she would have been liberated.

—Marilyn Reynolds

The V2 killed thousands of British civilians while 20,000 concentration camp inmates died as slave labourers during its manufacture in the closing stages of the second world war.

—Anna Tomforde et al.

see also death camp

Examples of concentration camp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the prosecution quickly puts paid to Quisling’s claim via the chilling testimony of Norwegian Jewish concentration camp survivor, Dr. Leo Eitinger (Benjamin L. Røsler). —Alissa Simon, Variety, 9 Sep. 2024

Guy Pearce supports as the wealthy, perhaps nefarious patron who hires him to construct a library that all too closely resembles the concentration camp Tóth survived. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2024

Prejudice has always been a part of concentration camps. —Andrea Pitzer, Scientific American, 23 July 2024

The movie, directed by Ellen Kuras, mainly takes place during World War II when Miller was on the front lines, taking some of the most iconic photos to emerge from the Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps. —Esther Zuckerman, TIME, 27 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

concentration camp

noun

: a camp where persons (as prisoners of war, political prisoners, or refugees) are detained