Definition

Noun: A concentration camp where prisoners are likely to die or be killed. It specifically refers to a detention facility designed for systematic murder, often through execution, forced labor, starvation, or disease.

Usage

The term "death camp" is used to describe a specific, horrific type of prison camp. It is a historical and political term, most commonly associated with the camps operated by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. * The Nazis established several death camps, such as Auschwitz and Treblinka, during World War II. * Historians distinguish between concentration camps, labor camps, and death camps, where the primary purpose was extermination. * The term is also used to describe camps in other genocides.

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often used in historical and academic discussions about genocide, totalitarianism, and human rights atrocities.
• It can be used metaphorically in literature or political rhetoric to describe a place or situation of extreme suffering and hopelessness, though this usage requires careful context to avoid trivializing the historical term.
  • The novel describes the prison as a death camp for the soul.

Variants and Related Words

• Extermination camp: A direct synonym, emphasizing the camp's purpose of mass murder.
• Concentration camp: A broader term for a camp where prisoners are detained, often under harsh conditions. Not all concentration camps were death camps, but all death camps were a type of concentration camp.
• Labor camp: A camp where prisoners are forced to work, which may also have deadly conditions.

Synonyms

• Extermination camp
• Killing center

Related Phrases

• Camp system: Refers to the network of different types of camps (e.g., concentration, death, labor) operated by a regime.
• Final Solution: The Nazi plan for the genocide of Jewish people, for which the death camps were a primary tool.

Noun

1. a concentration camp where prisoners are likely to die or be killed