Prisoner doctors

In 1943-1944, prisoners who were interested in helping their sick fellow-prisoners began to play a leading role in both the medical “self-government” and among the staff on the wards. Through November 1944, SS doctors undermined their efforts through selection, which sent the sickest prisoners (only Jews after August 1943) to die in the gas chambers. To the end of their existence, the hospitals played a key role in camp life. They were the place where some patients spent their last days and hours. For a few, they represented survival.