Resistance
The Dachau concentration camp consisted of a variety of prisoners: Jews, German Communists, Social Democrats, other political opponents of the Nazi regime, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, “asocials” and repeat criminals, as well as deacons, priests, bishops, and other religious officials. In August 1944, a women’s camp opened inside Dachau. Its first shipment of women came from Auschwitz-Birkenau. An underground camp committee was organized to try to ensure the survival of the prisoners and if necessary, to organize resistance to SS plans of action. Another form of resistance was literary or artistic works, as well as religious services held by the multitude of religious officials interned within the camp. Writing a diary on scraps of paper, producing drawings and illustrations of camp life, making jewelry out of copper wire, writing a Passover Haggadah, and conducting prayer services on the eve of Rosh Hashanah are all manifestations of the tremendous psychological strength maintained by these frail, starving people (USHMM).