Definition of condemn for English Language Learners. : 1  to say in a strong and definite way that someone or something is bad or wrong. : 2  to give (someone) a usually severe punishment. : 3  to cause (someone) to suffer or live in difficult or unpleasant conditions.
The first concentration established in Nazi Germany was at Dachau. As the name of the camps suggest, these camps incarcerated a large number of people into a relatively small area â i.e. concentrated their numbers into a small space.
Its name was changed to Auschwitz, which also became the name of Konzentrationslager Auschwitz. The direct reason for the establishment of the camp was the fact that mass arrests of Poles were increasing beyond the capacity of existing local prisons. Initially, Auschwitz was to be one more concentration camp of the type that the Nazis had been setting up since the early 1930s. It functioned in this role throughout its existence, even when, beginning in 1942, it also became the largest of the death camps.