Disinfection Wagons at Sagan

Creator

Anonymous

Preview

Creation Date

1915

Description

Two mobile disinfection machines stand outside the barracks in the compound at Sagan. The sanitary personnel "shovel" prisoner clothing from the baskets into the disinfection chamber to avoid contamination. The prevention of epidemics was a high priority for German prison administrators and the disinfection machines helped kill lice and other conveyers of disease. These wagons followed German troops as they advanced across Belgium and northern France but with the establishment of trench warfare and permanent disinfection stations the units were assigned to the growing number of new prison camps in Germany. Once a prison camp was firmly established, the Germans constructed permanent disinfection chambers in these facilities.