After Night: North Korean Concentration Camps Essential Question: Does dehumanization still exist in our world today?

TPS: What do you know about this man?

North Korea North Korea is considered a dictatorship that is described as totalitarian and Stalinist. There is a cult-like following of the ruling Kim family. North Korea has allowed between 600,000 and 2,500,000 of its people to starve to death while its government squandered the nation’s resources on weapons and luxuries for its ruling elite

North Korean Concentration Camps “Three Generations of Punishment” Anyone found guilty of committing a crime, which could be as simple as trying to escape North Korea, would be sent to the camp along with that person's entire family. A person would be sent to the camp along with that person’s entire family and subsequent generations of family members would be born in prison and live their entire lives there.

Life in the Concentration Camps As reported by witnesses, the prisoners have to do very hard and dangerous work in mines and other workplaces from 5:30 in the morning until midnight People are forced to work like slaves and are tortured in case of minor offences. The punishment for violating camp rules ranges from such punishments of having the tip of one's finger cut off, to being tortured for months, to death

Life in the Concentration Camps Food rations are very small, consisting of salted cabbage and corn, so that the prisoners are very skinny and weak. Many die of undernourishment, illness, work accidents, and the aftereffects of torture. Many prisoners resort to eating frogs, insects, rats, and snakes in order to survive. In order to eat anything outside of the prison-sanctioned meal, including these animals, prisoners must first get permission from the guards

North Korean Concentration Camps The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea estimates that North Korea holds approximately 120,000 people in its system of concentration and detention camps 400,000 people have died in these camps from torture, starvation, disease, and execution

CBS Clip http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/north-korean-prisoner-escaped-after-23-brutal-years/

“Out of starvation and hunger, find snakes and rats and you eat them.”

“The corpses are taken to the crematorium.”

“Solitary confinement punishment. Capturing mice from inside the cell

News Article from CNN “North Korea: We were forced to eat grass and soil” Read the article Annotate for important facts and details Circle any words that you do not understand Be prepared to discuss the article

Article Questions Answer the following questions. Be sure to cite specific lines from the article. What are the concentration camps accused of doing to their prisoners? What is North Korea’s response to the accusations? In what ways are the concentration camps similar to the Holocaust? What is most shocking about this article?