A traditional ironic formula originating within the camp’s very observant criminal element runs: ‘Tyranny! The politicals are being herded into the bathhouse.’ This joking remark is fraught with bitter truth. The bathhouse is a negative event, a burden in the convict’s life. This observation is a testimony of that ‘shift of values’ which is the main quality that the camp instills in its inmates. How can that be? Avoidance of the bathhouse constantly perplexes both doctors and camp officials who view this absenteeism as a kind of protest, a violation of discipline, a sort of challenge to the camp regime. But fact is fact and the bathhouse ritual, practiced over the years, represents an event in the life of the camp. The guards are mobilized and instructed, and all the supervisors, not to mention the guards, take part personally in catching truants. Running the bathhouse and disinfecting clothes in the steam rooms is the direct and official responsibility of the Sanitation Squad.
