internment camp

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English[edit]

Noun[edit]

internment camp (plural internment camps)

  1. (euphemistic) a concentration camp, especially a non-Nazi one from before or during WWII; a detention center; a relocation camp.
    Historical references describe the camps as internment camps, although others favor the name relocation camps. Others, more critical of this action, refer to them as detention camps or concentration camps.
    • 2018, Emily Feng, “Forced labour being used in China’s ‘re-education’ camps”, in Financial Times[1]:
      People assigned to the factories appear to be subject to a less stringent regime than those in the main internment camps, as they are allowed to receive monitored monthly visits and short calls from family members.

Usage notes[edit]

This term often appears in texts translated from German, where Internierungslager means any non-Nazi concentration camp, while Konzentrationslager is used exclusively for Nazi concentration camps.

Translations[edit]

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