Major Antedating of "Concentration Camp" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

They probably go back at least to the Egyptians and the Israelites.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Shapiro, Fred
> Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 12:10 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Major Antedating of "Concentration Camp"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Major Antedating of "Concentration Camp"
>
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> --------
>
> Thanks for pointing this out, Jon.  Wikipedia also notes concentration
> camps (the thing, not the term) run by Russia in Poland in the 18th
> century, by the United States for Cherokees and other Native Americans
> in the 1830s, and by Spain in Cuba in the Ten Years' War (1868-1878).
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 12:44 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Major Antedating of "Concentration Camp"
>
> >It is not often that an antedating removes a significant stain from
> the
> his=
> tory of a major nation, ...
>
> Gee, I thought everybody knew this about the Spanish in Cuba.  I
> learned it in high-school American history.
>
> The claim that the British invented the "concentration camp"
originally
> came from the Germans, AFAIK..
>
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Shapiro, Fred
> <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Major Antedating of "Concentration Camp"
> >
> >
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> -
> > ---------
> >
> > It is not often that an antedating removes a significant stain from
> > the his= tory of a major nation, but this one does that (not that it
> > improves the Br= itish record in the Boer War, but at least it can
no
> > longer be said that th= e British invented the "concentration
camp").
> >
> > concentration camp (OED 1901)
> >
> > 1897 _Louisville Courier-Journal_ 17 July 9 (ProQuest Historical
> > Newspapers=
> > )  "If the United States does not come to the help of this people
> more
> > than=
> >  100,000 of them will perish in a month."  This is from a letter
> > written by=  an American citizen living in the province of Santa
> > Clara, Cuba.  The horr= ors of Weyler's concentration policy have
> been
> > pictured in strong colors, b= ut it seems as if the worst has not
yet
> > been realized.  "In the beginning o= f the concentration," this
> > American writes, "the people driven into the; to= wns were
> > occasionally allowed to go to the country on passes and search for=
> >  food to bring back to camp.   Having such passes, they sometimes
> escaped
> > t=
> > he notice of the scouting parties.  Now, however, the Spanish
columns
> > have = received orders from Weyler to shoot any one, whether
> furnished
> > with a pass=  or not, wherever found outside of the concentration
> > camp.
> >
> > [NOTE: This article appears to be reprinted from the St. Louis
> > Globe-Democr= at]
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
>
>
>
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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