Four Perfect Pebbles

Content Warning: The section of the guide contains discussions of discrimination, graphic violence, and death.

Appell is the German word for “roll call” in a military context, and was used by the SS to summon prisoners from their barracks each morning. The purpose of the roll call was primarily to account for each prisoner and ensure that nobody had tried to escape, but it was also used as a form of abuse and intimidation designed to break the prisoners and make them easier to control. When a prisoner was found to be missing, either because they had tried to escape or had died during the night, the rest of the prisoners were forced to stand at attention until the person was found. This could sometimes mean standing in one spot for hours or all day long, with no way to relieve themselves and no food or water. These roll calls took place every single day at the Bergen-Belsen camp and at camps across Nazi Germany.

There were three main types of camps built and run by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and while each had its own purpose” the camps also fulfilled an overarching plan of genocide against Jews, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, Roma people, and communists.