KL (Konzentrationslager) Dachau, established in 1933, became the model for the later concentration camps created in the Reich. The camp’s first commandant, Theodor Eicke, drawn up terms and conditions andtraining methods for the guards, adopted subsequently by all the “Death’s Heads” (SS-Totenkopfverbände) units. Soon after, in recognition of his services, Eicke was appointed the Inspector of Concentration Camps. After the begining of the war and Eicke’s redeployment to the front, Deputy Inspector Richard Glücks took his position. In 1942, the Inspectorate was subordinated to the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (WVHA) headed by Oswald Pohl.

As of September 1, 1939, the following concentration camps were already existing in the Third Reich: Dachau (1933), Sachsenhausen (1936), Buchenwald (1937), Mauthausen (1938), Flossenbürg (1938), and a camp for female prisoners in Ravensbrück (1939). The next camp, KL Auschwitz, was located outside the prewar borders of the German Reich.