I myself have an odd question:

Odd question that's been weighing at me

Why? In the sense of what is it that you hope to gain from an answer to this question? What makes this detail that is so incredibly small and in the framework of the question completely divorced from the context of life in the camps so interesting? Is it just possessing this tid-bit of knowledge that is so important (which is something I am not criticizing per se) or what other motivation is there behind this question?

I'm asking because I am generally curious as to what kind of drive or motivation lies behind questions like this, especially when they are framed in a way that focus on the tid-bit alone without acknowledgment of the, let's call it, human factor behind it. What I mean is that when reading these questions framed like this solely about the process or about obese prisoners or something similar, I just wonder if it is my professional dealing with the subject that let's me see the unstated implications and questions left out of this framing or if it is something else. Again, I am not trying to criticize you specifically for asking this question, I am just generally curious about the process that leads to questions being posed in such a framing.

For me, when considering the issue of shaving and concentration camp inmates, what comes to mind is the systematic process and logic behind it that aims at robbing a person of their individuality. The removal of hair, which coincided with the literal commodification of their victims body parts since the Nazis sold this hair to companies, was a process designed of robbing people of their individual, of literally inscribing their status as prisoners and oppressed in their bodies, and of punishing them for imaginary crimes, such as simply being Jewish, through this. It features prominently in many a survivors' recollections about the process of "becoming a number" at the beginning of their imprisonment: the humiliation of being shaven, of having taken away everything that defined oneself as an individual from one's hair to one's name, the feeling of being robbed of one's humanity and being made to look "sub-human" in line with Nazi stereotypes to boot.

I am acutely aware that the further we are removed from history, both in temporal terms as well as experience, the more history seems like fiction and does not possess for us the feeling of reality despite the abstract knowledge that it actually occurred. What I am however often so curious about when these question come up if any semblance of consideration for the actual human beings affected by this process played a role or if it is simply a "shower thought"-esque process and consequently if it is my own professionally shaped perspective that makes me see these things or if it something that other people are also aware of.

To answer your question and write a little about the implications: Yes, concentration camp inmates had to frequently shave their heads because this was prescribed by the SS in the camps, though frequent exceptions were made for privileged prisoners such as Kapos and others (I wrote more about this just today here). However, they were not frequently taken to a barber to be shaved except immediately after the arrival in the camp.

Rather, they were expected to find their own means and ways of shaving their heads by organizing a razor blade somewhere since they were not provided with one. Failing to comply with these regulations could have violent consequences since if an SS guard felt your hair was not short enough or a prisoner was not shaved properly, they felt entitled to punish them with a variety of means, from beating them up, to locking them in a bunker or cell, to outright killing them.

This is another yet another manifestation of the brutal system of the camps: People not given means to comply with the rules where expected to comply with these arbitrary regulations that could be used by any guard at any time to justify brutality, violence and murder against the inmates.

Another example of this that is quite similar is "cap tossing": Priosners were expected to wear caps as part of their uniforms. In every camp, guards would make a joke out of taking the caps of prisoners and throwing them outside the confines of the area where prisoners were allowed. If the prisoner would go to retrieve the cap, the guard would shoot him with the justification that the prisoner was "trying to escape". If the prisoner refused to retrieve the cap, the guard would shoot him for failure to comply with an order. In both cases, the guard would receive compensatory holiday for applying the camp rules.

Like with having to shave one's head without being given the means to do so, these are very illustrative examples of the cruelty of the concentration camp and of the Nazis' treatment of its prisoners. Within this system, the question of being able to shave one's head could become a question of life and death – a situation of such horror that it is, thankfully, not imaginable to the vast majority of us.

Sources:

• Hermann Langbein: Menschen in Auschwitz.

• Wolfgang Sofsky: Die Ordnung des Terrors.

• Nicholaus Wachsmann: KL. A history of the Nazi Concentration Camps.