Origin of the term Coy

[Yuli]

Perhaps someone knows the origin of the term "Coy" or "Coya" that prisoners in women's camp of Birkenau used to call their small living space between the horizontal concrete partitions and wooden planks in the brick barracks?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... uaters.JPG
Thank you

[Knouterer]

The Dutch word for a bunk, especially aboard ship, is "kooi". I don't know if there is any connection.

[Waleed Y. Majeed]

The same for danish “køje”.
Google english/german translation gives these examples:

bunk
Koje, Schlafkoje, Quatsch, Geschwätz
berth
Liegeplatz, Anlegeplatz, Koje, Ankerplatz, Schlafplatz, Raum
bed
Bett, Lager, Beet, Sohle, Koje, Bank

Waleed

[Yuli]

Thank you. This was very helpful.

[Hans1906]

Hi Yuli,

Bei einer Baracke (aus dem Span./Frz. barro für Lehm) handelte es sich in der Regel um ein provisorisches Gebäude zur vorübergehenden massenhaften Unterbringung von Personen, wie Soldaten, Arbeiter, Kriegsgefangene, Internierte, Zwangsarbeiter oder einer Werkstatt u. ä. Fast jeder Block in den Konzentrationslagern wurde durch eine Zwischenwand quer geteilt. In jedem Teil gab es zwei große und zwei kleine Räume. In den Schlafräumen waren entlang der Außenwand drei Zwischenböden eingezogen, die durch weitere Unterteilungen die zwei bzw. dreigeschossigen Schlafkojen bildeten. Auf diese Weise wurden pro Baracke 400 bis zu 700 Menschen untergebracht. (Es wurde auch von einer Belegung mit 936 Personen, ja sogar von über 2000 berichtet). 10, 11 oder 12 Personen mussten in Fächern von 4 m Breite schlafen.

Source and link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZ-Baracke

Koje (Wikipedia/G) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koje

Basically, a "Koje" was an extremely cramped place to sleep, wherever..., the term is well known to me from my years in sailing.


Hans
P.S. I don't think the photo you posted above even remotely shows the situation at the time.
Such day centers and sleeping quarters were only possible in the German concentration camps, they are pictures from hell,
even without the victims, such images leave you speechless.

[Yuli]

Thank you for the references. Surely these photos don't convey the terrible conditions of the inmates.

There were two types of living spaces in the barracks of the women's camp in Birkenau:

1. In the brick barracks there were 2 meters high brick partitions every 2 meters. In between two adjacent partitions two wooden boards (actually doors taken from destroyed farmhouses) were positioned at about 80 and 160 cm above the floor, thereby forming three spaces, each housing 8 or more women.

2. In the wooden barracks there were rows of 3 tier wooden bunks, and again each 'pritsche' housed 8 or more women.

So I wonder whether in the camp's jargon the term Koje was used for both types of accommodations (surely it was used for the first type).