In a sociological study of the concentration camps, H.G. Adler, who had first-hand experience of them, writes: "The problems of Nazism represent nothing but an extreme-admittedly insanely extreme-special case of conditions or possibilities that are encountered in modern society all over the world, at least latently and often manifestly...Cruelty and deindividualization are what make a concentration camp possible; both have to be systematically fostered for it to exist and become what it is: a place of absolute and ultimate subjugation beyond the bounds of a life worth living."