THE TREBLINKA DEATH CAMP: History, Biographies, Remembrance 9783838205465, 9783838265469

Citation preview

The Treblinka Death Camp

A mightily important book, one sure to contribute to both scholarly and popular understandings of this human inferno—highly relevant for those wanting to better understand the Nazis' unprecedented, industrialised mass-murder that formed such a horrifically integral part of the Holocaust. Dr. Matthew Feldmann, Teesside University

Webb & Chocholatý

A number of books have been written on the death camp of Treblinka, but The Treblinka Death Camp. History, Biographies, Remembrance is unique. Webb and Chocolaty present the definitive account of one of history's most infamous factories of death where approximately 800,000 people lost their lives. The Nazis who ran it, the Ukrainian guards and maids, the Jewish survivors and the Poles living in the camp's shadow—every angle is covered in this astonishingly comprehensive work. The book attempts to provide a Roll of Remembrance with biographies of the Jews who perished in the death camp as well as of those who escaped from Treblinka in individual efforts or as part of the mass prisoner uprising on August 2nd, 1943. It also includes unique and previously unpublished sketches of the camp's ramp area and gas chamber, drawn by the survivors.

Chris Webb & Michal Chocholatý

The

Treblinka Death Camp

History, Biographies, Remembrance

Chris Webb has been studying the Holocaust for over forty years. He is the co-founder of the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team (H.E.A.R.T), one of the most visited websites on the Holocaust in the world. Michal Chocholatý is a historian who focuses on Treblinka and Sobibor.

ISBN: 978-3-8382-0546-5

ibidem

ibidem

The Treblinka Death Camp History, Biographies, Remembrance by Chris Webb and Michal Chocholatý

Chris Webb & Michal Chocholatý

THE TREBLINKA DEATH CAMP History, Biographies, Remembrance

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Cover design: Clare Spyrakis.

ISBN-13: 978-3-8382-6546-9

© ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press Stuttgart, Germany 2014 Alle Rechte vorbehalten Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Dies gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und elektronische Speicherformen sowie die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen.

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

For Artur Hojan

Dedicated to the memory of Kalman Teigman and Richard Glazar

FOREWORD

The Holocaust was a set of events that engulfed an entire continent. The Nazi occupation of Europe pursued Jews from Greece to the Soviet Union. The survivors have been scattered around the globe. In recent years the memory of these events has become a global discourse—there is a UN mandated remembrance day and the Holocaust has become a kind of moral touchstone which is held up as the central event of the twentieth century. As a consequence whenever one thinks of the Holocaust one inevitably thinks in terms of scale— of six million dead, of journeys of thousands of miles. The rhetoric of Holocaust studies—as attempts to understand the Holocaust have become defined—also emphasize the enormity of the events with which we are grappling, we are constantly reminded of the idea that the Holocaust is both unrepresentable and unimaginable. Part of this rhetoric is the idea that the Final Solution operated on an industrial scale, and that the concentration camps need to be understood as factories of death. Within this epic memory it is the camp at Auschwitz that provides much of the iconography both through contemporary images (the unmistakable tower at the entrance of Auschwitz-Birkenau for example) and the images bequeathed by the memorial museum, the apparently endless stacks of human hair, or the piles of shoes and suitcases. Reading Chris Webb's book on Treblinka one is somewhat paradoxically struck by the essential truth of that epic memory, but at the same time of some of its inherent distortions—by the degree to which Treblinka in some ways conforms and in some ways denies this epic memory. In Treblinka a meticulously constructed factory of death did emerge, where killing ultimately was the only function of the facility. This factory consumed, according to the numbers collected here, some 885 thousand lives. Such an observation is scarcely credible and one is tempted to simply throw up one's arms in despair and declare such events unimaginable. vii

Yet the detail brought together here, some of it for the first time in the English language, also provides a timely warning about surrendering to such rhetoric. This is not an unrepresentable or more precisely unimaginable horror. As Alan Confino argues in his recent Foundational Pasts, the Final Solution was and is imaginable—precisely because it was imagined by its perpetrators. Chris Webb's reconstruction of Treblinka reminds us of this over and over again. This was a camp in which the technology of death was continuously refined and made more efficient. While the end result might have been a cleaner process, it was not one in which the perpetrators were distanced from their crimes because the means of carrying out those crimes had been considered, reconsidered; imagined and re-imagined, over and over again. One is also reminded in Webb's book of another, at times neglected reality of the Holocaust. Despite the implications of the epic memory I described, the Final Solution did not take place on another planet. Despite the desires of the perpetrators to keep their crimes secret—the building of an imaginary train station at Treblinka being the most obvious indicator of that—they were not. Although the reality of what was occurring in the death camps might have been obscured, these places were public spaces with which local populations engaged in a variety of ways—some of which are testified to here. And despite the scale of the death toll, one is also reminded by Webb's book just how small places like Treblinka were and as such that the seismic events of the Holocaust were in many ways rather intimate too. Covering just a few hundred square meters, and with a largely identifiable staff, Treblinka was a place in which victims and perpetrators confronted one another repeatedly. This intimacy is reconstructed here and as such Treblinka emerges as very much representable. These are epic events, but they took place in spaces that are only too conceivable in the human imagination. And it was of course because Treblinka was constructed on a small scale that in the aftermath of Aktion Reinhardt the camp could be dismantled and disguised. One of the consequences of this is that viii

to visit Treblinka today is to visit a space in which there are no visible remains from the camp itself. Treblinka therefore stands, perhaps more than any other place, as representative of the void which the Final Solution represents. Yet it is thanks to works like Webb's and the scholarship that he represents here that we can know something of what happened there. We can hear the voices of surviving victims, and of course of the perpetrators themselves. We can in that sense win a small victory over the Nazis' efforts to destroy and to expunge Jews and Judaism from this world, and of course to expunge the memory of their own destructiveness. We can, thanks to collections of material like this, continue to proclaim that, in the words of Primo Levi, it has been. We can, however imperfectly, see into the void. Professor Tom Lawson Northumbria University

ix

AUTHORS' INTRODUCTION

Treblinka Death Camp—History, Biographies, Remembrance is the culmination of many years’ interest and research on the third and biggest of the three Aktion Reinhardt death camps in Nazi-occupied Poland, stimulated by the publication in 1967 of Jean-Francois Steiner's controversial book Treblinka, published in London by Weidenfeld & Nicholson and in New York by Simon & Schuster. An edition in Slovakian was published a year later by Obzor in Bratislava. Within the pages of this book the history of the Treblinka camp is painstakingly reconstructed—from its construction in early summer 1942 to its final liquidation in the autumn of 1943. During that short period of time, no more than fifteen months, approximately 900,000 Jews were deported to the camp from the big Polish ghettos of Warsaw and Białystok, as well as from the districts of Lublin and Radom, and from as far afield as Austria, Germany, Greece, Macedonia, Salonika, a part of former Czechoslovakia (Reichsprotektorat Böhmen/Mähren―Bohemia and Moravia) and Vilna in the Reichskommissariat Ostland (Lithuania). They were gassed and their bodies cremated on open air pyres. Of these several hundred thousand victims deported to Treblinka, very few survived. The experiences of these few are recounted here partly in their own words in post-war testimony, and uniquely in the authors' correspondence and personal interviews with the last survivors of Treblinka, Kalman Teigman, Eliahu Rosenberg, Samuel Willenberg, Pinchas Epstein, and Edi Weinstein. The debt owed to them and to their families for agreeing to meet and assist with our research, and in doing so reopening unimaginably painful memories, cannot be adequately repaid. This book is our modest attempt to honor both their courage and memory. At the time of writing (2014) only Samuel Willenberg is still alive.

xi

There are several other people to whom we also owe a debt of thanks for their encouragement and invaluable assistance in producing this book. First on the list is Michael Tregenza, the British historian based in Lublin, Poland, who has our deep gratitude for reading and copy-editing the entire manuscript, and for making invaluable suggestions and important additions to the text. His knowledge of Aktion Reinhardt and its personnel is second to none. We would also like to warmly thank members of the ARC (Aktion Reinhardt Camps) group who visited Treblinka in 2002 and subsequently established the website www.deathcamps.org. These include Michael Peters from Germany who undertook some sterling research on T4/ Treblinka personnel and Peter Laponder from South Africa, both of whom built models of the Treblinka death camp. Also from the ARC group, we wish to express our gratitude to Robert Kuwalek and Lukasz Biedka (Poland), Dr. Robin O'Neil (UK), and the late Billy Rutherford (UK), another talented modelmaker. A vital source of knowledge for this book has been the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team (H.E.A.R.T.), and especially its website www.holocaustresearchproject.org, co-founded in 2006 by Chris Webb and Carmelo Lisciotto. H.E.A.R.T. has contributed to a number of television programs concerning the Holocaust and given lectures at universities on a wide range of Holocaust-related subjects. Our thanks also go to Dr. Matthew Feldman from Teesside University in the UK for his constant support, guidance and friendship throughout the development of this book. Also in the UK, Sir Martin Gilbert, CBE, PC, kindly donated maps from his collection to aid our research. In Poland, Edward Kopówka, responsible for the Treblinka memorial site, has our thanks for acting as our guide during various research visits to Treblinka. We are also grateful to Zvika Oren, Judy Grossman and Noam Rachmilevitch at the Ghetto Fighters' Museum in Western Galilee, and Shaul Ferrero at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem for their assistance.

xii

Michael Grabher, author of Irmfried Eberl—‘Euthanasie’-Arzt und Kommandant von Treblinka (Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2006) has our thanks for assistance with correspondence between Eberl and his wife. Alexander Abdo at the Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Wiesbaden provided copies of this correspondence. A number of institutions and archives must be thanked for their cooperation: the Bundesarchiv in Berlin-Lichterfelde, Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw; National Archive in Prague-Chodovec; National Archive and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC, National Archives at Kew (London); and the Weiner Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, also in London. Michal Chocholatý extends his personal thanks to his friend Jiří Strnad from the Czech Republic who accompanied him on some of the visits to Israel to interview Treblinka survivors and who has been his travelling partner on research trips to Austria, France, Germany, Israel, and Poland. On a sad note, Chris Webb personally dedicates this book to his friend and colleague, Artur Hojan from Koscian, Poland, an expert on Nazi ‘euthanasia’ and the Chełmno death camp in his home district, the former Reichsgau Wartheland, who helped with some of the Polish information for this book. Artur left his home on the evening of 1 December 2013 and disappeared. His body was recovered from a nearby canal on 12 February 2014. He was taken from us in the prime of life and may he rest in peace. Chris Webb Heathfield, United Kingdom

Michal Chocholatý Plzeň (Pilsen), Czech Republic March, 2014

xiii

CONTENTS

FOREWORD ----------------------------------------------------------------- vii AUTHORS' INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------- xi ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE FOOTNOTES ------------------------------ xviii PREFACE ‘Aktion Reinhardt: An Overview ------------------------------------------ 1

PART I: The hell called Treblinka ---------------------------------------- 10 CHAPTER 1 Penal labor camp: Treblinka I ------------------------------------------- 11 CHAPTER 2 Construction of the death camp: Treblinka II ------------------------- 19 CHAPTER 3 Initial phase under Dr. Eberl: July–August 1942 ---------------------- 31 CHAPTER 4 Chaos and Reorganization ---------------------------------------------- 47 CHAPTER 5 Industrialized mass murder: September–December 1942 ----------- 61 CHAPTER 6 Deceptions and diversions: Late 1942–early 1943 -------------------- 69 CHAPTER 7 Visit by the Reichsführer-SS: Orders to erase evidence of crimes 77

xv

CHAPTER 8 Jewish work brigades ---------------------------------------------------- 83 CHAPTER 9 The camp revolt: 2 August 1943 ---------------------------------------- 99 CHAPTER 10 The end of Treblinka and Aktion Reinhardt: August–November 1943------------------------------------------------------------------------- 115

PART II: Survivors, victims and perpetrators ------------------------ 124 CHAPTER 11 Interviews with Treblinka survivors ----------------------------------- 125 CHAPTER 12 Wartime reports about the death camp------------------------------ 169 CHAPTER 13 Transports and death toll ---------------------------------------------- 179 CHAPTER 14 Treblinka war crimes trials -------------------------------------------- 195 CHAPTER 15 From Trawniki to Treblinka ------------------------------------------- 209 CHAPTER 16 The real ‘Ivan the Terrible’ --------------------------------------------- 219 CHAPTER 17 Roll of Remembrance: Jewish survivors and victims ---------------- 231 CHAPTER 18 The Perpetrators -------------------------------------------------------- 305

xvi

POSTSCRIPTUM Lublin concentration camp (Majdanek). A part of Aktion Reinhardt? ------------------------------------------------------- 355 Supplementary documents ---------------------------------------------361 APPENDIX 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 366 APPENDIX 2 --------------------------------------------------------------- 367 APPENDIX 3 --------------------------------------------------------------- 372 IIustrations and Sources------------------------------------------------ 374 Selected Bibliography --------------------------------------------------- 439 Acknowledgements ----------------------------------------------------- 447 Index of Names ---------------------------------------------------------- 449

xvii

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE FOOTNOTES

Abt.

Abteilung (Section)

Auß.

Außenstelle (Branch Office)

Bd.

Band (Volume)

BA

Bundesarchiv (Federal Archive)

Coll.

Collection

GFH

Ghetto Fighters' House

HStA

Hauptstaatsarchiv (Main State Archive)

HStA(H)

Hauptstaatsarchiv (Hessen)—Main State Archive (Hesse)

IPN Izba

Pamięci Narodowej (Institute of National Memory)

OSI/DJ

Office for Special Investigations at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC

RG

Record Group

USHMM

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

YVA

Yad Vashem Archive

ŻIH

Żydowski Instytut Historyczny (Jewish Historical Institute)

xviii

PREFACE ‘Aktion Reinhardt’ An Overview

Aktion Reinhardt—also known as Einsatz Reinhardt—was the code name for the extermination of primarily Polish Jewry from the former Generalgouvernement and the Białystok area. The term was used in remembrance of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, the coordinator of the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question’ (Endlösung der Judenfrage)—the extermination of the Jews living in the European countries occupied by German troops during the Second World War On May 27, 1942, in a suburb of Prague, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, members of the Czech resistance, ambushed Heydrich in his car while he was en—route from his home in Panenské Březany to his office in Prague. Heydrich died from his wounds at Bulovka Hospital on 4 June 1942.1 Four days after his death, about 1,000 Jews left Prague in a single train which was designated ‘AaH’ (Attentat auf Heydrich—Assassination of Heydrich). This transport was officially destined for Ujazdów in the Lublin district, Poland, but was gassed at the Bełżec death camp in the far south-eastern corner of the Lublin District. The members of Odilo Globocnik's resettlement staff henceforward dedicated the murder program to Heydrich's memory under the code name Einsatz Reinhardt.2 The head of Aktion Reinhardt was SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik, the SS and Police Chief of the Lublin District, appointed to 1

2

R. Cowdery, P. Vodenka, Reinhard Heydrich Assassination. University of Southern Maine Press, Lakeville 1994, pp. 49, 63. G. Reitlinger, The Final Solution. Valentine, Mitchell, London 1953, pp. 105–106.

1

this task by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. At the Führer's Headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia (Kętrzyn in present day Poland) on October 13, 1941, Heinrich Himmler, Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger and Odilo Globocnik met at a conference during which Globocnik was authorized to build a death camp at Bełżec in the far south-eastern corner of the Lublin District of the Generalgouvernement. This was to be the first death camp constructed with static gas chambers, although the first mass extermination camp in the east, at Kulmhof in the Reichsgau Wartheland (to-day, Chełmno nad Nerem in Poland) used gas vans from early December 1941.3 On January 20, 1942, at a villa in the Wannsee suburb of Berlin, Heydrich organized a conference on the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question in Europe’. The conference had been postponed from December 8, 1941, as Heydrich wrote to one of the participants, Otto Hoffman, ‘on account of events in which some of the invited gentlemen were concerned’.4 This meant the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day and the entry of the United States into the war. Those who attended the Wannsee Conference included the leading officials of the relevant ministries, senior representatives of the German authorities in the occupied countries, and senior members of the SS, including Heinrich Müller, head of the Gestapo, and Adolf Eichmann, head of Department IV B4, the sub-section of the Gestapo dealing with Jewish affairs. * Odilo Lothario Globocnik was born on 21 April 1904 in Trieste, the son of an Austro-Slovene family, and a construction engineer by trade. In 1930, he joined the Nazi party in Carinthia, Austria, and after the banning of the Nazi Party in Austria in 1934, earned a reputation as one of the most radical leaders of its underground cells.

3

4

2

P. Longerich, The Unwritten Order—Hitler's Role in the Final Solution. Tempus, Stroud 2001, p. 85. Reitlinger, The Final Solution …, op. cit., p. 101.

In 1933, Globocnik joined the SS, which was also a prohibited organization in Austria since 1934, and was appointed deputy Party District Leader (Stellvertretender Gauleiter).5 After serving several short terms of imprisonment for illegal activities on behalf of the Nazis, he emerged as a key figure in the preAnschluss plans for Austria, serving as a key liaison figure between Adolf Hitler and the leading pro-Nazi Austrians.6 After the Anschluss of March 1938, Globocnik's star continued to rise and on May 24 he was appointed to the coveted key position of Party District Leader (Gauleiter) of Vienna. His tenure was shortlived, however, and on January 30, 1939 he was dismissed from this lofty position for corruption, illegal speculation in foreign exchange and tax evasion—all on a grand scale.7 After demotion to a lowly SS rank and undergoing basic military training with an SS-Standarte, he took part with his unit in the invasion of Poland. Eventually pardoned by Himmler, who needed such unscrupulous characters for future ‘unsavory plans’, Globocnik was appointed to the post of SS and Police Leader (SS- und Polizeiführer) of the Lublin District in the Generalgouvernement on November 9, 1939. In Lublin, Globocnik surrounded himself with a number of his fellow Austrians, SS-officers like Herman Julius Höfle, born in Salzburg on June 19, 1911. Höfle became Globocnik's deputy in Aktion Reinhardt, responsible for personnel and the organization of Jewish deportations, the extermination camps and the re-utilization of the victim's possessions and valuables. Höfle was later to play a significant role in mass deportation Aktionen in Warsaw and Białystok. Ernst Lerch from Klagenfurt became Globocnik's closest confidante and adjutant. Georg Michalsen, a Silesian from Oppeln, was another adjutant and he, too, participated with Höfle in the deportation of Jews from the ghettos in Warsaw and Białystok. Another, early 5

6 7

J. Poprzeczny, Hitler's Man in the East—Odilo Globocnik. McFarland, Jefferson 2004, p. 10. Reitlinger, The Final Solution …, op. cit., p. 262. Poprzeczny, Hitler's Man …, op. cit., p. 76.

3

member of this group was Amon Göth who cleared the Kraków, Tarnów, and Zamość ghettos, and later became notorious as Commandant of the Płaszów labor camp near Kraków.8 The headquarters of Aktion Reinhardt was located in the ‘Julius Schreck Barracks’ (Julius-Schreck-Kaserne) at Litauer-Straße 11, a former Polish school close to the city center in Lublin, where Höfle not only worked but also lived in a small apartment. Also located in Lublin were the buildings in which the belongings and valuables seized from the Jews were stored: the former Catholic Action (Katholische Aktion) building on Chopin-Straße, and in prewar aircraft hangers on the Old Airfield (Alter Flugplatz) on the south-eastern outskirts of Lublin.9 The most notorious member of Aktion Reinhardt was SS-Obersturmführer/Kriminalinspektor Christian Wirth, the first commandant of the Bełżec death camp and later Inspector of the SSSonderkommandos of Aktion Reinhardt. Before his transfer to Poland, Wirth had been a leading figure in ‘Aktion T4,’ the extermination of the mentally and physically disabled in six so-called ‘euthanasia’ killing centers in the Reich. The role of the ‘T4’ euthanasia program was fundamental to the execution of Aktion Reinhardt because the great majority of the staff in the death camps served their ‘apprenticeships’ in mass murder at the euthanasia institutes of Bernburg, Brandenburg, Grafeneck, Hadamar, Hartheim and Pirna-Sonnenstein where the victims had been murdered in gas chambers using CO gas from steel cylinders. The senior officers in both Aktion T4 and Aktion Reinhardt were all police officers with equivalent SS ranks, and with Himmler's approval SS-NCO's had emptied the gas chambers and cremated the bodies of the victims in portable furnaces. The SS-men performed this work wearing civilian clothes because Himmler did not want the possibility to arise of the public becoming aware of the participation of the SS in the killing.

8 9

4

Ibid., p. 95. Reitlinger, The Final Solution …, op. cit., p. 314.

During Aktion Reinhardt the SS authorities also supplemented the forces guarding the death camps by employing former Red Army troops who had been captured or had surrendered to the Germans, mostly ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) from the Ukraine, the Baltic States and the Volga region of Russia who were trained in an SS camp in the village of Trawniki, 25 km south-east of Lublin. The majority were already anti-Semitic (equating Bolsheviks with Jews) and were ideally suited to the persecution and extermination of Jews. On November 1, 1941, construction of the first Aktion Reinhardt death camp began near the village of Bełżec, 125 km south-east of Lublin, and became operational in mid-March 1942. Construction of the second camp, at Sobibór, between the cities of Włodawa and Chełm on the River Bug, north-east of Lublin, came into operation at the end of April 1942. The third and last of these camps was located near the railroad station in Treblinka,10 about 100 km northeast of Warsaw. All three camps shared some common vital facts: they were all situated on or close to main railway lines for the speedy delivery of the victims to their deaths, and they were located in sparsely-populated regions. The true fate of the Jews was initially hidden from them by announcing that they were being ‘transported to the east for resettlement and work’. The Aktion Reinhardt death camps were very similar in layout, each camp being an improvement on its predecessor, and the ‘conveyor-belt’ extermination process developed at Bełżec by Christian Wirth was implemented, improved and refined at the other two camps. The personnel assigned to Aktion Reinhardt came from a number of sources, SS and policemen who served under Globocnik's command in the Lublin district, other SS men and civilians drafted into the Aktion, and members of the ‘T4’ euthanasia program.11 10

11

The nearest village to the death camp was not Treblinka village but the village of Poniatowo; not to be confused with the village and forced labor camp at Poniatowa in Lublin District. Y. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka—The Aktion Reinhardt Death Camps. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis 1987, p. 17.

5

Yitzhak Arad quotes in his book Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka that a total of 450 men were assigned to Aktion Reinhardt, including 92 from ‘T4’,12 more recent research by the authors, however, has identified a slightly higher total of 98 men, of whom 56 are known to have served in Treblinka at one time or another. (See chapter 18: members of the SS-garrison). The Old Lublin Airfield was also used throughout Aktion Reinhardt as a mustering center for personnel transferred from the T4 ‘euthanasia’ institutions in the Reich, to the extermination of the Jews in the Generalgouvernement. The SS-men, police and civilians thus transferred were usually met at the airfield by Wirth personally, on occasions accompanied by Reichleitner from Sobibór and Stangl from Treblinka. According to witnesses, at these selections of personnel, all three officers wore Schutzpolizei uniforms and none of them mentioned anything about their future employment or where they would be based. At the airfield depot the newcomers received Waffen-SS uniforms, provided by the SS-Garrison Administration (SS-Standortverwaltung) in Lublin, but without the SS runes on the right hand collar patches. The civilian employees from ‘T4’, especially the male psychiatric nurses among them, were sent first to the SS training camp at Trawniki for a two week basic military training course.13 The men selected in Lublin and distributed to the three Aktion Reinhardt death camps were augmented by a company-sized unit of about 120 black-uniformed auxiliary guards who had also been trained at the SS training camp in Trawniki—the so-called ‘Trawnikimen’ (Trawnikimänner’), usually referred to as ‘Ukrainians’ because they were the majority. Those who spoke fluent German were appointed platoon or senior platoon leaders—Zugführer or Oberzugführer.14 The rest were

12 13

14

6

Ibid. p. 17. F. Suchomel, Christian Wirth. Altötting 1972, (private typewritten report), Michael Tregenza Collection, Lublin, Poland. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 22.

known as Wachmänner (lit. guardsmen). A select few of the Trawnikimänner were given other, special duties, including the maintenance and operation of the engines that pumped their poisonous exhaust fumes into the gas chambers. Among them were the infamous Ivan Marchenko (‘Ivan the Terrible’) and Nikolay Shalayev at the Treblinka death camp. * In the course of Aktion Reinhardt approximately 1.6 million Jews were murdered in the death camps at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka. Jewish property to the value of 178,045,960 Reichsmark (RM) was seized by the SS, which represents the minimum known amount. Through the theft of large amounts of cash and valuables by SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik, SS-men, policemen and guards, the true total will never be known. The Aktion Reinhardt extermination operation ended officially in November 1943 and Himmler ordered Globocnik, who was by then the Higher SS and Police Leader) (Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer) for the Adriatic Coastal Region (Adriatisches Küstenland), based in Trieste, to produce a detailed ‘Balance Sheet’ for the murder program. Globocnik produced the requested financial accounts and suggested that certain SS-officers should be suitably rewarded for their ‘invaluable contribution’ to Aktion Reinhardt. Globocnik received Himmler's thanks ‘for his ‘services to the German people’, but made no mention of medals for any of Globocnik's subordinates.15 After completion of the extermination work in the Generalgouvernement, most of the men who had served in Aktion Reinhardt were transferred to northern Italy where their headquarters was in a disused rice mill in the San Sabba suburb of the Adriatic port of Trieste (Risiera di San Sabba). Divided into three SS-units: R-I, R-II and R-III, they operated under the code designation ‘Operation R’ (‘Einsatz R’), still under the command of SS-Obersturmführer Christian Wirth. Their primary task was the round-up and deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau of the surviving Italian Jews, and confiscation

15

Ibid., p. 375.

7

of their property and valuables. Einsatz R was simply a smaller version of Aktion Reinhardt. Additionally, Italian-Jewish mental patients were removed from their hospitals and sent to the T4 ‘euthanasia’ institution at Schloss Hartheim in Austria for gassing. The units not engaged in these operations were assigned to security and anti-partisan patrols on the Istrian peninsula. Wirth turned San Sabba into an interrogation and execution center where not only Jews but also Italian and Yugoslavian partisans were tortured, beaten to death, or simply shot and their bodies cremated in a specially installed furnace in the courtyard.16 The human ashes were dumped in the Adriatic Sea. There is also evidence that a gas van was used in San Sabba. * The key members of Aktion Reinhardt mostly escaped justice. Christian Wirth and Franz Reichleitner (the second Commandant of Sobibór death camp) were killed by partisans in northern Italy in 1944. Amon Göth was tried and sentenced to death in Kraków in September 1946 for crimes committed in the forced labor camp in Płaszów (today a suburb of Kraków). Dr. Irmfried Eberl, the first Commandant of Treblinka, committed suicide in a West German prison in 1948 while awaiting trial. Only Franz Stangl (the first Commandant of Sobibór and second Commandant of Treblinka)17 and Kurt Franz, the last Commandant of Treblinka, were brought to trial. Both were found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.

16 17

8

Ibid., p. 399. It is a significant fact that Eberl, Reichleitner, and Stangl, as well as many other key members of Aktion Reinhardt were Austrian nationals.

PART I The hell called Treblinka

CHAPTER 1 Penal labor camp: Treblinka I

The village of Treblinka is located approximately 100 km north-east of Warsaw and approximately 4 km from the important railway junction of Małkinia Górna, which is mentioned in the Baedeker Das Generalgouvernment–Reisehandbuch as an important rail junction and former border station with the Soviet Union.18 In the book by Vasily Grossman, The Treblinka Hell, the description of the countryside is very apt: The terrain to the east of Warsaw along the Western Bug is an expanse of alternating sands and swamps, interspersed with evergreen and deciduous forests. The landscape is dreary and villages are rare. The narrow sandy roads where wheels sink up to the axle and walking is difficult are something for the traveler to avoid. In the midst of this desolate country stands the small out-of-theway station of Treblinka on the Siedlce railroad branch line. It is some one hundred kilometers from Warsaw and not far from Małkinia station where tracks from Warsaw, Białystok, Siedlce and Łomża meet. Many of those who were brought to Treblinka in 1942 may have had occasion to travel this way before the war. Staring out over the desolate landscape of pines, sand, more sand and again pines, scrubland, heather, unattractive station buildings and railroad crossings, the pre-war passenger might have allowed his bored gaze to pause for a moment on a single-track spur running from the station into the forest to disappear amid the dense pines. The spur led to a gravel pit where white sand was extracted for industrial purposes.19

In preparation for the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 the German authorities took over the gravel pit, and used the raw 18

19

K. Baedeker, Das Generalgouvernement—Reisehandbuch. Verlag Karl Baedeker, Leipzig 1943, p. 102. V. Grossman, The Treblinka Hell. Gershon Aharoni, Tel Aviv 1984, p. 13.

11

material for fortifications and other military purposes. After the gravel pit had been abandoned by the Wehrmacht, the Kreishauptmann in Sokołów Podlaski established a company for concrete products and the need arose for a cheap labor force to work in the gravel pit. Thus, the idea for creating a penal labor camp was born, with the approval of Dr. Ludwig Fischer, the civilian governor of Warsaw District. Later, this camp received the name of ‘Labor Camp Treblinka’ (Arbeitslager Treblinka). In the early phase the camp was designed exclusively as a place of deportation for ‘stubborn elements’ from the whole SokołowskiWęgrowski district, then for the farmers unwilling to deliver their quotas of agricultural supplies demanded by the German authorities, persons evading forced labor, or involved in anti-German activity. At first, the camp held only several scores of prisoners who were accommodated in the buildings formerly belonging to the gravel works, and came under the jurisdiction of the local Kreishauptmann in Sokołów. The German authorities published various notices, such as in the Official Gazette for the Warsaw District (Amtsblatt für den Distrikt Warschau) on December 16, 1941, announcing that Arbeitslager Treblinka had been set up under the jurisdiction of the SS and Police Leader Warsaw. The Commandant of the camp was SS-Hauptsturmführer Theodor van Eupen who had previously been in charge of the Main Accommodation Administration Office) (Heersunterkunftsverwaltung in Sokołów. The camp staff consisted of about twenty SS men and one detachment of Ukrainian Trawnikimänner who served as guards. One of those guards was Alexey Kolgushkin from the Trawniki training camp who provided this statement on September 24, 1980, in the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast (Province) in USSR, regarding his service Treblinka labor camp: Near the entrance to the work camp where I served there was a barrier and guard tower. The portion of the camp that contained the prisoners was isolated from the camp in general. This area that contained the prisoners was surrounded by a double barbed wire fence, which in turn contained a patrolled region between the two fences.

12

This controlled region consisted of a strip of ploughed earth where the footprints of anyone who crossed it would be left. The entire camp was surrounded by a single barbed-wire fence, there were buildings situated in the camp that held clothing, there were also warehouses and stables. There were barracks where the guards lived and there were barracks where the Germans from the camp administration lived. None of the guards were permitted to enter the area where the prisoners were kept, and the guards were forbidden from entering the controlled area. The area containing the prisoners was divided into three sections. One section contained a kitchen, stoves and sewing shops. The Jewish prisoners who were artisans lived there along with Jewish tailors, barbers, stove workers and drivers. They were dressed in civilian clothes, each wore their own clothes. In the next section lived the Jews who were used for forced labor. They were dressed in striped uniform and they wore wooden clogs on their feet. I do not know if there were skilled laborers among these Jews, who had a specialty. They were sent to work in the sand pit where they hauled sand; they were also taken to work in the forest removing tree stumps. The sand from the sand pit was sent off in the direction of Małkinia station. In the third section of the camp were kept the Polish prisoners. As a rule, the Poles were used for auxiliary work in the camp—they were dressed in civilian clothes, like the Jewish skilled workers. I do not know if their food was on the same level as that of other prisoners. The guards were divided into sections, platoons and companies. The camps administration was made up of Germans only—they occupied the supervisory positions. The guards were divided into four sections, each containing 12–15 men. Besides providing security for the camp the guards took the prisoners to work by convoy and they guarded them during work. I do not know who shot prisoners on the way to work. I personally had occasion to take prisoners by convoy to the sand pit and accompany them into the forest to remove tree stumps and to aux-

13

iliary jobs—in general wherever they went to work. I also led prisoners by convoy to Małkinia railroad station where they worked at unloading and stacking.20

The history of the penal labor camp is closely connected with the history of the death camp—Polish and Jewish prisoners from the labor camp participated in the construction of the death camp. The penal labor camp at Treblinka therefore served not only as a concentration camp ‘for criminal elements’, it also served the function of a reservoir of manpower for the construction of the extermination camp. Jan Sułkowski, a Polish bricklayer by profession, had been sent to the labor camp on May 19, 1942 for evading forced labor for the German authorities. He was released in the summer of 1942, after helping with the construction of the death camp. This was a typical term of imprisonment which usually lasted from two to six months, after which time the prisoners were either released or sent to a concentration camp. During the weeks of Sułkowski's incarceration and construction of the death camp, Jews began arriving in the camp. He personally witnessed the brutality and murderous behavior of the camp guards towards these Jews: Germans killed Jews at work by shooting them or beating them to death with sticks. I saw two such cases in which SS-men, during the grubbing-out jobs, forced Jews to walk under the falling tree by which they were crushed. In both cases several (two, three or four) Jews were killed. It also happened that SS-men would often rush into the barracks where, drunk or sober, they went on shooting at the Jews who were inside.21

Richard Glazar, a prisoner from the Treblinka death camp, visited the penal labor camp on one occasion. He recounted this experience in a post-war interview: 20

21

14

OSI/DJ, Washington, DC: Aleksey Nikolaevich Kolgushkin, September 24, 1980. W. Chrostowski, Extermination Camp Treblinka. Vallentine, Mitchell, London 2004, p. 27.

There's one thing to say that's not so well known, there was another Treblinka camp (…) not very far away from Treblinka extermination camp. It was a forced labor camp. A small camp, it was just a quarry. Once I was taken there with my Kommando just to bring sand and stones to Treblinka. So I saw how it looked. It was a normal concentration camp. And one can imagine the Germans, the Nazis, they camouflaged it, with the existence of this labor camp, the existence of the extermination camp.22

Israel Cymlich has described in his memoirs his arrival at the labor camp: Our car pulled up at the Treblinka labor camp. A tall SS-man accompanied by guards, came over, and we were escorted to the camp. Above the entrance we saw an innocent-sounding sign: ‘Arbeitslager Treblinka’. Noticing double barbed wire and elevated platforms in the four corners of the camp, I realized we were in for hard times. We were told to form a column of three persons abreast, and under threat of being sent to the ‘forest’, to hand over money and valuables. We realized that executions took place in the forest. Most people handed over everything they had on their person and I, too, parted with 600 złotys. We were terribly thirsty and could barely stand on our feet. Finally, some black coffee and water was brought in. (…) Each of us got 200 grams of bread, half a spoonful of marmalade and sugar. In the evening, together with others, we lined up for a roll call. The SS-men counted us, and we went inside the barracks. It was a fairly long barrack, lined on both sides with two-tiered rows of bunk beds, so that people slept beneath and above. The floor was made of asphalt (sic). Most of the residents of this barracks (C) were German and Czech Jews.23

22

23

Richard Glazar interview with Bonnie Gurewitsch-Brooklyn, USHMM Council Conference of Liberators, USHMM Washington, DC, 26 October 1981. I. Cymlich, O. Strawczyński, Escaping Hell in Treblinka. Yad Vashem/The Holocaust Survivors' Memoirs Project, New York and Jerusalem 2007, pp. 31–32.

15

Saul Kuperhand, another prisoner of the penal labor camp, recalled in his book Shadows of Treblinka how he was incarcerated in the same barracks: ‘we were herded to the barracks marked with the letter C. We slept on double-decker bunks made of raw wood: we did not have even a single sheet or piece of straw. The bottom level of each bunk held 13 men, the top level 12.’24 The average number of prisoners in the penal labor camp amounted to about 1,000–1,200 people, Poles and Jews, who were all forced to work under brutal conditions, with very low rations. Between 800900 prisoners toiled from dawn to dusk, either in the gravel pit, where the work was exhausting, digging out gravel and sand or loading railroad trucks.25 Another group of prisoners were employed at Małkinia railroad station where they too, loaded railroad trucks. Female prisoners were employed at the farm attached to the camp, while another group consisting of 250 Jewish skilled artisans worked in the camp's workshops. Throughout the long day's labor, the prisoners were brutally treated, beaten, tortured or simply shot for the slightest misdemeanor, with only a brief respite from the back-breaking work at noon each day.26 The camp diet consisted of half a liter of watery soup or ersatz coffee in the morning, one liter of the same soup at noon, and a cup of ersatz coffee without sugar, with 20 dkg of black bread in the evening. On such a diet bereft of any nourishment, the prisoners succumbed to diseases; epidemics spread throughout the camp resulting in a high mortality rate.27 The garrison of the penal labor camp, as well as the characteristics of its key members, are described by the former prisoner Israel Cymlich in his memoirs: 24

25

26 27

16

M. Kuperhand, S. Kuperhand, Shadows of Treblinka. University of Illinois Press, Champaign 1998, p. 110. Treblinka, Council for the Protection of Combat and Martyrdom Monuments, Warsaw 1963 (no pagination). Ibid. Ibid.

The chief of the entire camp was a Hauptsturmführer, some kind of Baron [Theodor van Eupen, authors' note] who had his headquarters in Ostrów Mazowiecki. He hardly ever came into direct contact with the Jews, and was responsible only for the Treblinka camp. (…) The camp Commandant was Untersturmführer Prefi, a madman and a thug, a great fan of shooting people to death at every opportunity. He often carried out massacres single-handedly, by shooting from a hand-held machine-gun at a group of Jews assembled for roll call. (…) The labor-force Commandant in the camp was Untersturmführer Einbuch, known as the ‘thug in white gloves’. He was gifted with a phenomenal memory, recognized people well, did not cause a mess like others, granted favors to some, and surrounded himself with Jewish informers. (…) The Commandant of the guards was Unterscharführer Stumpe. He always carried his knout, and very much enjoyed hitting everyone over the head with it, including the guards. He was especially fond of urging people to work harder by calling out, ‘Tempo, tempo, cali, cali!’, which earned him the nickname of ‘Cali’ among the guards. Unterscharführer Lindeke was the manager (…) his deputy was Hagen (…) who left for Warsaw after some time. He often visited the camp to attend drinking bouts. After getting drunk, he liked to play cat-and-mouse with the Jews, and would kill at least a dozen of them. (…) The supervisor of the workshops was Unterscharführer Lanz, a boxing fan. I have no words to describe his humiliating treatment of people. He didn't treat his own people badly, but woe to anyone who became his target. Rottenführer Werhan was in charge of the stable and the farm, he treated his own people fairly. (…) Finally, there was the notorious henchman of the camp, head of the group (of prisoners) working in Małkinia, Unterscharführer Schwarz (allegedly a butcher by trade). (…) He derived sadistic satisfaction from tormenting, torturing and killing. He usually killed with a club, a hammer, or some other blunt instrument. Małkinia was the worst place to work in the entire camp. Every day, more than a dozen corpses of people whom he had tortured to death were brought in from Małkinia.28 28

Cymlich, Strawczyński, Escaping Hell ..., op. cit., pp. 33–35.

17

The penal labor camp existed from December 1941–August 1944 when it was liquidated. The camp guard Alexey Nikolaevich Kolgushkin, whose platoon was on patrol duty on the day the camp was liquidated, has stated: Supplementary patrols were deployed next to ours in order to guard the area where prisoners were being held. (…) in the morning camp security (…) strengthened. At approximately 8 or 9 a.m. the prisoners began to be led out of the barracks. They were led out by the Germans and assembled in the yard, the guards who were not on patrol also participated in this. After they were all assembled, they began to beat them in groups of five and forced them to the ground. After counting out a certain number of prisoners they made them stand up and made them pull their pants down to their knees, so they could not run, to dig holes, they were all shot. (…) Approximately 500–600 prisoners were executed in these holes in all. The figure is an approximate one since I did not count the number of people condemned to death. I only remember that when I walked up to these holes on the second day, I saw they were filled up with bodies and dirt. After the liquidation of the camp the Germans and the guards fled together, since Soviet troops were already advancing on Treblinka.29

Post-war investigations by the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland revealed that at least forty mass graves containing the remains of 6,500 prisoners lie within half-a-kilometer of the penal labor camp. Throughout the existence of the camp at least 10,000 people passed through its gate.30

29

30

18

OSI/DJ, Washington, DC, Alexey Nikolaevich Kolgushkin, 24 September 1980. Treblinka, Council for the Protection of Combat …, op. cit. (no pagination).

CHAPTER 2 Construction of the death camp: Treblinka II

The death camp in Treblinka was situated in the north-eastern region of the Generalgouvernement. The camp was erected in a sparsely populated area near Małkinia-Górna, an important railway junction on the Warsaw-Białystok railway line, four kilometers north-west of Treblinka village and its railroad halt.31 The site chosen was in an open, sandy area dotted with copses of trees and small woods. A patch of forest separated the site from the village of Wółka Okrąglik, which was just over a kilometer from the extermination area with its gas chambers.32 Franciszek Ząbecki was the Polish stationmaster at Treblinka village station, and a member of the Polish Underground. He had been placed at Treblinka by the AK (Armia Krajowa–Home Army), the biggest Polish Underground movement, originally to report on the movement of German troops and equipment. He was therefore the only trained observer on the spot throughout the entire existence of the Treblinka extermination camp. He recalled: The first inkling we had that something more was being planned in Treblinka was in May 1942 when some SS-men arrived with a man called Ernst Grauss who—we found out from the German railroad workers—was the chief surveyor at the German HQ. They spent the day looking around and the very next day all fit male Jews in the neighborhood—about a hundred of them—were brought in and started work on clearing the land. At the same time they shipped in a first lot of Ukrainian guards. It was said that it was to be another labor camp, a camp for Jews who would work on damming the River Bug, a military installation,

31 32

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 37. M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw, March 2011.

19

a staging or control area for a new secret military weapon. And finally, German railway workers said it was going to be an extermination camp. But nobody believed them—except me.33

The extermination camp was the third and final camp built as part of Aktion Reinhardt, and was constructed along similar lines to Bełżec and Sobibór, although on a bigger scale. Work commenced at the beginning of April 1942. The contractors were the German construction firms Schönbronn, with their Warsaw office in Dreikreuzplatz 13 (Plac Trzech Krzyży—Three Crosses Square) and Schmidt und Münstermann, who also had offices in Warsaw at Mars Straße 8/3.34 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, and neighboring towns, as well as inmates from Treblinka I, the penal labor camp, were used to complete the building work. One of them, Israel Cymlich states ‘they had worked for a long time at constructing the other camp, without a clue as to what they were building. The contingent that used to go to work there was called the ‘T-Group’.35 Another prisoner from the penal labor camp, Lucjan Puchała, recalled the initial phase of the construction of the death camp: Initially we did not know the purpose of building the branch track, and it was only at the end of the job that I found out from the conversations among Germans that the track was to lead to a camp for Jews. The work took two weeks, and it was completed on 15 June 1942. Parallel to the construction of the track, earthworks continued. The works were supervised by a German, an SS-Hauptsturmführer. At the beginning, Polish workers from the labor camp, which had already been operating in Treblinka, were used as the workforce. Subsequently, Jews from Węgrów and Stoczek Węgrowski started to be brought in by trucks. There were 2–3 trucks full of Jews that were daily brought into the camp. The SS-men and Ukrainians supervising the work killed a few dozen people from those brought in to work every day. So that when I looked from the place where I 33

34 35

20

G. Sereny, Into That Darkness—From Mercy Killing to Mass Murder. Pimlico, London 1995, pp. 150–151. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 37. Cymlich, Strawczyński, Escaping Hell …, op. cit., p. 32.

worked to the place where the Jews worked the field was covered with corpses. The imported workers were used to dig deep ditches and to build various barracks. In particular, I know that a building was built of bricks and concrete, which as I learned later, contained people-extermination chambers.36

Jan Sułkowski also worked on the construction of the death camp and noted a strange building with a hermetically sealed door: SS-men said it was to be a bath. Only later on when the building was almost completed, I realized it was to be a gas chamber. What was indicative of it was a special door of thick steel insulated with rubber, twisted with a bolt and placed in an iron frame and also the fact that an engine was placed in one of the building's compartments, from which three iron pipes led through the roof to the remaining three parts of the building. (…) A specialist from Berlin came to lay tiles inside and he told me that he had already built such chambers elsewhere.37

Wolf Sznajdman was one of the Jews brought to Treblinka to build the death camp. He represents a unique exception refuting the theory that none of the Jews who built Treblinka survived throughout the entire history of the death camp. Sznajdman managed to survive the thirteen months from June 1942 until the camp revolt on August 2, 1943. He recalled very well the early summer of 1942 when he was brought from Stoczek to the penal labor camp in Treblinka to participate in the construction of the death camp: Construction of a new camp had started. A spur railroad line had already been started, we have to finish the job. We were erecting the barracks, we dug the first pit. It measured 10 m. deep. It was dug in levels, step-like. It was a pit for bodies in the ‘Totenlager’ (death camp), in the second camp. There was no fence there then. We walked all around. They treated us very badly. They beat us on the way, while working, they put bicycles on our heads, and they burn with cigarettes on the head. We lived in the barracks which were built for us by the people from Polish Penal Camp Treblinka. Working hard! It was hard work: to 36 37

Chrostowski, Extermination Camp…, op. cit., pp. 25–26. Ibid., p. 31.

21

dig the pits, to build the spur line, to eradicate the forest, to prepare the timber for building purposes. We were working here for six weeks.38

The construction of the Treblinka death camp was supervised by SSObersturmführer Richard Thomalla from the Construction Office of the Waffen-SS and Police (Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei) in Zamość in Lublin District, who was attached to the staff of SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik in Lublin. Thomalla had previously also supervised construction of the other two Aktion Reinhardt camps at Bełżec, in its later stages and Sobibór.39 The camp at Treblinka was laid out as an irregular rectangle approximately 400 meters wide by approximately 600 meters long, surrounded by a barbed wire fence about three or four meters high, camouflaged with brushwood.40 In 1943, an additional outer barrier of ‘Spanish horses’ anti-tank obstacles was installed, given to the SS by the army after the defeat at Stalingrad.41 At each of the four corners of the camp were watchtowers approximately eight meters high. Some had searchlights and all of them were manned by Trawnikimänner, primarily Ukrainians, day and night. An additional watchtower was set up at the southern edge of the camp, midway between the two corner towers, but this structure was subsequently moved to the center of the extermination area (Camp II).42 The camp was divided into three zones of nearly equal size: the SS and Ukrainian Trawnikimänner living area, the reception area (Auffanglager) and the extermination area (Totenlager). The living and reception areas were called the ‘Lower Camp’ or Camp I, while the extermination area was known as the ‘Upper Camp’ or Camp II. The accommodation area for the Germans and the Ukrainians 38 39 40

41 42

22

YVA, Jerusalem, A 03/1560: Wolf Sznajdman, (Wolf Shneidman). Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka…, op. cit., p. 37. A. Donat, The Death Camp Treblinka. Holocaust Library, New York 1979, p. 298. M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw, March 2011. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 298.

Trawnikimänner was in the north-west section of the camp and consisted of wooden barracks for the SS and Ukrainian personnel, as well as administration buildings, an infirmary, stores and workshops. A 100 meter x 100 meter square was separated from the rest of the camp by a barbed wire fence, and contained three barracks forming a ‘U’ shape. Here the Jewish prisoners who worked in the ‘Lower Camp’ spent their nights. At the far side of the roll call area in this section there was a primitive latrine, covered by a straw roof. The main road entrance gate to the camp was in the north-west corner, built in the spring of 1943 by the Jewish prisoner Jankiel Wiernik. It consisted of two wooden pillars, each decorated with a metal flower and crowned by a small roof, which rested on the pillars. At night, the entrance was lit by floodlights. Trawnikimänner and SS-men were posted at the gate and at the guardhouse.43 At the entrance, positioned to the left of the main gate, a sign read: Sonderkommando Treblinka.44 The transports of Jews arrived at the reception area in the southwest section of the camp. This area included the railroad track—a 300 meter long spur, a 200 meter long platform, known in the camp jargon as the ‘Ramp’, and a barrack that was later to be disguised as a railroad station. At the rail entrance to the camp there was a wooden gate covered with barbed wire intertwined with tree branches. The far end of the railroad spur was blocked by a sand bank.45 43 44

45

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 41. Samuel Willenberg in correspondence with Peter Laponder in Cape Town, South Africa, January 23, 2001. Kalman Teigman claimed that there was a second gate at the far end of the railroad spur inside the camp and provided a sketch. (Teigman correspondence with Chris Webb, dated December 15, 2001), Samuel Willenberg, however vehemently denied the existence of such a second gate. (M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw, March 2011). Arad also mentions a second gate (Arad, Belzec, Sobibor,

23

Behind the Ramp and the barrack that later became the fake station there was a big, open square. After disembarking, the Jews would be hurried across this square, through a gate to another enclosed space, the so-called ‘Undressing Square’ (Entkleidungsplatz), to the left of which there was the women's undressing barrack. To the right, there was a barrack of similar size, a part of which served as the male undressing barrack and the rest as a warehouse. Situated between this area and the southern boundary of the camp was the so-called ‘Sorting Square’ (Sortierungsplatz), where the clothes removed by the Jews upon their arrival, and their baggage was sorted according to type and quality. Initially, in the south-west corner of the camp, behind the sorting barrack, there was a set of few big ditches46 in which the bodies of the Jews who had died during the journey to the camp would be cremated, together with the garbage from the transport. The central ditch became a basis for later so-called ‘Infirmary’, known in the camp jargon as the ‘Lazarett’ (lit. military hospital or sick bay).47 The ‘Lazarett’ was surrounded by a tall barbed wire fence, camouflaged with brushwood to screen it from view. Within this area, which could be reached by way of an entrance on the side facing the Ramp, was a big ditch which served as a mass grave. The soil excavated from this ditch was piled up to form a mound approximately one meter high. A fire burned permanently at the bottom of the ditch. The ‘Lazarett’ area also contained a small booth that served as a shelter for the SS and Trawnikimänner in bad weather, and a bench. It was here that the Jews who were too ill, disabled, or the very young or unaccompanied children were killed by a bullet in the back of the neck (Genickschuss). The three Jewish prisoners who worked at the ‘Lazarett’ wore Red Cross armbands and the Jewish Kapo, Zvi Kurland, wore a white surgical gown to make him look like a doctor. A

46 47

24

Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 41). No plans of the camp exist that show a second gate. M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein. Prague, August 2008. Ibid.

Red Cross flag was prominently displayed on the above-mentioned booth. Leading from the women's undressing barracks in the Undressing Square to the Upper Camp (Camp II) there was a path called the ‘Himmelfahrtstraße’ (lit. Ascension Road or Road to Heaven), generally referred to in the camp as the ‘Tube’ (‘der Schlauch’). This path was approximately 350 meters long48 and approximately five meters wide. At the entrance to the ‘Tube’, near the women's undressing barracks, there was a sign: ‘To the Showers’ (Zum Baden). Beyond, the ‘Tube’ was enclosed on either side with barbed wire fencing over two meters high and intertwined with tree branches so that it was impossible to see in or out. The ‘Tube’ ran for about 30 meters towards the east side of the camp, passed through a thin copse of trees, and then made an almost 90-degree turn and terminated in front of the steps leading up to central corridor of the new gas chamber building in the Upper Camp.49 In the early stages, the women's hair was cut off in the gas chambers,50 but this was later carried out in the undressing barracks while the men undressed in the open air between the two barracks.51

48

49 50

51

The original ‘Tube’ was 350 m in length whereas the new one was only 125 m long. This modification is confirmed by the statement of SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel on September 14, 1967, in Düsseldorf. Donat, The Death Camp…, op. cit., p. 299. GFH, Israel, File 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Mit Peitsche und Revolver an der Rampe’. Franz im Treblinka-Prozess des heimtückischen Mordes beschuldigt/Den Baumeister der Gaskammern wiederkannt? Bericht unseres Korrespondenten Lothar Bewerunge: Hairdresser Gustav Boraks from Israel belonged in Treblinka to the group of 25 hairdressers who had to cut the women hairs inside of a gas chamber. S. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka, Basil Blackwell, Oxford 1989, p. 40.

25

The Jewish survivor Avraham Bomba recalled: In the gas chamber we were working as a barber between two (...) little more than two weeks. And then they decided that the barbers will not go in anymore to the gas chamber to cut off the hair of the women over there, but in the undressing barrack. The gas chamber. How it looked? Very simple. Was all concrete. Was no windows. There was nothing in it. Besides on top of you, there was wires (pipes) and you know, the water going to come out from it. Had two doors. Steel doors. From one side and from the other side. The people went into the gas chamber from the one side. And they pushed in as many as they could. It was not allowed to have the people standing up with their hands down because there is not enough room, but when the people raised their hand like that, there was more room to each other. And on top of that they throw in kids, 2, 3, 4-year-old kids on top of them.52

The third largest area of the camp, the ‘Upper Camp’—Camp II, or the ‘death camp’ proper (‘Totenlager’)—occupied the south-eastern area of the camp. This is where the mass murders were carried out daily. The area was completely isolated from the rest of the camp by barbed wire fences camouflaged with branches, as well as high earth ramparts which prevented observation from outside. The entrance was hidden by a special screen. This part of Treblinka, the ‘Upper Camp’, measured approximately 200 meters x 250 meters.53 When the mass killings first began, there were initially three gas chambers located at the heart of the Upper Camp, inside a brick building constructed on concrete foundations. Each gas chamber measured approximately 4 meters x 4 meters, and approximately 2.6 meters high. Several steps at the front led up to a corridor, from which three doors approximately 1.80 meters high and approximately 90 centimeters wide led into the three gas chambers.54 The

52

53 54

26

USHMM, Washington, DC, RG-50.030.0033: Interview with Avraham Bomba, August 28, 1990. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 41. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 300.

chambers were constructed much like air raid shelters with hermetically sealed doors. Inside, the walls were lined with tiles up to a certain height and on the ceiling of each chamber there were pipes and shower heads to create the illusion that the chambers were normal shower rooms. According to the Jewish survivor Eli Rosenberg, there was also a small observation window made of unbreakable glass in the ceiling of each chamber.55 On the wall opposite the entry door of each chamber were the unloading doors, each one approximately 2.50 meters wide and approximately 1.80 meters high, made of thick wooden planks.56 These doors could be opened only from the outside and opened like modern garage doors—outwards and upwards—and fastened open by upright wooden (or iron) supports while the interiors of gas chambers were being cleaned. Each unloading door opened onto a 70–80centimeter-high concrete ramp made of enlargement of a platform which completely encircled the building.57 The floors of the gas chambers were also tiled and slanted towards this platform. 55

56 57

Eliahu Rosenberg telephone conversation with M. Chocholatý, 2003. In orig: ‘Okienko z nietłukącego szkła’. There was also a similar observation window on the roof of a gas chamber in Sobibór: ‘When Himmler asked to inspect the gas chambers, the Nazis marched the naked girls down the Road to Heaven. ‘Bademeister’ Bauer was waiting for them on his usual perch, the roof of the ‘showers’, where he had peepholes into the chambers. The Berliner (SS-Oberscharführer Bauer) usually wore coveralls like a mechanic when he supervised the gassings, but in honor of Himmler, he donned his best SS uniform.’ (R. Rashke, Escape from Sobibor. University of Illinois Press, 1995, p. 105). There is another statement concerning the Sobibor chambers, where the construction of the old chambers was probably the same as in Treblinka: ‘Bauer told his colleagues about an event, when a naked woman asked an SS-man who was closing the door of the gas chamber: ‘What is the officer doing behind the window on the roof? How can we take a bath when he is watching us?’ (T. Blatt, Sobibór: Zapomniane powstanie. Muzeum Pojezerza Łęczyńsko-Włodawskiego we Włodawie, Włodawa, p. 59. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 300. See Wiernik's model of Treblinka displayed in GHF!

27

At the rear of the building there was a machine room (Maschinenraum) which housed a Russian tank engine which pumped its exhaust fumes into the gas chambers through the pipes and shower heads on the ceilings. The engine room also contained a generator which supplied the Upper and Lower Camps with electric current.58 Jankiel Wiernik, deported to Treblinka on August 23, 1942, was a skilled craftsman and selected for work by the SS on arrival in the camp. He was employed as the camp carpenter, and has provided the following description of the original gas chambers, known by the prisoners as the ‘small gas chambers’:59 When I arrived at the camp, three gas chambers were already in operation. (…) The outlet on the roof had a hermetic cap. Each chamber was equipped with a gas inlet pipe and a baked tile floor slanting towards the platform. The brick building which housed the gas chambers was separated from Camp I by a wooden wall. This wooden wall and the brick wall of the building together formed a corridor which was 80 centimeters higher than the building. The chambers were connected with the corridor by a hermetically-fitted iron door leading into each of the chambers. On the side of Camp II, the chambers were connected by a platform four meters wide, which ran alongside all three chambers. The platform was about 80 centimeters above ground level. There was also a hermetically-fitted wooden door on this side. Each chamber had a door facing Camp II (1.80 meters x 2.50 meters), which could be opened only from the outside by lifting it with iron supports, and was closed by iron hooks set into the sash frames, and by wooden beams. The victims were led into the chambers through the doors leading from the corridor, while the remains of the gassed victims were dragged out through the doors facing Camp II. The power plant operated alongside these chambers, supplying Camps I and II with electric current. An engine taken from a dismantled Soviet tank stood in the power plant. This engine was used

58 59

28

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 157. Eliahu Rosenberg also often called them the ‘small gas chambers’. (M. Chocholatý telephone conversation with Rosenberg in 2003).

to pump the gas which was let into the chambers by connecting the engine with the inflow pipes.60

Abraham Krzepicki, who was deported from Warsaw to Treblinka on August 25, 1942, has described the original, small gas chamber building as: A longish, not too large brick building standing in the middle of the death camp (…) this building was surrounded by a wooded area (…) spread over the flat roof of the building there was a green wire net whose edges extended slightly beyond the buildings walls. These may have been for protection against air attacks. Beneath the net, on top of the roof, I could see a tangle of pipes. The walls of the building were covered with concrete. The gas chamber had not been operating for a week. I was able to look inside through one of the two strong, white-washed iron exits, which happened to be open. I saw before me a room, which was not too large. It looked like a regular shower room with all the accoutrements of a public bathhouse. The walls of the room were covered with small orange terracotta tiles. Nickel-plated metal faucets were set into the ceiling. That was all. A comfortable neat little bathhouse set in the middle of a wooded area.61

Eliahu Rosenberg, employed as a grave-digger in the Upper Camp, has given this description of the small gas chambers: The first thing which appeared before our eyes was a barn-like building built of rough bricks. As I found out later, these were the gas chambers in which a large number of people died. There were three sections there, the size of a regular dining room. The ground (floor) and a half of the wall was covered with red tiles in order to camouflage the blood sticking to the walls. In the ceiling there was a small sealed window which was never opened, and through which the gassing procedure could be watched. The ceiling had been equipped with showers through which water did not run. Due to the dark inside the chambers, it could not be seen that along the walls ran pipes some five centimeters in diameter through which flowed the gas— it was the exhaust gas produced by an engine placed in the cabin. There were pushed some four hundred people into each chamber. 60 61

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 157–159. Ibid., p. 105.

29

Because of the lack of space, nobody could even move and nobody could fall down or to sit somewhere. The Ukrainians were interested in pushing into the chamber in the course of one ‘batch’ as many people as possible in order to use less gas and to cause a faster death. The gas was introduced usually for circa. 20 minutes and there was approximately a quarter of an hour waiting until the last hoarse cries of the dying ended.62

* Erwin Hermann Lambert from Berlin, a master mason who worked for the ‘T4’ euthanasia program and had laid tiles in gas chambers in the ‘T4’ institutions, was ordered to Treblinka while the camp was still under construction: I and Hengst—a euthanasia man—went to Treblinka by car. SSHauptsturmführer (sic!) Richard Thomalla was the camp Commander. The Treblinka camp was still in the process of construction. I was attached to a building team there. Thomalla was there for a limited time only and conducted the construction work of the extermination camp. During this time no extermination operations were carried out. Thomalla was in Treblinka for about four to eight weeks. Then Dr. Eberl arrived as camp Commander.63

Under the direction of Dr. Irmfried Eberl the extermination Aktionen of the Jews began.64

62

63 64

30

GFH, Israel, 3562/4494: Jewish Historical Documentation, First-hand account, recording with Elias Rosenberg on December 24, 1947, in Vienna, Austria, p. 4–5. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 40. Erwin Lambert has stated that technically the first commandant at Treblinka was Richard Thomalla, as he supervised the construction work (Ibid., p. 40), but that is a view not generally held.

CHAPTER 3 Initial phase under Dr. Eberl: July–August 1942

When construction of the camp had been completed, the Austrian SS-Untersturmführer Dr. med. Irmfried Georg Rolf Eberl took command at Treblinka. Previously, Eberl had served as Medical Director at the Brandenburg and Bernburg T4 euthanasia institutions after, according to nurse Pauline Kneissler, he had first learnt the correct technique for administering carbon monoxide (CO) gas to kill people at the first ‘T4’ institution at Grafeneck castle in Württemberg.65 In April 1942, before assuming command at Treblinka, Eberl was temporarily stationed in the Sobibór death camp, after which he spent a few weeks in Warsaw dealing with administrative tasks connected with the Treblinka death camp, including the ordering of building materials. He wrote to Heinz Auerswald, the Commissioner for the Jewish District (Kommissar für den Jüdischen Wohnbezirk) notifying him that the Treblinka camp would be ready to start operations on July 11, 1942,66 and shortly afterwards—on July 23, 1942—the first mass transport from the Warsaw ghetto arrived at the death camp. During his stay in Warsaw and later tenure as Treblinka commandant, Eberl corresponded regularly with his wife, Ruth, who was also a doctor of medicine. In one of his last letters from Warsaw, Eberl wrote about Treblinka that although everything was in ‘a mad rush’ (tolle Hetzjagd) as construction work at the camp neared its

65

66

E. Klee, Was sie taten—Was sie wurden: Ärzte, Juristen und andere Beteiligte am Kranken- oder Judenmord, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 1986, p. 97. Letter reproduced in: R. Glazar, Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky. G plus G, Prague 2007, p. 378.

31

end, he would still not be able to keep the 1 July deadline due to various incidents—vehicle breakdowns, accidents, and not least the paper work involved. He also gave his wife his new address where he expected to be within a week: SS-Untersturmführer Dr. Eberl, Treblinka n/Małkinia, SS-Sonderkommando.67 Eberl arrived in Treblinka a few days later and wrote to his wife about his first impressions, that in the camp ‘a breathtaking pace had been established’, and that even if he was ‘in four parts and each day was 100 hours, long, it would still not be enough to carry out everything that was necessary.’ The result was lack of sleep, only three or four hours a night while being plagued by lice and fleas. The last sentence about thinking of his ‘nice home’ in Berlin indicates a modicum of homesickness.68 Although many sources, particularly Franciszek Ząbecki, the station master at Treblinka, have written that the first transport arrived at Treblinka on July 23, 1942, there are a few statements that contradict this claim. A former inmate of the Treblinka penal labor camp, Ryszard Czarkowski, wrote in 1989 that the extermination of the Jews at the Treblinka death camp began as early as June 1942. He claimed that: As a former prisoner of Treblinka penal labor camp, I can with absolute certainty, claim that the date of the first transport of July 22 1942 is not correct. When we were being taken to the railway platforms for work in Małkinia, or on the so-called Siedlce bridge on the River Bug, I could see the Jews being brought in cars. I am absolutely

67

68

32

HHStA Wiesbaden, III/683/5, 147, 631a, 1631: Eberl letter from Warsaw, dated June 29, 1942. Many of Eberl's letters have been published in: M. Grabher, Irmfried Eberl—‘Euthanasie’-Arzt und Kommandant von Treblinka. Peter Lang, Frankfurt/Main 2006. U. Hoffmann, D. Schulze, Gedenkstätte Bernburg. Dessau 1997, pp. 156–167. Ibid., III/683/6, 149–150, 631a, 1631: Letter from Treblinka, dated July 30, 1942. Letter reproduced in full in Supplementary Documents.

sure that in June 1942 the transports of Jews were arriving at Treblinka in latticed freight wagons. It is possible that on July 22, 1942, the first transport of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto arrived at Treblinka, but earlier transports were surely brought from other towns.69

Czarkowski also refers in his book to the crown witness Jan Sułkowski who supports his claim that transports arrived at the death camp before July 23, 1942: Fortunately, there is alive today (1989) a crown witness who can support my conclusions which deal with the above-mentioned claims. His name is Jan Sułkowski, who testified during the War Crimes trial of Ludwig Fischer on January 20, 1945. Jan Sułkowski was imprisoned in the Treblinka labor camp (Treblinka I) on May 19, 1942, and within two days of his arrival was appointed to the work group, consisting of Poles, which was constructing the extermination centre. Sułkowski testified that about May 22, 1942, the first Jewish transport arrived holding nearly 800 persons. (...) I wonder why such facts are not mentioned by the chief of station traffic Franciszek Ząbecki, who wrote in his book that the extermination camp was operational for the first time on July 23, 1942.70

However, it is difficult to imagine how any Jews were gassed in Treblinka while the camp was still under construction. If Jews were delivered at such early dates they were doubtless engaged in construction work. * Oskar Strawczyński, who together with his brother was a prisoner in the death camp, has given a very detailed description of the particular areas in the camp, including the Upper Camp. Although he never entered this most feared compound, he received a first-hand account about it from two men who worked there. One of them was Hershel Jabłkowski, whom Strawczyński described as:

69

70

R. Czarkowski, Cieniom Treblinki, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warsaw 1989, p. 21. Ibid., pp. 191–192.

33

A solid and decent man with whom I worked for many months in the workshop: he as a (black) smith and I as a tinsmith. He arrived at Treblinka on 18 June 1942, a considerable time before the first transports. According to him, the first transport arrived on Tisha B'Av 71 in 1942 (23 July). He participated in digging the first mass grave. At that time there was no bulldozer. Later, as a smith, he was employed in building the ‘bath.’ It was all one camp then. The day before the first transport arrived, Camp I and Camp II were divided. As a skilled tradesman, Jabłkowski was sent to Camp I.72

It is known that in the other two Aktion Reinhardt camps at Bełżec and Sobibór test gassings were carried out on local Jews. It is therefore possible that some transports did in fact arrive at earlier dates on which the first gas chambers were tested. Franciszek Ząbecki, however, was in a key position to state exactly when the transports actually began arriving. Ząbecki has recalled his curiosity about what was happening in the nearby camp: I rode my bicycle in order to find out what was going on there. The concrete road on which I rode was a straight distance of about 200 meters from the camp. I got off my bicycle as if I were fixing it. I fixed it for more than 10 minutes. From the camp I heard screams of desperation and crying that pierced the air, and songs and psalms, and prayers of supplication in Yiddish and Polish reached my ears. Above all, there was a constant rat-a-tat-tat of firing from machine guns. The news of the tragedy in Treblinka was passed on to the world, but they could not prevent it. The fate of the Jews was sealed.73

On July 22, 1942, Ząbecki recalled receiving a telegram stating that the running of a shuttle service from Warsaw to Treblinka with settlers was to commence. The trains would be made up of 60 covered freight wagons; after unloading, the trains were to be sent back to Warsaw. Ząbecki: 71

72 73

34

Should be “Tisza b'Aw”—regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calender, commemorating primarily the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. Cymlich, Strawczyński, Escaping Hell ..., op. cit., p. 171. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 352.

The first train to arrive on July 23, 1942, made its presence known from a long way off, not only by the rumble of the wheels on the bridge over the River Bug, but by the frequent shots from the rifles and automatic weapons of the train guards. The train was made up of sixty covered wagons, crammed with people. There were old people, young people, men, women, children and infants in quilts. The doors of the wagons were bolted, the air gaps had a grating of barbed wire. Several SS-men, with automatic weapons, ready to shoot, stood on the foot-boards of the wagons on both sides of the train and even lay on the roofs. It was a hot day; people in the wagons were fainting. The SS guards with rolled-up sleeves looked like butchers, who after murdering their victims washed their blood-stained hands and got ready for more killing. Without a word, we understood the tragedy, since ‘settling’ people coming to work would not have required such a strict guard, whereas these people were being transported like dangerous criminals. After the transport arrived, some fiendish spirit got into the SSmen, they drew their pistols, put them away, and took them out again, as if they wanted to shoot and kill straight away; they approached the wagons, silencing those who were shrieking and wailing, and again they swore and screamed. (…) On the wagons we could see chalk marks giving the number of people in the wagon, viz: 120, 150, 180 and 200 people. We worked out later that the total number of people in the train must have been about eight to ten thousand. The ‘settlers’ were strangely huddled together in the wagons. All of them had to stand, without sufficient air and without access to toilet facilities. It was like travelling in hot ovens. (…) Through some air gaps terrified people looked out, asking hopefully: ‘How far is it to the agricultural estates where we're going to work?’ Twenty wagons were uncoupled from the train, and a shunting locomotive began to push them along the spur-line into the camp. A short while later it returned empty. This procedure was repeated twice more, until all sixty wagons had been shunted into the camp and out again. Empty, they returned to Warsaw for more ‘settlers.’74

Wolf Sznajdman also remembered the transport of 23 July:

74

F. Ząbecki, Wspomnienia dawne i nowe. PAX, Warsaw 1977, pp. 45–48.

35

I can remember the date, ‘Tiszebuw’, near the end of July, the first transport had come. We did not know who has come. We saw the women with children there. They have parted us from the transport. They took the workers into the Upper Camp and they ended up as corpses, and we were finishing the building works. We did not know at all, that they have brought those people for execution. They have at first allowed (them) to enter the barracks on the yard they ordered (them) to undress there. From the barracks led the road to the ‘bath’, this means into the gas chamber. At the beginning, for two weeks, everything was happening during the night. We thought over the few first days, that in the night the wagons are coming to take the transports further, to the East. We were not allowed to enter the Upper Camp. If anybody looked in this direction, they took him to work (there) and he never came back, we saw the clothes, through the opened barracks doors, where the piles of clothes laid. We were then working close to this, in the carpenter shop, everything was clear to us suddenly. After this, all of the barracks were overfilled with the rags, so the people were ordered to undress on the yard, the heaps of those clothes and shoes piled up in the way you see straw on the yards next to barns. We also noticed that machine guns were placed on the roofs of the wagons carrying the deportees. They fired into the transports. There was a meter high layer of bodies on the yard. Ukrainians shot people on that scale. It could be seen that the process in the gas chambers went too slowly. It was impossible to sleep during the night as such shootings were all around, like at the front. There was always something to build, always something new, we were building ‘till the very end, ’till the uprising, without a break in order not to think about anything else. They did not allow us to talk to anybody from those transports.75

The transports of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto were organized by SS-Hauptsturmführer Herman Höfle, the deputy head of Aktion Reinhardt in Lublin, and by September 21, 1942, he had dispatched to the Treblinka death camp 254,000 Jews from Warsaw itself and another 112,000 Jews from other locations in the Warsaw District.76 75 76

36

YVA, Jerusalem, 03/1560: Wolf Sznajdman (Wolf Schneidman). Y. Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw 1939–43. The Harvester Press, Brighton 1982, pp. 203 & 216.

At the beginning of the second week of August 1942, Ząbecki witnessed the following incident at Treblinka railway station: A Polish partisan, Trzciński, from a nearby village, had reached the station after being forced to flee across the River Bug. He was on his way south, armed, in search of another partisan group, and intended to travel south on the regular train to Sokołów. At an adjoining platform were carriages waiting to be shunted on to the death camp spur. Trzciński went up to a wagon, suddenly unfastened his coat, and gave a young Jew a grenade, asking him to throw it among the Germans. The Jew took the grenade and Trzciński jumped into the moving passenger train and departed.77

Ząbecki learned later that the Jew had thrown the grenade at a group of Ukrainian Trawnikimänner standing beside the Germans on the Ramp in Camp I. One Trawnikimann was seriously wounded. The Germans wreaked their revenge by beating the young men to death with sticks.78 Trawnikimann Nikolay Petrovich Malagon was on duty on the Ramp and a witness to this incident; he confirmed that one of the guards was killed, but that the Jews responsible were shot on the spot and not beaten to death79 Oskar Berger, a businessman from Katowice, Upper Silesia, who was deported from Kielce with his wife and child on August 22, 1942, recalls seeing hundreds of bodies lying all around on arrival in Treblinka: ‘Piles of bundles, clothes, suitcases, everything mixed together. SS soldiers, Germans and Ukrainians, were standing on the roofs of barracks and firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Men, women and children fell bleeding. The air was filled with screaming and weeping.’80 Abraham Krzepicki also recalled his arrival at the death camp. He escaped 18 days later and his testimony was recorded by Rachel 77

78 79 80

M. Gilbert, The Holocaust—The Jewish Tragedy. William Collins, London 1987, pp. 407–408. Ibid., p. 408. OSI/DJ, Washington, DC: Nikolay Petrovich Malagon, March 18, 1978. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 84.

37

Auerbach during December 1942–January 1943 in the Warsaw ghetto: After passing Treblinka station, the train went on a few hundred meters to the camp. In the camp there was a platform to which the train ran through a separate gate guarded by a Ukrainian. He opened the gate for us. After the train had entered, the gate was closed again. As I was later able to note, this gate was made of wooden slats, interwoven with barbed wire, camouflaged by green branches. When the train stopped, the doors of all the cars were suddenly flung open. We were now on the grounds of the charnel house that is Treblinka.81

Krzepicki's statement is a very important source for reconstructing the events during the initial phase of the history of the camp. He states that during this time, on arrival in the camp the deportees were informed about the purpose for their deportation by placards with large printed letters which began with the words: ‘Jews of Warsaw, Attention (…)’, followed by detailed instructions. The Jews were told that they had arrived at a labor camp, that they must hand over their clothes for disinfection, and promised their money and valuables would be returned to them: An SS-man arrived and selected 10 young men out of our group; he didn't want older men. A while later, another SS-man demanded 60 men; I was among that group. They marched us two-by-two through the square we had traversed when we left the freight cars, then to the right, to a larger square, where we were confronted by a staggering sight; a large number of corpses lying one next to the other. I estimated there were 20,000 corpses there, most of whom had suffocated in the freight cars. Their mouths remained open, as if they were gasping for another breath of air. Hundreds of meters away, a scoop-shovel dug large quantities of earth from the ditches. We saw a lot of Jews busy carrying the bodies to these huge ditches. Some of them transported the bodies in handcarts to the ditches at the edge of the square. These Jews did everything at a run.

81

38

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 82.

The bodies were laid in the ditches, row upon row. A group of laborers were pouring chlorine (sic!) on the corpses.82 I should mention that those buried at this square were not gas chamber victims, but rather the bodies removed from the transports and those who had been shot at Treblinka. Often we heard pistols shooting and bullets whistling. We didn't hear the screams of those shot; the Germans fired at the nape of the neck, and the victim never even moaned. At night, another transport arrived at the camp. We ran towards the cars. I was shocked. All the cars were filled only with the dead— asphyxiated. They were lying on top of one another in layers, up to the ceiling of the freight car. The sight was so awful, it is difficult to describe. I asked where the transport had come from; it turned out to be from Międzyrzec.83

Abraham Goldfarb was deported from Białystok with his wife and four children and arrived in Treblinka on August 25, 1942. His wife and children were murdered on arrival in the camp. He described the ‘Tube’ thus: On the way to the gas chambers, on both sides of the fence, stood Germans with dogs. The Germans beat the people with whips and iron bars, so they would run and push to get into the ‘showers’ quickly. The women's screams could be heard far off in other sections of the camp. The Germans urged the running victims on with yells of ‘Faster, faster, the water's getting cold, and others have to use the showers, too!.84

From the ‘Tube’ the Jews were brutally pushed and beaten into the gas chambers. The women and children were gassed before the men.85 Abraham Krzepicki, deported from Warsaw to Treblinka on the same day as Goldfarb, has described those chaotic early days in the camp: 82

83 84 85

Chlorine is a gas. Krzepicki must have meant chloride of lime which slows down the process of decomposition by drying the tissues. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 85. Ibid., p. 86. Eliahu Rosenberg via Kalman Teigman in a letter to Chris Webb, November 21, 2004.

39

At seven in the evening there was a roll call; they counted us—we were about 500. They appointed a Jewish commander—a Kapo, the engineer Galewski. That day, like every day, the roll call lasted two hours. The next morning there was another roll call. Since first counting us they had instituted some order, and the roll calls were held three times a day. Food distribution was also organized. A field kitchen was set up near the well, and there they gave us half a liter of soup three times a day. We received no bread, but there was no lack of food, since we could take it from the bundles left behind by the Jews brought for extermination. The kitchen food also came from these bundles. After roll call we were taken to work at the big square where there were mass graves. (…) I worked at transferring corpses to the big ditch near the fence. After a few days, the scoop-shovel stopped working. A new system was instituted—burning the corpses in the ditches. All kinds of articles were used to light the fires, including empty suitcases and the junk which was collected in the course of cleaning the square. The body-burning continued day and night, and the entire camp was filled with smoke and the stench of burned and burning bodies. Still there were endless quantities of bodies. It was necessary to clean the area fully of the remains of the last transports. (...) bodies, dozens of bodies, hundreds, thousands of men, women and children, who had been murdered. (…) A factory of horror whose sole product was bodies. (…) I didn't get used to the sight of corpses until the end. The quantity of the bodies in the large square gradually decreased until one day the entire field was clear. What will happen to us now? New transports aren't arriving. Our hearts tell us that our last hour has arrived (...) but a miracle happened (...) they selected 80 of our group and shot them, while the rest, several hundred, were directed to other jobs.86

Kurt Gerstein, an SS-Oberscharführer in the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen-SS in Berlin was in charge of disinfection and drinking water systems in military camps, concentration camps and prisoner-of-

86

40

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 94.

war camps.87 On August 18, 1942, together with Professor Dr. Wilhelm Pfannenstiel, who held the Chair of Hygiene at the university of Marburg-an-der-Lahn, Gerstein visited Lublin and the Bełżec death camp after which he travelled to Treblinka. They accompanied Christian Wirth who on August 1 had been appointed Inspector of the SS-Sonderkommandos operating in the camps at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka (Inspekteur der SS-Sonderkommandos Aktion Reinhardt). Gerstein: The next day—August 19, 1942—we went in Hauptmann Wirth's car to Treblinka, 120 km NNE of Warsaw. The installation was somewhat similar to that in Bełżec except that it was larger. Eight gas chambers and veritable mountains of cases, textiles and underclothes. A banquet in the dining-hall was laid on in our honor in typical Himmlerite Old German style. The meal was simple, but there was plenty of everything. Himmler himself had ordered that the men of these Kommandos should receive as much meat, butter and other things, particularly alcohol, as they wanted.88

On the same day, August 19, 1942, SS-Oberscharführer Josef Oberhauser, Wirth's aide, accompanied him on an inspection of Treblinka. He recalled about what he witnessed that day: In Treblinka everything was in a state of collapse. The camp was overstocked. Outside the camp, a train with deportees was unable to be unloaded as there was simply no more room. Many corpses of Jews were lying inside the camp. These corpses were already bloated.

87

88

S. Friedländer, Counterfeit Nazi. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1969, p. 90. J. Schäfer, Kurt Gerstein—Zeuge des Holocaust: Ein Leben zwischen Bibelkreisen und SS. Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld 1999, p. 156. G. Schoenberner, The Yellow Star. Corgi Books, London 1978, p. 135. The question arises: Would Globocnik and Wirth have allowed Kurt Gerstein to visit Treblinka on August 19, 1942, when it was in such a state of chaos? That Gerstein visited the death camp is not in doubt, only the date is problematic. It is interesting to note that Gerstein mentions eight gas chambers instead of three. If he saw a building with more gas chambers, this indicates he was in Treblinka at a date after the completion of the new gassing building, perhaps in September or October.

41

I can particularly remember seeing many corpses in the vicinity of the fence. These people had been shot from the guard towers.89

SS-Unterscharführer Willy Mentz who had been posted to Treblinka the previous month, has given a similar statement about the mounting chaos in the camp: When I came to Treblinka the camp Commandant was a doctor named Eberl. He was very ambitious. It was said that he ordered more transports that could be ‘processed’ in the camp. That meant that trains had to wait outside the camp because the occupants of the previous transport had not yet all been killed. At the time it was very hot and as a result of the long wait inside the transport trains in the intense heat many people died. At that time whole mountains of bodies lay on the platform. 90

SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, who arrived in Treblinka on August 20, 1942, also recalls the chaos in Treblinka and lack of capacity of the gas chambers to deal with the incoming Jews: ‘More people kept coming, always more, whom we hadn't the facilities to kill. The brass was in a rush to clean out the Warsaw ghetto. The gas chambers couldn't handle the load. The small gas chambers. The Jews had to wait their turn for a day, two days, three days.’91 In the meantime, Wirth and Oberhauser had returned to Warsaw and convened a conference at the Brühl Palace on Adolf Hitler Platz, the headquarters of the SS and Police Leader for the Warsaw District, SS-Oberführer Ferdinand Sammern-Frankenegg, another Austrian, and the office of Ludwig Fischer, the civilian governorgeneral of the Warsaw District. Also in attendance were SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik and two unidentified men in civilian

89 90

91

42

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 89. E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess (eds.), The Good Old Days—The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpeterators and Bystanders. William S. Konecky, New York 1996, p. 245. C. Lanzmann, Shoah—An Oral History of the Holocaust. Pantheon Books, New York 1985, p. 55.

clothes.92 After the conference, the four SS-officers returned to Treblinka, accompanied by the two unidentified men. In Treblinka, Globocnik saw for himself the serious bottleneck that had occurred. Oberhauser was a witness to the subsequent discussion between Globocnik and Wirth: I heard then in Treblinka how Globocnik and Wirth summed-up the following: Dr. Eberl would be dismissed immediately; in his place, Stangl would come to Treblinka from Sobibór as commander. Globocnik said in this conversation that if Dr. Eberl were not his fellow countryman (i.e. Austrian), he would have him arrested and brought before an SS and police court.93 (...) Globocnik said to the two civilians that all the transports from Warsaw to Treblinka had to be stopped. Wirth was ordered to enlarge the camp and to report when transports could be dealt with again. I then travelled back to Warsaw with Globocnik and the two gentlemen in civilian clothes. We were then in Warsaw for two or three days. I know that Dr. Eberl also showed up there about a day later. I learned then in Warsaw that Dr. Eberl would be sent back to Berlin, and everything would be further controlled from there by the Fuhrer's Chancellery.94

According to a statement by SS-Unterscharführer Willy Mentz, Wirth ‘kicked up a terrific row’ and then one day Dr. Eberl was no longer there.95 Franz Stangl was taken to Treblinka by an SS-driver and long before their arrival the stink from the camp was perceptible. The road ran parallel to the railway, and about 15–20 minutes drive from the camp, corpses could be seen lying alongside the track. Stangl: ‘first just two or three, then more, and as we drove into Treblinka station,

92

93 94 95

M. Tregenza, ‘Christian Wirth: Inspekteur der SS-Sonderkommandos Aktion Reinhard’, in: Zeszyty Majdanka, vol. XXVI, Lublin 1992, p. 3. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 89 & 92. Tregenza, ‘Christian Wirth … ’, op. cit., p. 4. Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., p. 245.

43

there were what looked like hundreds of them—just lying there— they'd obviously been there for days, in the heat.’96 At Treblinka station a trainload of Jews waited to enter the camp, and to Stangl it looked as if it had been there for days.97 Stangl has described the sight on arrival inside Treblinka death camp as ‘the most awful thing he saw during the Third Reich’. It was Dantés Inferno: When I entered the camp and got out of the car on the square, I stepped knee-deep into money; I didn't know which way to turn, where to go. I waded in notes, currency, precious stones, jewellery, clothes. They were everywhere, strewn all over the square. (…) Across the square, in the woods, just a few hundred yards away on the other side of the barbed-wire fence and all around the perimeter of the camp, there were tents and open fires with groups of Ukrainian guards and girls—whores, I found out later, from all over the countryside—weaving drunk, dancing, singing, playing music.98

Stangl described the conditions and behavior that ruled inside the camp at this time: We went into a long meeting with Eberl as soon as we arrived. I went to the mess for some coffee and talked to some of the officers. They said they had great fun; shooting was ‘sport.’ There was more money and stuff around than one could dream of, all there for the taking; all one had to do was help oneself. In the evening, they said, Eberl had naked Jewesses dance for them, on the tables. Disgusting—it was all disgusting.99

According to SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, however, the latter story was an exaggeration: There were never nude Jewesses dancing on tables, that's untrue. What is true is that once Eberl, when he was drunk, made a dancer dance naked in the kitchen. He ordered her to undress—which she did most unwillingly. When Wirth heard of this later, he had the 96 97 98 99

44

Sereny, Into that Darkness …, op. cit., p. 157. Ibid., p. 157. Ibid., p. 157. Ibid., p. 160.

poor girl shot. August Hengst had played the pimp on that occasion.100

Wirth had been alerted to problems with the delivery money and valuables and the unrestricted opportunities for the SS staff to help themselves to whatever they wanted. A certain amount of the Jewish loot, instead of being sent first to Lublin for sorting and distribution, it was suspected that some of it was being ‘siphoned off’ and sent by Eberl directly to the Führer's Chancellery and ‘T4’ in Berlin.101 Stangl, too, suspected that there was some kind of conspiracy between Eberl and Wirth, as he mentioned in an interview with Gitta Sereny: I'd got a funny feeling that something fishy had been going on between Wirth and Eberl (…) It seemed to me, the chaos—the complete breakdown in security—might almost been deliberate, so as to make control impossible and enable somebody (i.e. Eberl and Wirth) to by-pass Chancellery in Berlin.102

For a period of several weeks in September–early October 1942, SSOberscharführer Ernst Schemmel from the Aktion Reinhardt death camp at Bełżec replaced Stangl for a short time. This is confirmed by SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel who arrived at Treblinka on August 20. He has stated that when he returned to Treblinka from a two-week leave on October 1, Schemmel was in command. Suchomel assumed that Stangl had either returned to Sobibór, or more likely, had himself gone on leave.103 In the interim, Schemmel had been transferred to Treblinka as acting Commandant until Stangl returned.104

100

101 102 103

104

Ibid., pp.160―161. Hengst was a professional chef, commandeered first to ‘T4’ as a cook and then to Treblinka as cook for the SS-garrison. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 88. Sereny, Into that Darkness …, op. cit., p. 162. Archives of the Holocaust, Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen Ludwigsburg. Garland Publishing Inc, New York/London 1993, p. 423. Raul Hilberg mentions Schemmel in his book as the second commandant of Treblinka, after Eberl and before Stangl. (Hilberg, Die Vernich-

45

tung der europäischen Juden, vol. 2. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt/Main 1990, p. 959. Ernst Schemmel died in Dresden in 1943 while home on leave.

46

CHAPTER 4

Chaos and Reorganization

Wirth stayed in Treblinka to supervise the reorganization of the camp and had the transports suspended until the reorganization was completed. He also arranged for a number of key personnel to be transferred from Bełżec to Treblinka; the most senior was SSOberscharführer Kurt Franz, who had served for several months at Bełżec: It was mid-summer or early autumn 1942 when I arrived at Treblinka from Bełżec. I left Małkinia station on foot and it was already dark by the time I reached Treblinka. In the camp there were bodies lying everywhere. I seemed to recall that they were all swollen. These bodies were dragged through the camp to the upper section by Jews. (...) The work Jews were forced to keep moving by the Ukrainian guards, also by the Germans. I also saw them being beaten, what they were beaten with I can no longer say. There was tremendous confusion and a horrible din. That evening I went walking around the camp. During my walk I established that some of the guard squads were with girls and had put down their rifles. Then, as far as I could, I established order. I reported to Wirth in the dining room, as I remember, Wirth, Stangl, and Oberhauser were there.105

Very early the next morning, Franz walked around the camp to discover that the bodies had been removed. At around 9 a.m. the first transport arrived and by the time Franz arrived on the Ramp, the men were already standing naked in the Reception Yard. 106 Stangl recalls one of the first changes made in Treblinka by Wirth: When I arrived in Treblinka for the first time, a large board was located in Reception Square. As I remember, on this board were noted 105 106

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 92 Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., p. 244.

47

ten clauses. These clauses stressed how the arriving Jews should behave. It is clear that in this written announcement the mission of this camp, in some way, was disguised. (…)

These written instructions for the incoming Jews were dispensed with by Wirth, as explained by Stangl: ‘In the framework of the reorganization, Wirth ordered the signboard removed. In its place, the SS-men would verbally announce to the deportees the directions which were until then written on the board. These short announcements were translated by work Jews.’107 SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel recalled how Wirth dealt with the chaos in the camp and completed the reorganization: I remember that in the time when the whole camp was entirely disorganized, Wirth conducted talks with the German staff, mainly at 11 o'clock in the evening. These talks took place in the presence of Stangl. Wirth gave detailed instructions as to the liquidation of the transports and to the incorporation of the Jewish work Kommandos in this process. His instructions were detailed. For example, they described how to open the doors of the freight cars, the disembarking of the Jews, the passage through the ‘Tube’ to the upper part of the camp. Wirth personally gave an order that when the Jews took off their shoes they had to tie them together (…) Wirth's instructions were carried out even after he left Treblinka.108

Suchomel recalled how Wirth terrorized the camp garrison while the reorganization was taking place: He (Wirth) began to demonstrate his power to us. One morning, through the Kapos, he arrested about 10 people, mostly so-called ‘speculators,’ but also local peasants straight from the fields—among them a 10-year-old boy. He sent them to the ‘Lazarett’, said his piece, and had them shot.

107 108

48

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, p. 92. Ibid., p. 96.

Thus, Wirth did everything to frighten us and to prove his power. His constant success was not in doubt. It has to be taken into account that we were novices then and had to take his threats seriously.109

Suchomel also recalled how Wirth set about clearing up the dead bodies which had accumulated around the old gas chamber building during Dr. Eberl's reign: Because there were so many dead that couldn't be gotten rid of, the bodies piled up around the gas chambers and stayed there for days. Under this pile of bodies was a cesspool three inches deep, full of blood, worms and shit. No one wanted to clean it out. The Jews preferred to be shot rather than work there. It was awful. Burying their own people, seeing it all. The dead flesh came off in their hands.110

Wirth ordered SS-man Erwin Kaina to round-up some Jews and clean up the ghastly mess, or face the consequences. But no one would comply. The Jews preferred to kill themselves. Kaina had already served a few weeks imprisonment in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, sent there by Wirth during the ‘T4’ duty for openly speaking about the work in the Hadamar euthanasia institution. He was so fearful of Wirth's wrath that he shot himself, but bungled the attempt. He died later in the local Military Reserve Hospital in Ostrów Mazowiecki.111 Wirth next ordered the SS-men Kurt Franz and Lorenz Hackenholt, recently transferred from Bełżec, to clear away the corpses. They, too, refused at first and Wirth beat Hackenholt with a whip. Finally, Wirth had to do the job himself, assisted by Franz and Hackenholt, by wrapping leather belts around the arms of the corpses and dragging them to a mass grave.112 SS-Unterscharführer Willy Mentz describes the new deception procedure introduced by Wirth for ‘processing’ the victims:

109 110 111 112

Suchomel, ‘Christian Wirth ...’, op. cit., p. 9. Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 56. Suchomel, ‘Christian Wirth ...’, op. cit. Ibid.

49

Following the arrival of a transport, six to eight cars would be shunted into the camp, coming to a halt at the platform there. The Commandant, his deputy Franz, Küttner and Stadie or Mätzig would be there waiting as the transport came in. Other SS members were also present to supervise the unloading, for example, Genz and Bölitz had to make absolutely sure that there was no one left in the cars after the occupants had been ordered to get out. When the Jews had got off, Stadie or Mätzig would have a short word with them. They were told something to the effect that they were a resettlement transport, that they would be given a bath and that they would receive new clothes. They were also instructed to maintain quiet and discipline. They would continue their journey the following day.113

Mentz continues: Then the Jews/deportees were taken to the so-called ‘transfer’ area, the women had to undress in huts and the men out in the open. The women were then led through a passageway, known as the ‘Tube’, to the gas chambers. On the way, they had to pass a hut where they had to hand in their jewelery and valuables, the hut was manned by two work-Jews and a member of the SS. The SS member was Suchomel. After they had undressed, the men had to put their clothes and the women's clothes in an orderly pile in a designated place. That only happened in the early days after the reorganization. Later on, there were special work brigades who would immediately sorted the clothes removed by the deportees from the transports.114

On the incoming transports there were always some Jews who were ill, frail and the elderly, as well as small children. There were also those who had been wounded by gunshots from the escort guards while attempting to escape. None of them were capable of going through the extermination procedure unaided, and would hinder the killing process. On arrival they were taken to the ‘Lazarett’ and killed by one of the Ukrainian guards with a rifle shot to the head or back of the neck. Aleksandr Kudlik, a Jewish prisoner who arrived in Treblinka in October 1942, recalled about the ‘Lazarett’: 113 114

50

Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., p. 246. Ibid., pp. 246–247.

Its purpose was the liquidation of those from each transport who were ill, or weak and small children without mothers, as well as for workers who fell sick. I can remember once I was asked to lead the sick ones from a Czech Jewish transport to the ‘Lazarett’. Those who were sick were convinced that they would be placed in a hospital, and they did not want to believe that they are being led to their death. In the ‘Lazarett’, which was fenced-off by a high fence, there was a pit, above which they were killed with a shot in the neck.115

Wolf Sznajdman testified about the ‘Lazarett’: I had once the opportunity to see the ‘Lazarett’. There was a small barrack there for Kapo Kurland. He was an ordinary man. He wore an armband with the Red Cross on it. At the beginning, against the pit, there was only a fence of pine branches. Kurland used to say: ‘Undress, a doctor will make an examination.’ Afterwards, they sat above the pit, and then a Ukrainian approached and shot them. They went there to have a chance to convince themselves, they are good at shooting. They led there the elderly who could hardly walk, they were led by the arm; they brought the children (...)116

SS-Unterscharführer Willy Mentz was assigned by Wirth to take charge of the ‘Lazarett’: In this area there was a large mass grave. This grave was dug by an excavator and must have been about seven meters deep. Next to the mass grave there was a small wooden hut which was used by the two members of the Jewish work brigade who were on duty in the ‘Lazarett’. These Jews wore armbands marked with a Red Cross.117

The idea of the Jews wearing Red Cross armbands apparently originated from SS-NCO Friz Küttner who was in charge of the Lower Camp. Mentz recalled that Wirth himself demonstrated to him how to shoot the adults and children in the ‘Lazarett’ by shooting several Jews. Then, under Wirth's supervision, Mentz had to kill even more

115 116 117

YVA, Jerusalem, 03/550: Aleksandr Kudlik. YVA, Jerusalem, 03/1560: Wolf Sznajdman (Wolf Shneidman). Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., p. 245.

51

Jews by shooting them in the neck. This method was then adhered to on Wirth's orders.118 These ill, frail and wounded people were brought to the ‘Lazarett’ by a special work brigade. These people were taken to the ‘hospital’ area and stood or laid down at the edge of the grave. When no more ill or wounded were expected it was my job to shoot these people. I did this by shooting them in the neck with a 9 mm pistol, they then collapsed or fell to one side and were carried down into the grave by the two ‘hospital’ work-Jews. The bodies were sprinkled with chloride of lime. Later, on Wirth's instructions, they were burnt in the grave itself. The number of people I shot after the transports arrived varied. Sometimes it was two or three but sometimes it was as many as 20 or perhaps even more.119

* At the end of August 1942, Wirth ordered the construction of a new and larger gassing facility near the old building. It was to contain more and larger gas chambers than the original building. He ordered that the death chambers had to be ready for use within one month, and to conceal all activity in the Upper Camp. It was now completely segregated from the rest of the camp. According to SSUnterscharführer Willy Mentz: The two parts of the camp were separated by barbed-wire fences. Pine branches were used so that you could not see through the fences. The same thing was done along the route from the ‘transfer’ area to the gas chambers. The work-Jews who worked in the upper part of the camp also lived there from then on. Finally, new and larger gas-chambers were built. I think that there were now five or six large gas-chambers.120

Erwin Lambert, the former ‘flying mason’ for ‘T4’ who had installed gas chambers in five of the six ‘euthanasia’ institutions, recalled how

118

119 120

52

M. Tregenza, ‘Christian Wirth and the First Phase of Einsatz Reinhard’, in: Zeszyty Majdanka, vol. XIV, Lublin 1992, p. 8. Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., pp. 245–247. Ibid., p. 245.

he constructed the larger gas chambers at Treblinka in the late summer/early autumn of 1942: At Treblinka I laid the foundations for the large gas chambers. I had some Jewish prisoners and some Ukrainians in my work force. The Ukrainians were guards, but there they worked as masons and carpenters. We never officially spoke of gas chambers but of shower rooms. We must have worked for six to eight weeks on that job. In addition to building the large gas chambers, I also did other construction jobs. I remember that a baker's oven was built, a stable, and a detention block for the guards. I got the building material from ruined buildings near the camp. I was given Jewish prisoners for this work.121

Like its older counterpart, this building, which was located a few meters in front of the old gas chambers, was a massive brick structure set on concrete foundations. Five wide stone steps, lined with tubs of flowers, led up to the front entrance of the building. Inside, there was a wide corridor, on either side of which there were doors leading directly into the gas chambers. The capacity of the new gas chambers was approximately double that of the chambers in the old gassing building. The new gas chambers measured about 8 meters x 4 meters x 2 meters high. Jankiel Wiernik, who had been assigned as camp carpenter and builder, participated on the construction of the new gas chambers: The new construction job between Camp I and Camp II, on which I had been working, was completed in a very short time. It turned out that we were building 10 additional gas chambers, more spacious than the old ones, 7 meters x 7 meters or about 50 square meters. As many as 1,000–1,200 persons could be crowded into one gas chamber.122 The building was laid out according to the corridor system,

121

122

E. Kogon, H. Langbein, A Rückerl (eds.), Nazi Mass Murder—A History of the Use of Poison Gas. Yale University Press, New Haven 1993, p. 132. The figures of 1,000–1,200 are grossly exaggerated. SS-Scharführer Heinrich Matthes testified that the 10 new chambers could hold a total of 3,800 people, whereas the three old chambers could hold only 600. (Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 120). Other sources, how-

53

with five chambers on each side of the corridor. Each chamber had two doors, one door leading from the corridor through which the victims were admitted; the other door, facing the camp, was used for the removal of the corpses. The construction of both doors was the same as that of the doors in the old chambers. The building when viewed from Camp I, showed five wide concrete steps with bowls of flowers on either side. Next came a long corridor. There was a Star of David on top of the roof facing the camp, so that the building looked like an old-fashioned synagogue. When the construction was finished, the SS-Hauptsturmführer (Wirth) said to his subordinates: ‘The Jew-town has been completed at last!’123

Oskar Strawczyński received information about the arrangements and procedures in the Upper Camp (Camp II) mainly from fellow prisoner Hershel Jabłkowski, because Strawczyński, as a prisoner in the Lower Camp, was strictly forbidden to enter the other part of the death camp. Another of his sources was Shimon Goldberg, a carpenter from Radomsko in the Łódź province of Poland, who had worked for four months in the Upper Camp: Over in Camp II there was also the ‘bath’ (…) It was a large, concrete building standing on a cement platform. On its roof, visible from a distance, was a wooden Star of David. Running through the middle of the building was a corridor. The entrance was covered with a red curtain. Off the corridor were doors leading to small cubicles into which the arrivals from the transport were introduced. Outside, over the platform, were large openings covered by panels hinged at the top and fastened with steel bands. Inside the cubicles, smooth tiles covered the slightly slanted floors and halfway up the walls. On the

123

54

ever, double the capacity of the old gas chambers to about 1,200 victims. SS-Unterscharführer Willy Mentz has stated: ‘I cannot say exactly how many people these large gas chambers held. If the small gas-chambers could hold 80–100 people (each), the large ones could probably hold twice that number’. (Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., p. 245). Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 161, 162. Wirth did not receive promotion to SS-Hauptsturmführer until 1943.

ceiling were mounted a few shower-heads. There was also a small window in the middle of the ceiling (of each cubicle).124

Abraham Krzepicki was one of the builders who had participated earlier in the construction of the new gas chambers: The next morning, 15 men, including myself, were taken out of our group and escorted once again to the gas chambers area. This time we were given a different job, we were ordered to help put up the walls of a new building. Some said this would be a crematorium for the bodies of those who had been asphyxiated in the gas chambers, because burying took up too much space. (…) Most of the buildings in the camp were made of wood. The gas chambers and the new building—which was in the process of being built at the time and to which we were assigned as construction helpers—were made of brick.125

During the Treblinka trial in the mid-1960's, former SS-Scharführer Heinrich Arthur Matthes, the chief of the Upper Camp, stated that there were six chambers in the new building, while his comrade, Franz Suchomel, believed that there were eight.126 Erwin Lambert, who had supervised the construction of the new gas chambers, stated that in the new building there was a central corridor with three chambers on the right side and another three on the left.127 Pavel Leleko, one of the Ukrainian guards, however, in agreement with Suchomel, also believed that there were eight chambers, with two more chambers at the rear housing the engines, whereas Dimitry Korotkikh believed that there were only six. On the other hand, the Jewish survivors who worked in the Upper Camp testified that there were ten chambers. One of them was

124 125 126 127

Cymlich, Strawczyński, Escaping Hell ..., op. cit., pp. 169–170. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 102–104. Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 61. GFH, Israel, 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Euthanasie und Treblinka. Vernehmung der Angeklagten—‘Wir tranken sehr viel’, October 23, 1964. Lambert is confusing the first gas chambers in Bełżec and Sobibór, both of which had only three chambers.

55

Jankiel Wiernik. Eliahu Rosenberg also stated in post-war testimony that there were 10 gas chambers.128 Lambert claims that the arrangement and fittings on the new gas chambers, including the entrance and exit doors, largely corresponded to those in the chambers of the old gassing facility. An inscription on the front wall declared it to be an ‘Inhalation Facility’ (‘Inhalationsanstalt’).129 At the end of the corridor which ran straight from the front to the rear of the building, there was the engine room containing the two diesel engines that produced the gas. The gable on the front wall of the building bore a large Star of David. The entrance was screened by a heavy, dark red colored curtain,130 which apparently had been taken from a synagogue and bore the following legend in Hebrew script: ‘This is the gate through which the righteous shall enter’.131 The bricks for the new gas chambers were obtained from a number of sources, including the chimney of an abandoned glass factory in Małkinia. SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Franz took a number of photographs of the demolition of the chimney, and testified after the war that the bricks had been used in the construction of the new gas chambers. Other bricks were delivered from Warsaw, as witnessed by Jews at the ‘Umschlagplatz’ (lit. Collection or Transfer Square) in Warsaw in August 1942. They have testified that bricks for the new

128

129

130

131

56

In correspondence with Chris Webb, via Kalman Teigman, dated September 15, 2002, Treblinka survivor Eliahu Rosenberg confirmed the number of 10 gas chambers. Although the Bełżec gassing building had a similar inscription on the front wall, there is no evidence that Lambert visited that camp. There was no such inscription on either the first or second gas chambers at Treblinka. M. Chocholatý interview with Pinchas Epstein, Petah Tikva, Israel, March 2008). Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 300–301.

gas chambers were loaded by Jews in wagons, which were attached to the rear of each transport train bound for Treblinka.132 SS-Scharführer Heinrich Matthes who was responsible for the Upper Camp had this to say about the new gas chambers: Later in summer 1942, the new gas chambers were built. I think that they became operational only in the autumn. Altogether, six gas chambers were operational. According to my estimate, about 300 people could enter each gas chamber. The people went into the gas chambers without resistance. Those who were at the end, the Ukrainian guards had to push inside. I personally saw how the Ukrainians pushed the people with their rifle butts. The gas chambers were closed for about 30 minutes. Then Schmidt stopped the gassing, and the two Ukrainians who were in the engine room opened the gas chambers from the other side. (…) These two Ukrainians who lived in the Upper Camp served in the gas chambers. They also took care of the engine room when Fritz Schmidt was absent. Usually this Schmidt was in charge of the engine room. In my opinion, as a civilian he was either a mechanic or driver. He came from Pirna.133

Chil Rajchman remarked that ‘People were stuffed into them like herrings. When one chamber was full, the second was opened, and so on. Small transports were brought to the smaller structure, which had three gas chambers (…) In that structure the gassing would last 20 minutes, while in the more recent structure it would last about three quarters of an hour.’134 Rajchman then gives a detailed description of the appearance of the corpses after their removal from the new chambers:

132

133

134

J. Kermish (ed.), To Live With Honour and To Die With Honour! Selected Documents from the Warsaw Ghetto Underground ‘O. S.’ (Oneg Shabbath). Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 1986, p. 44. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 121. Pirna on the river Elbe in Saxony. Schmidt had previously been employed by ‘T4’ at the Sonnenstein euthanasia institution in Pirna, Saxony. C. Rajchman, Treblinka: A Survivor's Memory. Maclehose Press, London 2011, p. 57.

57

There was a difference in the appearance of the dead from the small and from the large gas chambers. In the small chambers death was easier and quicker. The faces often looked as if the people had fallen asleep, their eyes closed. Only some of the mouths of some of the gassed victims were distorted, with bloody foam visible on their lips. The bodies were covered in sweat. Before dying, people had urinated and defecated. (...) The corpses in the larger gas chambers, where death took longer, were horribly deformed, their faces all black as if burned, the bodies swollen and blue, the teeth so tightly clenched that it was literally impossible to open them, and to get to the gold crowns we had sometimes to pull out the natural teeth—otherwise the mouth would not open. 135

Initially, the corpses were transported to the mass graves in narrowgauge railway trucks, but this was soon abandoned. Wooden stretchers were favored136 and teams of two Jewish prisoners loaded one or two corpses at a time on them. Then, at the double, they took the corpses on the stretchers to a mass grave, where, after being inspected by the ‘dentists’ and any gold dental work extracted, the bodies were laid out in rows by another work brigade.137 The mass graves—ditches 50 meters long, 25 meters wide and 10 meters deep—were located to the east of the gas chambers. They were dug by an excavator brought from the quarry at Treblinka I, the penal labor camp, and by prisoners. South of the gas chambers, a barrack was erected for the prisoners employed in the Upper Camp. This barrack and a small surrounding yard were fenced with barbed wire, with the entrance gate facing the gas chambers. The barracks served as living quarters for the prisoners and included a kitchen and toilet. In the center of the extermination area, the Upper camp, a watchtower, and a guardroom were erected138 135 136

137 138

58

Ibid., p. 59. GFH, Israel, File 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Mitangeklagte belasten Franz: Mentz und Miete gestehen Beteiligung an Erschiessungen’. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 301. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 42.

In the northern part of the camp, SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel that: ‘Wirth had excavators digging long, deep pits. The excavated earth was used as a rampart to obstruct the view of these pits. At the bottom of the pits he stacked the thousands of corpses which were lying around the camp, covered them with chloride of lime, and closed the pits.’139 The construction of this high earth rampart between the Lower Camp and the Upper Camp hid from view the events in the area of the gas chambers and mass graves. The reorganization that took place in Treblinka also influenced events outside the death camp, especially at Treblinka station. Franciszek Ząbecki, the Treblinka station master, has stated that the scenes witnessed in the earlier phase at the station were so terrible that from September 1942 normal passenger trains no longer stopped there. Military trains were the only traffic from then on, and the Jewish deportation trains, which stopped there to be divided up and shunted into the death camp.140

139 140

Suchomel, ‘Christian Wirth ...’, op. cit. Gilbert, The Holocaust …, op. cit., p. 439.

59

CHAPTER 5 Industrialized mass murder: September–December 1942

In September 1942, SS-Obersturmführer Franz Stangl, the new Commandant, introduced the system of permanent work brigades of Jewish prisoners who were to perform specific tasks at designated places in the camp. Stangl, however, at the time did not realize that this stability was the catalyst that helped sow the seeds of resistance. The camp had changed; the killing process was perfected along the ‘conveyor belt’ lines of industrialized mass murder developed by Wirth at Bełżec. The chaos that had ensued during Dr. Eberl's short tenure as Commandant was consigned to the past. Gone were the ghastly sights of decomposing corpses strewn around the camp, and huge mounds of clothing and belongings left behind by the victims. Although the conditions for the in-coming deportees were improved, at least from the visual point of view, nothing could alleviate for the Jews their traumatic arrival in the death camp. The improvements introduced by Wirth and Stangl, however, did little to reassure the worker Jews in the camp about their eventual fate, especially as their brutal treatment at the hands of the SS continued unabated. They knew they were destined to die and therefore took whatever opportunity they could to exact whatever revenge they could on the SS. On September 11, 1942, shortly after the reorganization of the camp, the sadistic behavior of the SS resulted in a desperate act by a member of a work brigade, as recalled by Boris (‘Kazik’) Weinberg: When we had formed up at the evening roll call, the German in charge ordered all those who had arrived in the camp that same day to form up separately. The men hesitated as to where to stand—were the Germans going to eliminate the new arrivals, or the veterans. At first, no one moved, then a few left the ranks. The Germans began

61

beating the men brutally. At that moment, a man jumped out of the ranks, ran toward the German Max Biela with a drawn knife, and stabbed him in the back. He did the deed—then stood by, hesitating. One of the Ukrainians, Corporal Manchuk, saw what happened, and ran over and hit the assailant on the head with a shovel he was holding. With Biela lying on the ground bleeding from his wound, the Ukrainians began hitting and shooting into the crowd. Dozens were killed and wounded.141

The deputy camp Commandant, SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Franz, nicknamed ‘The Doll’ (‘Lalka’ in Polish) by the prisoners because of his good looks, arrived on the scene. Franz had the wounded Biela removed from the scene, stopped the wild shooting, and ordered the Jews to form up again. He ordered the ‘camp elder’ (Lagerälteste), Galewski, to stand in front of the roll call, beat him with a whip, and announced that if such an event occurred again, he, Galewski, would be executed. SS-Obersturmführer Christian Wirth, who was still in Treblinka, was summoned. He ordered 10 men to be selected and shot. Kurt Franz chose them, and they were shot in front of the roll call. The others were locked all night inside their barrack. The next day there was no usual 6 a.m. roll call. The Jews locked in their barrack feared the worst. At 7:30 a.m. they were summoned to roll call which was held under a heavy guard of SS and Ukrainian guards. One hundred and fifty men were selected, taken to the ditches and shot as punishment for the killing of Max Biela.142 SS-Unterscharführer August Miete, one of the most feared SSmen in the camp, added about the killing of his comrade by Berliner: ‘He jumped out of the line and stabbed Biela with a knife, and said, ‘I could not do it any other way.’ We took the knife from Biela's back.

141 142

62

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 98. Ibid., p. 98.

The prisoner was consequently beaten to death by the Ukrainian guards.’143 Kalman Teigman, who arrived in Treblinka in early September 1942, has stressed that this event persuaded the SS to arrange better conditions and accommodation for the work Jews in order to avoid any further acts of rebellion.144 Pinchas Epstein, deported to the death camp just after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, on September 22, 1942, from Częstochowa in southern Poland, recalled how they were ordered to sit on the ground. He recalled that they saw a bathtub of water. This was a trap. Whoever took a drink received a blow to the head from a German's rifle butt. An SS-man pointed at Epstein and said: ‘You come this way’, motioning him out of the group. I moved over to the side, then my younger brother, David, spotted me, and he got up and approached me. An SS-man saw him doing so. He turned to him and with the butt of his gun, cracked open his skull. I became dizzy for a moment and when I looked, this young boy had disappeared. I never saw him again.145

Oskar Strawczyński who arrived in Treblinka on October 5, 1942, recalls the treatment the Jews received on the Ramp: We run out as fast as we can to avoid the whips lashing over our heads and find ourselves on a long, narrow platform, crowded to capacity. All familiar faces—neighbors and acquaintances. The dust is so tremendous, it obscures the sunlight. A smell of charred flesh stifles the breath. Unwittingly, I catch a glimpse of the mountains of clothing, shoes, bedding and all kinds of wares that can be seen over

143

144

145

GFH, Israel, 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Die Vergeltungsaktion für den SSMann Biela. Mehr als hundert Juden getötet/Der Hauptangeklagte Franz bestreitet die Teilnahme/Der Treblinka-Prozess. M. Chocholatý interview with Kalman Teigman, Bat-Yam, Israel, March 2008. T. Teicholz, The Trial of Ivan the Terrible. Macdonald, London 1990, p. 134.

63

the fence. But there is no time to think. (...) The dense mass of people is pushed toward and jammed through a gate.146

Eugen Turowski was also deported from Częstochowa to Treblinka was with his young son on the same day as Strawczyński: The doors of the cars were opened, Ukrainian and German soldiers met us, ordered us to leave the cars; then we had to march to a big square where we were told to undress. The women had to go to the left side and the men on the right side of the square where there was a large barracks. The women undressed in the barracks, the men in front of the barracks.147

Richard Glazar, one of only two known Czech survivors of Treblinka, was deported to the camp from the Theresienstadt ghetto, northwest of Prague, on transport ‘Bu’ on October 10, 1942. He described his arrival at the Ramp in Camp I: ‘All out, everybody out!’ All this shouting, the uproar, the tumult. ‘Out, Get Out! Leave the luggage!’ We got out, stepping on each other. We saw men wearing blue armbands. Some carried whips. We saw some SS-men. Green uniforms, black uniforms ... We were a mass, and the mass swept us along. It was irresistible. We had to move to another place. I saw the others undressing. And I heard: ‘Get Undressed! You're to be disinfected!’ As I waited, already naked, I noticed the SS-men separating out some people. They were told to get dressed. A passing SS-man suddenly stopped in front of me, looked me over, and said: ‘Yes, you too, quick, join the others, get dressed. You're going to work here, and if you're good, you can be a Kapo—a brigade leader.’148

Aleksandr Kudlik, another deportee from Częstochowa, arrived in Treblinka on October 12, 1942, two days after Glazar: The transport consisted of 60 wagons, each of them held approximately 120 men, women and children. (…) we were all driven to a place between the barracks where we were told to undress after the 146 147

148

64

Cymlich, Strawczyński, Escaping Hell ..., op. cit., p. 130. Fedorenko Denaturalization Hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA in 1978: Statement by Eugen Turowski, Wiener Library London. Lanzmann, Shoah ..., op. cit., p. 44.

separation of women and children from the men. The small children and infants were separated from their mothers. It was often usual for the infants to be killed on the spot by holding their little legs and banging their heads against a fence. I myself saw this a few times later on while working, how SS-Scharführer Sepp (Hirtreiter) from the camp garrison killed children in that way. Before the men undressed, a commander of the camp chose 30 workers, I was then already half-naked, but I took advantage of an inattentive German and moved to the group of those selected, and I succeeded in staying there. I was taken immediately to sort clothes. (...) he men, who naked, carried the clothes on the run and placed them in heaps behind the barrack.149

Samuel Willenberg, deported to Treblinka on October 20, 1942, wrote in his book Surviving Treblinka about his arrival in the camp: The train stopped. The doors opened with a crash. Black uniforms pounced upon us, and shouting wildly in Russian and Ukrainian, ordered us out of the train. The platform filled with a mob of human beings—families carrying their meager possessions on their backs, mothers embracing sobbing children, crying people seeking out one another. We were herded to an open gate in the middle of the fence, prodded with rifle butts and cries of ‘Schnell! Schnell!’ Get a move on! An armed Ukrainian stood at the gate; inside stood a man with a red band round his forearm. He looked Jewish to me. He ordered the men to walk to the right, and the women to the left. I found myself in a yard about 30 meters wide, with huts on either side. In front of the hut, to the right, was a well. The yard was enclosed by a fence camouflaged by dry, brown-green branches. I stood within a crowd of men alongside the hut. A group of some 15 Jews, all with red armbands, ordered us to sit on the ground, take off our shoes and tie them together with the laces. We were then ordered to strip: ‘Everything off!’150

Chil Rajchman who worked in Camp II as a corpse carrier, was ordered to join the ‘dentist’ work brigade. In his book Treblinka—A Survivor's Memoir he recalled his arrival in October 1942: 149 150

YVA 03/550: Aleksandr Kudlik. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka ..., op. cit., pp. 39–40.

65

I no longer have any doubts about our fate. We are helpless. I notice that in the barracks opposite us, the women and children are undressing, and we can hear their pitiful screams. We are ordered to line up in rows. We stand as we are ordered to. Those who are still undressing are beaten mercilessly. When nearly all of us are lined up, the guards approach and choose some hundred men, only young ones, and have us stand to one side. The others are led away. Where, no-one knows. We stand for a few minutes, until all the other men have been led away, and then we are led back to the luggage that the Jews brought with them.151

Sonia Lewkowicz, one of only a few female survivors of Treblinka, was deported from Dombrovar in Bulgaria in December 1942. She recalled her arrival in the death camp: When the train stopped, we were chased from the cars to a big square where we were separated, women and children on one side, the men on the other side. We went to a barrack where we had to undress. There were other women and children, Germans, Ukrainians and Jewish prisoners, men with some kind of blue armbands on their sleeves. I wouldn't undress completely, one of those Jewish prisoners suggested that I should say that I am a laundress. Then he ran to an SSman—told him that I am a laundress, and pushed myself onto him— to this officer—told him I am a laundress. At this moment he pushed me aside.152

The major changes to the 'Lazarett', euphemistically known as the ‘Infirmary’, its new and better camouflaged configuration, and the fate of new arrivals in the camp who were unable to proceed unaided to the undressing barracks, have been described by Kalman Teigman. He testified at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem 1961: All those people who were killed on the Rampor those who fainted, or who still showed signs of life but were unable to walk, we had to carry to the ‘Lazarett’. There was a pit, and we had to throw all these

151 152

66

Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 21. Fedorenko Denaturalization Hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA in 1978: Statement by Sonia Lewkowicz. (Copy in: Wiener Library, London, UK).

bodies into the pit. Those who were still alive were shot at the edge of the pit and were thrown inside.153

Richard Glazar elaborates on Teigman's description: The ‘Lazarett’ was a narrow site very close to the Ramp, to which the aged were led. I, too, had to do this. The execution site was not covered, just an open place with no roof, but screened by a fence so that no one could see in. The entrance was a narrow passage, very short, but somewhat similar to the ‘Tube’. A sort of small labyrinth. In the middle of it there was a pit, and to the left as one came in, there was a small booth with a kind of wooden plank in it, like a springboard. If people were too weak to stand on it, they had to sit on it, and then, as the saying went in Treblinka jargon, SS-man Miete would ‘cure each one with a single pill’—a shot in the back of the neck. In the peak period, that happened daily. In those days, the pit—and it was at least ten to twelve feet deep—was full of corpses. There were also cases of children who for some reason arrived alone, or became separated from their parents. These children were led to the ‘Lazarett’ and shot there.154

The worker Jews of Treblinka knew that for them the ‘Lazarett’ was the last stop, not the gas chambers. They, too, always ended up in the ‘Lazarett’ with its permanently burning fire at the bottom—with a bullet in the back of the head.155

153

154 155

Kalman Teigman testimony at the Adolf Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem, June 6, 1961. (See: www.nizkor.org). Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., pp. 120–121. Ibid.

67

CHAPTER 6 Deceptions and diversions: Late 1942–early 1943

During Christmas 1942, Commandant Franz Stangl ordered the construction of a fake railway station on the area of the Ramp which was carried out during December 1942 and January 1943. An artist among the prisoners was ordered to paint a sign reading: ‘To Białystok and Wółkowysk’ in black letters against a white background, with a directional arrow.156 He was then ordered to produce an array of signs: ‘First Class’, ‘Second Class’, ‘Third Class’, ‘Waiting Room,’ and ‘Cashier’, painted on the walls of the barrack, all designed to deceive the Jewish deportees that this was a normal railway station. SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Franz ordered a big, round fake clock to be made which would be placed in a prominent position on the Ramp. The time was permanently at six o'clock. Finally, the artist painted a big sign, three meters long and eighty centimeters high with the inscription ‘Obermajdan’, again in black letters on a white background. Samuel Willenberg: Several days later, the Germans ordered us to hang the ‘Obermajdan’ sign over the gate to the transport yard, the sign pointing to Białystok and Wółkowysk on the pillar at the gate, with the arrow pointing towards the entrance; and the clock on the wall of the hut

156

Wółkowysk: a city with a complicated history. From 1801–1916 it was in the Grodno District of Imperial Russia; from 1916 in the Białystok District of NE Poland. During World War II it came first under German occupation, then for a short time under Soviet rule, and then once again a part of the Białystok District of NE Poland. Since the war, in western Belarus.

69

alongside the platform. Now we understood, the Ramp was being dressed up as an ordinary railway station 157

Oskar Strawczyński in his memoirs also described in detail the transformation of the camp in the chapter appropriately entitled ‘Beautifying the Camp’: The entire entrance square was decorated with special purpose. For example, a large sign was hung at the entrance, which read: ‘Obermajdan Station’—not Treblinka. A big arrow pointed towards the gate of the Transport Square, indicating ‘Connections to Białystok and Wółkowysk’. The doors and windows of the barracks which lined the Ramp and served as storehouses for the clothing and other goods from the transports were decorated with signs reading: ‘First-Class Waiting Room, Second Class, Third Class’. Over one of the larger windows was a sign that read ‘Tickets’. On the side (of the barracks) there is a large plan of ‘Obermajdan Station’. On other windows appeared signs such as: ‘Information’ and ‘Station Manager’. On the walls, big arrows point ‘To the Washrooms’, ‘To the Parking Garage’. A false door was hammered to the wall, and on the door there was a sign indicating ‘Station Master’. In a prominent spot, a fake clock, with a 70-centimeter diameter, was hung. All this decoration understandably served to disorient the new arrivals, to give them the momentary impression that they had simply arrived at a transit station.158

However, for ‘Lalka’—Kurt Franz—all this deception was still not enough. He constantly searched among the new arrivals for engravers, until in January, he finally found two in a transport from Warsaw. One in particular was a very talented craftsman. Strawczyński continues: His first assignment was to create illustrated signposts which were erected on the streets and roads of Treblinka. On the street leading to the Ramp there was a signpost, ‘To the Station’, engraved with a picture of Jews, bearded and bespectacled, dragging their belongings to the station. On the road to the animal pens there was a signpost with cows, hens and a shepherd, which read, ‘To the Livestock’. The

157 158

70

Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 107. Cymlich, Strawczyński, Escaping Hell ..., op. cit., pp. 167–168.

signpost ‘Barracks’ (‘Kaserne’) depicted marching soldiers. On the road leading to our quarters, the signpost ‘To the Ghetto’ was decorated with a picture of Jews carrying tools, such as shovels, hammers, and pickaxes. All the signs on the main camp street were decorated with finely crafted emblems in medieval style. For example, in front of the bakery, recently built and equipped with care and luxury, dangled a big crescent roll. It was made of wood and finished so as to create the impression that it was the real thing. In front of the German barbers' shop were three beautifully polished copper plates; “At the dentist's”, with a large sculptured molar, and so on. At the entrance to the poultry enclosure stood a beautifully carved wooden rooster. Now our sculptor is working on a stone frog to be placed in the middle of the pond in the zoo, with a fountain spraying from the frog's mouth.159

The Treblinka extermination camp existed for only one winter, a winter that brought many special events. Among them, first of all, was a decrease in the transports, followed by their complete cessation. Chil Rajchman wrote about one of the few transports to arrive in January 1943: Around January 10, transports began arriving from the borderlands of eastern Poland, from Białystok and Grodno and the surrounding areas. It was a hard winter with freezing temperatures. Now the sadists thought up a new form of entertainment. At a temperature of 20 Celsius they would keep rows of naked young women outdoors, not allowing them to enter the gas chambers. The rows of young women, half-frozen, stood barefoot in the snow and ice, trembling, weeping, clinging to one another and begging in vain to finally be allowed into the ‘warmth’ where death awaited them.160

The lack of transports meant the absence of extra food brought by the deportees, this resulted in starvation which in turn led in the

159 160

Ibid., p. 167. Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 66.

71

spring of 1943 to an outbreak of typhus in the Lower Camp. The illness became known simply as ‘Treblinka’ among the prisoners,161 as Samuel Willenberg recalls: A typhus epidemic was raging in the camp at the time, and anyone who even looked ill was taken by Miete to the ‘Lazarett’ for instant death by shooting, with either Miete himself or one of the servile Ukrainians administering the bullet. 300 prisoners were killed in this fashion. There was not a day when Miete failed to order the ‘Reds’ to take sick prisoners, previously anesthetized by the camp doctors, from the clinic to the ‘Lazarett’. He would often make the selection himself, yanking prisoners from the line-up as they tried to face-out the crisis. He would personally take them to the ‘Lazarett’ and shoot them.162

In particular, Willenberg recalled the tragic fate of a Jew called Kronenberg, a journalist who had worked for Chwila (‘Moment’), a Polish-language Zionist daily published in pre-war Lwów. Kronenberg was suffering from typhus and had hidden himself in a pile of furs: Miete approached the hut with his cat-like steps. Kronenberg chose that moment to climb down from the mountain of furs. Without seeing the German, he took a shaky step towards a foreman. The stunned foreman knew it was too late to warn Kronenberg to return to his hiding place. The big hut plunged into silence, everyone went about his work very busily, eyes down. Miete went up to Kronenberg, ‘Are you sick, by chance?’ he sneered. The very sound of his own joke moved him to raucous laughter; pleased with himself, he began to propel Kronenberg in his customary way toward the exit from the hut and, from there across the yard to the ‘Lazarett’.163

Engineer Galewski knew immediate action was needed. Willenberg recalls the tense moment:

161

162 163

72

Glazar: ‘Among ourselves we did not call it typhus, but that someone's got infected with ‘Treblinka’. R. Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence—Surviving Treblinka, Northwestern University Press, Evanston 1999, p. 72. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 82. Ibid., p. 83.

At that moment, Galewski burst into the hut, sized-up the situation and shouted at me, ‘Katzap, follow him!’164 I grabbed a sheet full of rubbish, added a few bits of paper, hoisted it on my shoulders and raced towards the ‘Lazarett’ by the ‘back way’, avoiding the corridor and the room to which the victims were brought. (...) Miete and Kronenberg came through the entrance to the ‘Lazarett’. (…) Kronenberg was pushed to the edge of the bank. (...) Suddenly, Kronenberg threw himself at Miete's legs and began to scream in German: ‘I want to live! I'll help you. I'll tell you everything! There's an underground here—an underground of a hundred prisoners!’ Miete stopped. Despite his raised pistol, he did not shoot; he simply gazed at Kronenberg, who was clutching his legs with all his might. (…) The Ukrainian guard, who did not understand German, shot Kronenberg in the head to free Miete of his embrace. Kronenberg's body rolled into the pit, his blood staining the mixture of sand and human ash that covered the ground, and came to a stop at the foot of the heap of burning corpses.165

During this winter period, small scale acts of resistance took place, one involving a transport from Grodno which arrived at night. Jankiel Wiernik recalls the brutal reaction of the SS: We were locked in the barracks. The Germans and the Ukrainians handled the victims without us. Suddenly, we heard a noise, yells and shots. Many shots. We didn't move from our places. We waited impatiently for the morning light. We wanted to know what had happened. The next day, the area was full of murdered people. During work, the Ukrainians told us that the people from the transport had refused to be taken to the gas chambers. A tragic struggle had developed. They destroyed everything in sight and broke the crates with gold that stood in the corridor of the gas chambers. They grabbed sticks and anything they could lay their hands on and began resisting. But bullets cut them down. In the morning, the yard was still full of the dead and the tools they had used to defend themselves. They fell in battle. The rest were 164

165

‘Katzap’ (Polish: ‘kacap’—a colloquial Polish word for a Russian) was Willenberg's nickname in Treblinka. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 83–84.

73

thrown into the gas chambers, by dawn the whole thing was over. 166

Richard Glazar recalled in an interview with Claude Lanzmann in the film Shoah: The ‘dead season’, as it was called, began in February 1943, after the big trainloads came in from Grodno and Białystok. Absolute quiet. It had quieted down in late January, February, and into March. Nothing. Not one trainload. The whole camp was empty, and suddenly, everywhere, there was hunger. It kept increasing. And one day, when the famine was at its peak, SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Franz appeared before us and told us: ‘The trains will be arriving again, starting tomorrow’. We didn't say anything. We just looked at each other, and each of us thought: ‘Tomorrow the hunger will end.’167

Glazar also recalled in an interview with Gitta Sereny that after the severe hardships of the winter, camp Commandant Stangl decided during the spring of 1943 to introduce some new and unusual innovations into the death camp. He ordered the construction of a small zoo, a guardhouse, main gate, a beer garden in which the SS-men could relax in their off-duty hours, and a new main street in the Lower camp, which was named ‘Kurt-Seidel-Straße’.168 Kurt Franz—‘Lalka’—selected the site for the zoo and stipulated what type of animals and birds it was to contain: The carpenters and cabinetmakers were ordered to build a camp zoo beyond the fence in the vicinity of our kitchen, at the point where a path leads off to the Ukrainian barracks. (…) ‘Lalka’ had two foxes, a few squirrels and pigeons, and a variety of other small animals delivered to Treblinka. Pigeon lofts were built on the roofs of both the SS barracks and the headquarters building. ‘Lalka’ assigned our Rudi (Rudolf Masárek) the task of overseeing all Treblinka's animal population. In this capacity, Rudi suggested that some of the feed—pigeon seed and the like—should be stored in the small dry cellar ad-

166 167 168

74

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 255. Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 147. Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op cit., p. 219.

joining the munitions depot. This habitat, also known as ‘Zoo Corner’, was not the only innovation at Treblinka: a stable, a pig sty and a small chicken coop were also added.169

During April–May 1943, after the start of the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, members of the Warsaw ghetto Underground organization that had been captured by the Germans began to arrive in Treblinka. These deportees, among whom were many now experienced in the art of guerilla warfare in the streets, played a very important part in the planning of the revolt in Treblinka. Hershl Sperling wrote about the arrival of one of the last transports after the ghetto revolt: Determined to die with dignity, they had smuggled grenades and pistols beneath their clothing. When the transport was brought into the Reception Square and ordered to remove their clothing, one of them pulled out a grenade and threw it into the middle of the yard. According to the testimonies, the grenade killed a Ukrainian guard and wounded one SS-man, as well as three Jews from the ‘Red’ Group. A number of Jews who had arrived on the same transport were also injured. Nonetheless, around 100 men and a few women were pulled from the transport to replace some of those who had died in the typhus epidemic. The details of what had occurred on the streets of the Warsaw ghetto when, for the first time, Jews had openly attacked and killed SS-men and Ukrainian guards, instilled in the prisoners of Treblinka the will to organize and stage their own revolt in the camp, and the resolve to escape.170

169 170

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., p. 117. M. S. Smith, Treblinka Survivor—The Life and Death of Hershl Sperling, The History Press, Stroud 2010, p. 123.

75

CHAPTER 7 Visit by the Reichsführer-SS: Orders to erase evidence of crimes

In late February or early March 1943, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, together with other SS and army officers, visited the Treblinka death camp. The inmate Aleksandr Kudlik, recalled that although there were frequent visitors to Treblinka, ‘it is absolutely certain that Himmler visited the camp, he was recognized by Jewish workers, they knew him from newspaper photographs.’171 This visit by the Reichsführer-SS has been described by Tanhum Grinberg, deported from the Warsaw ghetto to the camp in 1942: One day, we received orders that someone extremely important was about to arrive for a visit. We were not told who the man was, but we had to clean the camp thoroughly. They ran us and beat us to make us clean quickly. There was a great commotion. Then they locked us in a hut, and we could only see through a window. Seven cars arrived, with Himmler in one of them. His entourage comprised about 20 people. The ‘Doll’ (i.e. ‘Lalka’—Kurt Franz) and Obersturmführer Stangl showed them the camp. They passed by the huts quickly on their way to the ‘Lazarett’. Then they went to the extermination area where they stayed for half-an-hour. Later they got into their cars and drove off.172

Although Himmler was impressed with the efficiency of Aktion Reinhardt being carried out in Treblinka, he was concerned that the bodies had been buried, not burnt, and issued the order for all the corpses to be cremated. The exhumation of corpses had already started in Sobibór the previous autumn, and in Bełżec in November.

171 172

YVA, Jerusalem, 03/550: Aleksandr Kudlik. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, pp. 166–167.

77

The main reason for this drastic order was the recent defeat of the 6th Army under General Paulus by the Russians at Stalingrad, as well as other setbacks on the Eastern Front. Himmler had to face the fact that the tide of war had changed to Germany's disadvantage; there was now even the possibility that Germany could lose the war. It would therefore be prudent to destroy all traces of the mass murder committed in Treblinka. In Treblinka, the SS had also been concerned about pollution from the decomposing corpses in the mass graves causing outbreaks of epidemics. In accordance with Himmler's order, the mass graves were opened, the corpses exhumed, stacked on big grids constructed from railroad lines and cremated.173 Samuel Willenberg recalled the consequences of Himmler's visit and the first stage of carrying out his orders: Several days later, peering over the 5-meter high sandbank, we saw the top of the excavator that had previously been used to dig pits and build up the sand bank between ourselves and the Upper Camp. Now it was digging up corpses and scattering them. As its scoop rose in the air, we saw corpses fall from between its serrated edges. We did not see where they landed because the bank blocked our view. Then a tongue of fire thrust upwards, accompanied by a plume of smoke dozens of meters high.174

The SS set about this task with great zeal, a special work brigade was established and additional workers were sent to the Upper Camp to speed up the work. Jankiel Wiernik has described the first attempt at cremation in the Upper Camp: Once the Germans threw some burning object into one of the opened graves just to see what would happen. Clouds of black smoke began to pour out at once and the fire thus started glimmered all day long. Some of the graves contained corpses which had been thrown into them directly after being gassed. The bodies had had no chance to cool off. They were so tightly packed that when the graves

173 174

78

Ibid., p. 167. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 108.

were opened on a scorching hot day, steam belched forth from them as if from a boiler.175

Franz Stangl recalled about the first attempt at cremation that 'When the cremation grates were there, fire was kindled in the corpse pits to cremate the corpses on top (…) such a fire in one grave resulted from the gas from the corpses. Big, tall flames shot up and there was an enormous mushroom cloud.’176 Two more excavators were brought in and their scoops too plunged into the mass of corpses in opened mass grave, removed corpses, many of them mutilated by the serrated scoops, and dumped them at the edge of the mass graves. Eliahu Rosenberg worked in the Upper Camp: In the second month of 1943 there came an order to dig up all of the bodies in order to burn them. They brought in three excavators, which bit their shovels into the pits and their teeth caught the pieces of flesh and bones and returned to the surface with it. The boys standing alongside laid with forks those pieces of flesh and bones onto stretchers, and they transferred them into the fire, burning some 8,000 people a day.177

Franz Stangl has also explained the corpse-burning operation in the Upper Camp: It must have been at the beginning of 1943. That's when the excavators were brought in. Using these excavators, the corpses were removed from the huge ditches which had been used until then. The old corpses were burned on the roasts, along with the new bodies (of new arrivals to the camp). During the transition to the new system, Wirth came to Treblinka. As I recall, Wirth spoke of a Standartenführer who had experience in burning corpses. Wirth told me that according to the Standartenführer's experience, corpses could be burned on a roaster, and it would work marvelously. I know that in the beginning (in Treblinka) they used rails from the trolley (i.e. the

175 176

177

Donat, The Death Camp ..., op. cit., p. 181. Statement by Franz Stangl, 17 July 1967 in Dinslaken prison, Holocaust Historical Society UK. ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, p. 3.

79

rails from the dismantled trolleys used in the early stage for transporting the bodies from the gas chambers into the graves) to build the cremation grill. But it turned out that these were too weak and bent in the heat. They were replaced with real railroad rails.178

The Standartenführer mentioned by Stangl was almost certainly Paul Blobel who had previously experimented with corpse cremation at the Kulmhof (Chełmno) death camp.179 Finally, after Wirth's visit and doubtless at his instigation, a ‘cremation specialist’, SS-Oberscharführer Erich Herbert Floss, was sent to Treblinka, as recalled by Chil Rajchman: From the first moments of his arrival he was to be found at the pits. He laughed at the sight of them and was happy and satisfied with his role. He ordered the ovens to be dismantled and laughed at how things were being done here. He laid down ordinary long, thick iron rails to a length of 30 meters. Several low walls of poured cement were constructed to a height of 50 centimeters. The width of the oven was a meter and a half (sic). Six rails were laid down, no more. He ordered that the first layer of corpses should consist of women, especially fat women, placed with their bellies on the rails. After that, anything that arrived can be laid on top: men, women, children. A second layer was placed on top of the first, the pile growing narrower as it rises, up to a height of two meters. The corpses were thrown on by a special brigade, two ‘firemen’ caught each corpse brought to them by the corpse carriers. One caught a hand and a foot on one side, the second caught the other side, and then they threw the dead person into the oven. In this, way some 2,500 corpses were piled on.180

178 179

180

80

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 174. From May 1942, Blobel was the leader of Sonderkommando 1005 which had the task of exhuming and cremating the hundreds of thousands of victims of SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich's Einsatzkommandos, the mobile killing squads in Russia and the Ukraine. (For the killing operations of the Einsatzgruppen, see: R. Rhodes, Masters of Death—The Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust, Vintage Books, New York 2003). Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 72–73.

2,000–3,000 bodies would be piled on the ‘roast’. The flames reached a height of up to 10 meters and the rails glowed from the heat. The number of cremation sites was increased to six, meaning that at the lowest estimate around 12,000 corpses could be burned simultaneously.181 Jerzy Rajgrodzki recalled about the cremations in the Camp II after his transfer from the Camp I, the Lower Camp, that ‘The fires burned day and night. The odor was terrible’.182 The cremations were carried out 24 hours a day. The ‘Ash Brigade’ (Aschekolonne), collected the ashes once the fires were extinguished, removed the charred bones from the ‘roasts’ and placing them on tin sheets. Wooden posts were then used to pulverize the bones into small fragments. The ashes and fragments of bone were finally dumped back into the emptied mass graves with a final layer of sand, topped off with earth.183 The gruesome work of exhuming and cremating bodies continued even after the revolt of August 2, 1943. * Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was not the only visitor to Treblinka, as mentioned earlier by the Jewish inmate Aleksandr Kudlik. Another prominent figure in the execution of the Holocaust, SSObersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann, head of Amt IV B4, the Jewish Desk (Judenreferat) at the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt—RSHA), also visited the death camp. SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Franz recalled meeting Eichmann on that occasion, ‘Adolf Eichmann was in civilian clothes when I met him at Treblinka in 1943. He came to check on what happened to the Jews he sent there. When he saw the gassing, he went rather pale.’184

181 182

183 184

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 175–176. GFH, Israel, File 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Wer bei der Auspeitschung schrie, wurde erschossen. Nach elf Monaten Treblinka entkommen/Der Düsseldorf Prozess.’ Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 176. Tregenza, ‘Christian Wirth ... ’, op. cit., p. 26.

81

SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel remembers the regular visits to Treblinka by SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik, the head of Aktion Reinhardt: He came to Treblinka at least every three months. Each time he came to see me in the ‘Goldjuden’ workroom and I had to give him a full and detailed report. Stangl himself always gave me prior notice of Globocnik's impending visits. He also gave me notice of Eichmann's visit, but he was only in the Upper Camp.185

SS-Unterscharführer Gustav Münzberger recalled other Nazi visitors to the death camp, some of whom were high-ranking SS-officers, probably from the Tiergartenstraße headquarters of Aktion Reinhardt in Berlin. Sometimes, only the Upper Camp and gas chambers were visited. The visitors were almost always guided around the camp by SS-Obersturmführer Wirth, and on one occasion Globocnik was with them. Münzberger, however, was unable to identify any of these high-ranking visitors.

185

82

Ibid.

CHAPTER 8

Jewish work brigades

Approximately 1,000 ‘worker Jews’ lived in very primitive quarters, in wooden barracks, in the Lower and Upper Camps. At first, until September 1942, in the Lower Camp they slept on the sand floor or on scattered rugs on the floor of a barrack on the Undressing Square (Entkleidungsplatz). It was only when they moved later into a part of the right-hand wing of a U-shaped barrack that they slept on three-tiered wooden bunks. Only the so-called ‘Court Jews’ (‘Hofjuden’), from the beginning had better accommodation as befitted their ‘higher’ status.186 During the night, the inmates were locked inside the barracks with only buckets for toilet facilities. They were woken soon after sunrise, provided with a meagre breakfast, followed by the morning roll call. The working day lasted from the morning roll-call until the evening and was interrupted only by a lunch break lasting about an hour. On their return from work, they had to line up for the evening roll-call during which the prisoners were counted. On this occasion, some were punished by flogging, and those in a poor shape were taken to the ‘Lazarett’ and shot. The prisoners were employed at all kinds of work to keep the death camp functioning efficiently, divided into seven work brigades in the Lower Camp, and three in the Upper Camp. Each work brigade was assigned a particular function at designated places throughout the death camp.

186

M. Chocholatý interview with Kalman Teigman, Bat-Yam, Israel, March 2008.

83

Work brigades in the Lower Camp—Camp I About twice as many prisoners worked in the Lower camp than in the Upper Camp, and received somewhat better treatment. They also had access to the variety of the items the deportees brought with them on the transports—especially food. Nevertheless, the prisoners in Lower camp were divided into groups according to their status, with the prime position occupied by the so-called ‘Court Jews’. Court Jews (‘Hofjuden’) This brigade was one of the most privileged in the camp. Among its members were skilled workers: carpenters, blacksmiths, painters, housekeepers, etc. The ‘Court Jews’ also known as the ‘Yellows’ because of their yellow armbands,187 also included other work brigades, such as the so-called ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’), who dealt mainly with the gold, valuables and cash from the victims. Other sub-brigades included the ‘Street Construction Brigade’ (Straßenbaukommando), Bricklaying Brigade (Maurerkommando), and the Building Brigade (Baukommando).188 Józef Czarny, deported to Treblinka from Warsaw in the autumn of 1942, recalls how he became a ‘Court Jew.’ He was ordered to report to Kurt Franz at his quarters in the German compound: He was sitting there in an armchair and I remember it as if it were today. And he said, ‘Take off my boots!’ Instead of pulling back, instead of letting me do so, he pushed his boot into my face. He must have been—he was drunk. I don't know how I managed to get the boots off his legs. After I had taken his boots off, he said to me: ‘You are going to be a Court Jew.’189

Czarny was assigned to the chicken coop that supplied the SS daily with fresh eggs.

187 188 189

84

Chrostowski, Extermination camp …, op. cit., p. 48. Ibid., p. 49. Teicholz, Ivan The Terrible …, op. cit., pp. 161–162.

Kalman Teigman has described his first encounter with ‘Court Jews’ in Treblinka: After the roll call they put us into two barracks fenced with barbed wire. Everyone got a place to sleep. There we met a group of Jews who were called the ‘Court Jews.’ They were from the region of Treblinka, mostly skilled craftsmen. The ‘Court Jews’ were not as restricted in the camp as the rest of the prisoners. They could move about freely (...) they had their own kitchen and plenty of food. At first, they kept their distance from us, didn't want any contact with us, as if they weren't interested in what was happening in the camp. They were even afraid to approach us. It was only after the camp commandant announced that there was no longer any special status to the ‘Court Jews’, that all the Jews were equal and no further distinctions would be made between them, that the ‘Court Jews’ began to approach us.190

Train Station Brigade (Bahnhofskommando) The forty or fifty members of this brigade were employed in the receiving process of the newly-arrived transports. Because of their blue armbands they became known as the ‘Blues’. The Jewish inmate Aleksandr Kudlik has described his first encounter with the ‘Blues’ and their duties: After arrival at Treblinka station, a part—20 wagons—were taken to the camp's Ramp. After the opening of the wagons on the Ramp, a group of Germans and Ukrainians pushed the Jews out of the wagons, beating them with gun butts and whips, yelling. At the same time, Jewish workers with blue armbands were cleaning the wagons, taking out the mess and the corpses of those who died on the way.191

Rag Brigade (Lumpenkommando) Probably the most numerous work brigade in the whole camp were the Rag Brigade which numbered between 80–100 men, and in turn was sub-divided into several smaller groups. The brigade members 190 191

Ibid., p. 106. YVA 03/550: Aleksandr Kudlik.

85

worked mainly in the open air, sorting the clothing and possessions of the victims.192 Samuel Willenberg describes the work in this brigade: I was taken to a Vorarbeiter—a prisoner selected as a foreman. This was a Czech Jew who had arrived on a transport from Theresienstadt, and his work instructions boiled down to one word, ‘Sort!’ This meant scouring the mountain of objects for glasses, spoons, shavers, watches, cigarette cases and other personal effects, and placing them in suitcases according to type. Our contingent also sorted clothing, shoes and bedding, which we laid on the ground on sheets of different colors. We were to search everything painstakingly—emptying pockets, removing every indication of manufacturer or owner, and squeezing each bit of clothing in case diamonds, gold coins or paper money were sewn inside. Like peddlers in a Persian market who trumpet praise of their wares, the foremen Kapos shouted, ‘Work, work! Faster!’ Their roaring reverberated across the vast yard. Like everyone else, I worked at breakneck speed. Anything I touched had to be sorted not only by type of cloth but even by quality. Worthless rags were thrown onto special white sheets, tied into bundles and lugged to open storage areas in the middle of the yard. These white bundles stretched in piles for hundreds of meters, creating eerie avenues of coats, jackets, dresses and other garments. At a murderous pace, accompanied by the mad cries of the foremen, we worked and sorted all these personnel effects. Now and then we found various documents—birth certificates, passports, money, family photos, letters from relatives, Diplomas, university degrees, professional certificates and doctors' licenses. I sorted glasses, knives, spoons, pots and scissors, stuffing them like everyone else into suitcases at my side. Bent double, we worked like madmen. Suddenly, as if by order, the foremen began to scream ‘Koirem, Koirem!’—a vulgarization of the term from the Hebrew liturgy meaning ‘bend’—and everyone began working even more frantically. We tossed the belongings of murdered Jews into the air, creating an impression of rapid progress.193

192 193

86

Arad, Bełżec, Sobibór, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 109. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 49–50.

Transport Brigade (Transportkommando) Some of the most terrible work in the Lower Camp was undertaken by the 40 members of this Kommando who had to urge the deportees to undress quickly, and then lead the women into the barrack for their hair to be cut off. They wore red armbands and were known in the prisoner's language as the ‘Burial Brotherhood’ (Chevra kadisha).194 Joe Siedlecki and his wife were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka in July 1942, recalled in an interview with Gitta Sereny: As soon as we got to Treblinka I was selected for work. They called me ‘Langer’, because I was so big and tall. I said to the SS who picked me out that she was my wife and could she work, too. And he said, Miete or Küttner—I can't remember who it was—‘Don't worry, she is going to work in the laundry in Camp II.’ But of course that wasn't true; they killed her straight away. I never saw her again. They put me in the ‘Red Brigade’—we had to supervise the undressing in the undressing barracks. We had to call out: ‘Strip, tie your shoes together, take along money and documents!’ (Ganz nackt, Schuhe zusammenbinden, Geld und Dokumente mitnehmen!). Later I was appointed to the disinfection room, probably one of the worst places to be in; it was between the hairdressers who cut off the women's hair, and the ‘Tube’ which led up to the gas chambers. We had to disinfect the hair, you see, right away, before it was packed up to ship—they used it in Germany to make mattresses.195

194

195

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit, p. 108. The members of Chevra kadisha (Sacred Society, more commonly translated as the Jewish Burial Society) were responsible for the preparation and burial of the deceased in accordance with Jewish law (halachah). Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., p. 189.

87

Barbers' Brigade (Friseure) According to the Jewish survivors Gustav Boraks196, Abraham Bomba and Chil Rajchman, the cutting of women's hair—before it was moved into a hut in the Undressing Square (Entkleidungsplatz) in the Lower Camp—was initially carried out in the gas chambers in the Upper camp. According to their statements, the hair cutting was carried out in some of the chambers which were not currently used for the mass gassing. Later, this job was carried in the undressing hut near the entrance of the ‘Tube’. Wolf Sznajdman explains the procedure: ‘All the women, undressed, went in the later period to the barber who cut their hair. The barbers were sitting in the same barrack where the women took off their clothes.’197 Abraham Bomba, a barber by profession, was deported from the Częstochowa ghetto and arrived at Treblinka on 30 September 1942. A month later, he was assigned to the Barbers' Brigade in the Upper Camp. He explains: It was in the morning, around 10 o'clock when a transport came to Treblinka and the women went into the gas chambers. They chose some people from the working people over there, and they asked who was a barber, who was not a barber. I was a barber for quite a number of years and some of them knew me—people from Częstochowa and other places. So naturally they chose me and I selected some more barbers who I knew, and we got together. (…) And the order came to go with them, with the Germans. They took us to the gas chamber, to the second part of the camp in Treblinka. It was not too far from the first part, and it was all covered with gates, barbed wire and trees covering the gates so that nobody should see there is a gate, or a place going into the gas chamber.198

196

197 198

88

GFH, Israel, 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Mit Peitsche und Revolver and der Rampe’. Franz im Treblinka: Prozess des heimtückischen Mordes beschuldigt/Den Baumeister der Gaskammern wiederkannt?’ YVA, Jerusalem, 03/1560: Wolf Sznajdman (Wolf Shneidman). USHMM, Washington, DC: RG-50.030.0033: Abraham Bomba interview, August 28, 1990.

Chil Rajchman was also a barber in Upper Camp: The foreman suddenly calls us—Barbers! All the barbers, 10 men, five old and five new ones, stand next to him. He asks if each of us has shears and then leads us away to the evil gas chambers, where the living are transformed into the dead. He leads us into the first cell, which is open to the corridor and to the outside. It is a fine summer's day. The sun's rays reach us. Long benches are set out and next to them dozens of suitcases. The murderers order us to take our places. Each of us stands behind a suitcase. A gang of Ukrainians surrounds us, whips in their hands and rifles on their shoulders. The Commandant of Treblinka comes in—a tall, stout murderer of about 50. He orders us to work fast. After five cuts the hair must all be cut off. We have to make sure that no hair falls on the ground, and the suitcases must be fully packed. He ends his order this way—“if not you will be whipped, you accursed dogs!” A few minutes pass and we hear pitiful screams. Naked women appear. In the corridor stands a murderer who tells them to run into the room where we are. They are beaten murderously and driven with cries of ‘Faster, faster!’ Each woman sits down opposite a barber. A young woman sits down opposite me. The women sit opposite us and wait for us to cut off their beautiful hair, and their weeping is pitiful and terrible. I force open the fingers of my dirty hand, cut off the woman's hair and throw it into a suitcase, like every one of us is doing. The woman stands up. She asks me where to go and I indicate the second entryway, on the left.199

Samuel Willenberg recalls the tragic scenes that took place in the barbers' barracks after the cutting of women's hair was moved into a hut in the Undressing Square: We ran through the camouflaged gate to the beginning of ‘death avenue’. We entered the hut and proceeded to a small room where a row of prisoners in white hairdressers' smocks stood, each besides a small stool, cutting off the new arrivals' hair. I donned a smock which was hanging on the wall, pulled a pair of scissors from a crack between two boards, and stood like the other ‘hairdressers’ beside one of the available stools. 199

Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 33–34.

89

Through a hole in the wall I saw the Germans order the women to undress. The women helped one another as small, skinny children clung to their legs. Despite the large number of women and children in the hut, the deathly silence was disrupted only by the Germans who barked, ‘Strip faster!’ The women moved towards us and sat on the stools. Some brought their children along. They looked at us in fright as we the prisoners began to cut their hair—black, light brown, totally white.200

After the women had had their hair cut off, an SS-man opened the door and ordered the women out—into the ‘Tube’—the one-way road to the gas chambers.201 Forest and Camouflage Brigades (Waldkommando & Tarnungskommando) The Forest Brigade (Waldkommando, also known as the Holzfällerkommando),202 small in number, probably only a few dozen prisoners, were responsible for cutting wood for heating and cooking in the camp. From early 1943, this group was enlarged to supply the wood needed for the cremation of corpses in the Upper Camp. The Camouflage Brigade (Tarnungskommando), consisting of about 25 prisoners, was guarded by SS-NCO Hermann Sydow, according to Richard Glazar. Their task was mainly camouflaging the camp fences with fresh evergreen branches, particularly for the ‘Tube’ and the fences surrounding the Upper Camp in order to prevent anyone outside from seeing into the camp.203 In the Lower camp, other brigades were introduced as the need arose to keep the death camp functioning. These were not on the scale of the main brigades as they consisted of only a few prisoners, or even just an individual. Among these lesser known brigades were 200 201 202

203

90

Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka ..., op. cit., pp. 80–81. Ibid., p. 81. A. Krzepicki, ‘Eighteen Days in Treblinka’, in: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 97. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 110.

the ‘Bottle Sorting Brigade’ (Flaschensortierungskommando)204 and the ‘Shit Brigade’ (Scheißkommando) whose two members supervised the prisoners' latrine, allowing each ‘visitor’ only a few minutes to attend to their bodily needs.205 Jankiel Wiernik recalls the first appearance in the camp of the aptly-named ‘Shit Master’ (Scheißmeister): He was dressed like a cantor and even had to grow a goatee. He wore a large alarm clock on a string around his neck. No one was permitted to remain in the latrine longer than three minutes, and it was his duty to time everyone who used it. The name of this poor wretch was Julian. He also came from Częstochowa, where he had been the owner of a metal products factory.206

The ‘Shit Master’ was the probably the sole object of mirth in the hell of Treblinka. According to Wiernik, ‘Just to look at him was enough to make one burst out laughing.’207 Work Brigades in the Upper Camp (Camp II)208 The prisoners in the Upper Camp were also divided into special brigades with strictly specified roles, each one handling the bodies after completion of the extermination process.

204 205 206 207 208

Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 75. Chrostowski, Extermination camp …, op. cit., p. 49. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 179. Ibid., p. 179. SS-Scharführer Heinrich Matthes, who was in charge of the Upper Camp, has stated: ‘I carried out the roll calls of the working Jews in the Upper Camp. There were about 200–300 such working Jews. They took away the corpses and later burned them. There were also working Jews who had to break out the gold teeth from the corpses.’ (Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 121.)

91

Corpse Carrying Brigade (Leichentransportkommando) Beside the Sorting Brigade, this brigade was the biggest in the camp, consisting of about 100 men who had the task initially of transporting the corpses from the gas chambers to the mass graves, and later taking them to the cremation grills. Eliahu Rosenberg was deported to Treblinka in September 1942, together with his mother and three sisters. He was transferred from the Lower Camp to the Upper camp where at first he spent a month carrying the corpses from the old gas chambers to the mass graves. Later, he was transferred to the brigade removing corpses from the 10 gas chambers of the new gassing building. He gives us a deep insight into the role of this brigade in whose ranks he spent five months:209 Once—and I remember this well—all the gas chambers were operating. Ten thousand people entered all at once, within forty-five minutes. This was a transport of 13,000 persons who had arrived on that day.210 Each chamber was sealed—absolutely hermetically sealed. There was a kind of folding door that closed downwards— we removed the ‘clins.’ The ‘clins’ were pieces of wood used to hold the doors in place. When the door was folded and fell to the bottom, there were actually two boards there. One was on top of the door and the other at the bottom, and again, with these pieces of wood, these ‘clins’, we closed it hermetically and stood to the side (sic). We closed it from the outside; before that, the Germans stood on the ramp and watched what was going on inside. When they said ‘Alle schlafen’ (Everyone’s asleep), we opened it up and stood aside for three minutes, until the fumes had dispersed, and then we removed them. We then threw them onto the platform. When I removed the bodies from the gas chambers, the people, mostly women, had hidden all kinds of documents and money in their private parts, and they fell out afterwards, and we saw them.

209 210

92

ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, p. 3. One of the questions M. Chocholatý asked Treblinka survivors Eliahu Rosenberg and Pinchas Epstein: ‘Did it ever happen that all 13 chambers worked together?’ (See Chapter 11).

There were many cases of people from the gas chambers who remained alive, those who survived were mainly children who slipped to the floor, and when we opened the gas chamber and removed the bodies, we saw children underneath who had remained alive. The Germans took them away and shot them.211 It happened once that in the big chambers where the gas was concentrating near the ceiling, one of the children survived. The little one was led to the grave and there mercilessly shot to death by a guard. In the summer 1943, there occurred an event when one of the body-carriers recognized beside the opened chamber his cousin, a 15-year-old girl who was still alive. The girl stood quite calm, fully aware of what she was facing. The corpse carrier told this to his superior and asked him to do something to keep the girl alive. The superior reported it to the Oberkapo of the camp, the Viennese named Singer, who forwarded this message to his then chief, SSScharführer Karl Pötzinger. The Scharführer led the girl to one side and shot her with one shot. He said he could not help her.212

Abraham Goldfarb has testified that: ‘It happened once that a seemingly dead woman who was carried from the gas chambers to the grave, rose on the stretcher and asked, ‘Where am I?’ She was consequently shot by Horn (SS-Unterscharführer Otto Horn) who was on duty at the grave.’213 Pinchas Epstein testified at the trial of John (Ivan) Demjanjuk in Jerusalem in 1987: We heard cries, screams—unbelievable—I sat down in a place where I could see the entrance of the gas chambers. This was the so-called Maschinenhaus, the engine house. I saw someone go into this engine room, and later I was told this was Ivan, ‘Ivan the Terrible.’ After the people had been introduced into the gas chambers and after the

211

212

213

Testimony by Eliahu Rosenberg at the Adolf Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem, June 6, 1961. (See: http://www.nizkor.org). Jewish Historical Documentation, Vienna, Factual Report, dated December 24, 1947: Recording with Eliahu Rosenberg. (Copy in: GFH, Israel, 3562/4494, p. 7–8). GFH, Israel, 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Mit Peitsche und Revolver and der Rampe.’ Franz im Treblinka: Prozess des heimtückischen Mordes beschuldigt/Den Baumeister der Gaskammern wiederkannt?’

93

screams (...) had died down, the gassing engine was turned on, the engine that introduced the gas into the chambers. I saw this man— a big, thickset man who turned on and operated the engine. And then we would wait 20 minutes or half-an-hour, and then we were told to open the doors—very wide doors, and remove the corpses.214

Goldfarb recalls terrible incidents he witnessed outside the gas chambers. He once saw an SS-NCO called Gustav (possibly Gustav Münzberger) and a Ukrainian guard rape a Jewess. The same SSman also had the ghastly task of checking dead pregnant women taken out of gas chambers by cutting opening their abdomens to see if the fetus was also dead.215 Eliahu Rosenberg—attached to the Corpse Brigade described the gruesome work he carried out: I saw a pile of dead people who lay on the ground, and boys stained with blood approaching the dead bodies with stretchers. They grabbed a corpse by the hands and legs and laid it on the stretchers and ran with it. I suddenly found out what was going on around me, and I looked at it with tears in my eyes. Suddenly, I received a blow on my head with a stock-whip. The boys who had already been here for few days told us to take in pairs a stretcher, and start transferring the bodies to the pit.216 (…) the German Matthes began shouting to this group—‘An die Tragen!’ (To the stretchers!). We did not understand what was going on. We began running around the bodies. The Germans and the Ukrainians who were present there hit us. The Jews who worked at removing these bodies said to us, ‘Take hold of the stretchers and put a body on each’.217 I rapidly jumped to a stretcher and seized it together with my companion. We ran to the gas chambers. On the way to the chambers they hurled curses at us, yelling: ‘Faster, you dogs!’ At a run I came to the ramp and we put the stretcher on the ground and awkwardly laid the body on it. It 214 215

216 217

94

Teicholz, Ivan The Terrible …, op. cit., p. 134–135. GFH, Israel, 28646: L. Bewerunge, ‘Mit Peitsche und Revolver and der Rampe.’ Franz in Treblinka-Prozess des heimtückischen Mordes beschuldigt/Den Baumeister der Gaskammern wiederkannt?’ ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, p. 2. Testimony of Eliahu Rosenberg at the Adolf Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem, June 6, 1961. (See: www.nizkor.org).

was then that the Germans started to beat us mercilessly. I was knocked to the ground and they kicked me in the head with their boots, yelling that I had incorrectly laid the body on the stretcher. I got up from the ground and laid the body correctly on the stretcher, and I ran with my companion to the pit. On the way to the pit, the boys ran with the corpses, one by one. Once I had approaching the pit I saw a tragic scene. Inside the pits I saw only a huge pool of blood. Throwing the bodies into the pit, we drowned in the blood.218 The grave was 6-7 meters deep. It was built with a slope, in a conical shape.219 I carried the bodies for a whole month.220

Dentists' Brigade (Zahnärzte/‘Dentisten’) Chil Rajchman was also employed in the Upper Camp as a so-called ‘dentist’ from the beginning of November 1942: When Scharführer Matthes returned from leave, he ascertained at roll-call that there were 19 men in the group of dentists. He ordered the Kapo of the dentists, Dr. Zimmermann, an acquaintance of mine, to increase the number to twenty. (…) When Dr. Zimmerman announced that he was looking for dentists, I stepped out and declared that I was a dentist. Other people also declared themselves as dentists, but Dr. Zimmermann chose me and got me into his group. We marched off to our work. Adjoining the building containing the three smaller gas chambers there was an additional wooden shed, which was entered via the corridor that led to the gas chambers. In the shed stood a long table at which the dentists worked. In the corner of the shed stood a locked trunk in which were kept the gold and platinum crowns from the teeth of the corpses, as well as the diamonds that were sometimes found in the crowns, along with the money and jewels that were found under bandages on the naked bodies, or in the women's vaginas. Once a week, the trunk was emptied by Matthes or Karl Pötzinger, his adjutant. Next to the table stood long benches on which we used to sit tightly crowded together

218

219

220

ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, pp. 2–3 Testimony by Eliahu Rosenberg at the Adolf Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem, June 6, 1961. (See:, www.nizkor.org). ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, p. 3.

95

and do our work. On the table were placed dishes with extracted teeth as well as various dental tools.221

Avraham Lindwasser has testified about his experiences in the Dentists' Brigade and an encounter with SS-Obersturmführer Wirth who in the Aktion Reinhardt camps preferred to wear the green uniform of a Captain of the Protection Police (Hauptmann der Schutzpolizei): The Hauptmann with the glasses (Wirth) (…) brought me to a well. Next to the well, there were basins with gold teeth and also pairs of forceps for extracting teeth. He ordered me to take a pair of forceps and to extract the teeth from the bodies next to the chambers. (…) Next to the small gas chambers. (…) I was employed at this work for approximately one month, a month and a half, perhaps less, perhaps more, until once I recognized my sister's body. (…) The leader of our group then was Dr. Zimmermann; I asked him to take me back to the chambers (carrying bodies), I could not continue with this.222

Chil Rajchman described in detail the ‘dentistry’ work involved: Our work consisted of scraping out and cleaning the metal from the fillings and from the natural teeth. An additional task was to separate the crowns from the bridges and then clean and sort them. For that purpose there was a special blowtorch which melted rubber. The dentists were divided into specialized groups. Five men worked with white false teeth, others with metal teeth, and two specialists were occupied with sorting the metals, especially white gold, yellow gold, platinum and ordinary metal. The dentists sat at their work under the direction of Dr. Zimmermann, who was a very decent human being. In the shed stood a small stove. In one wall there were two small windows which looked out onto the open space in front of the building with the 10 big gas chambers. When a transport was brought in and the outer doors of the gas chambers were opened, the Germans would knock on the windows shouting: “Dentisten raus!” (Dentists out!). Depending on the size of the transport, one or more groups of six men would go out to work. With pliers in their hands they would position themselves

221 222

96

Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 55–56. The Trial of Adolf Eichmann, Session 66. (See: www.nizkor.org/hweb/ people/e/eichmann-adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-066-08.html).

along the path via which the corpses were carried from the ramp to one or more of the mass graves.223

Camp orchestra In the early days of the camp's existence the SS organized a musical trio, as recalled by Abraham Krzepicki in his account Eighteen Days in Treblinka: Under a tree, about 40 meters from the ‘bath-house’, not far from the path on which the Jews were driven into the ‘bath’, there was a small orchestra consisting of three Jews with yellow patches and three Jewish musicians from Stoczek. There they stood playing their instruments. I don't know why, but I was particularly impressed by a long reed instrument, a sort of fife or flute. In addition there was a violin, and I believe a mandolin. The musicians were standing there and raising a ruckus for all they were worth. They were probably playing the latest hits which were popular with the Germans and Ukrainians, for whom they also used to play at shindigs in the guards' quarters.224

In the spring of 1943, in one of the transports from Warsaw the famous musician Artur Gold was recognized by the ‘Reds’ and they included him in a batch of 50 men to be selected for work. Along with two other musicians, newly promoted225 SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz decided to form a proper orchestra. This orchestra played at roll calls after the work brigades returned from their day's labor. The most popular songs were the pre-war Polish song, Goralu, czy ci nie żal? (‘Highlander, have you no regrets?’) and the camp anthem, Fester Schritt. 226 SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, in an interview with Claude Lanzmann in the film Shoah, recalled the Treblinka camp song:

223 224 225 226

Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 56–57. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 106. Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., pp. 117–118. Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 115.

97

Looking squarely ahead, Brave and joyously at the world The brigades march out to work. All that matters to us now is Treblinka, It is our destiny, That's why we've become one with Treblinka In no time at all. We know only the word of our commander, We know only Obedience and Duty, We want to serve, to go on serving, Until a little luck ends it all. Hurray!227

Suchomel added: You want history—I'm giving you history. Franz wrote the words. The melody came from Buchenwald. Camp Buchenwald, where Franz was a guard. New Jews who arrived in the morning, new ‘work Jews,’ were taught the song.228

And by the evening, every new work Jew had to be able to sing it lustily, or risk a beating.229

227 228 229

98

Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 106. Ibid. Ibid.

CHAPTER 9 The camp revolt: 2 August 1943

Stanisław Kon, a former Polish soldier who fought during the September 1939 Polish campaign, was deported to Treblinka with his wife and mother-in-law on October 1, 1942. He is one of the survivors from the camp who gave detailed testimony about the genesis of the revolt in the death camp, and was one of the first to be recorded in 1944 in the liberated city of Lublin in southeast Poland. In 1945, long extracts from his memoirs were published in the Jewish newspaper Dos Naje Lebn (‘The New Life’). According to Kon, in the beginning there were four initiators of the revolt who, as a ‘Committee’, gathered together on their wooden bunks in the Lower Camp to discuss plans and weapons: Dr. Julian Chorążycki (‘Ilya’) from Warsaw, Želomír (Želo) Bloch, a Jewish officer with the rank of Captain in the Czechoslovak army, Zev Kurland from Warsaw, and Lubling from Silesia. Chorążycki, a former captain in the Polish army, at 57-years-of-age was the oldest in the group and their leader.230 When the first steps had already been taken, the Committee was enlarged by four more people: Leon Haberman, an artisan from Warsaw, Salzberg, a furrier from Kielce, Markus from Warsaw, aged 22 and the youngest in the group, and the Warsaw agronomist, Sudowicz.231 Samuel Willenberg remembers Chorążycki in the context of his medical role in the camp:

230 231

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 271. S. Kon, ‘Revolt in Treblinka’, in: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 225.

99

In the otherwise empty infirmary we found doctors Riback (Rybak), Reislik, and Chorążycki, together with the camp physician (whose name I do not recall). The last two only treated Germans and Ukrainians. Dr. Chorążycki, about 50, had a very interesting face. Wise, clear blue eyes peered from under thick eyebrows. He had an athletic build, his slim legs encased in brown boots laced to the top and buckled at the knee.232

Stanisław Kon saw in Chorążycki a key person and spirit of the forthcoming uprising: The thought of revenge which burned in us—witnesses to most horrible and most cold-hearted Nazi criminal methods—grew every day and started to assume tangible form, especially when 50-year-old Dr. Chorążycki from Warsaw joined in the idea of resistance. Chorążycki worked in the camp as a ‘medical advisor,’ a person necessary to the Germans to play out the comedy which comprised of the fictitious examination of the Jews before they were led to the gas chambers. He was a quiet and self-possessed man. In his white smock, with an armband bearing a Red Cross, he gave the impression that all of this was of no concern to him. But in his Jewish heart burned the hot desire for revenge. (…) If Chorążycki was the initiator of the revolt, Captain Želo Bloch was the chief organizer. The presence of this army specialist contributed to the realization of this difficult and complicated task. In the black moments of despair, when many people lost all hope of the uprising, he never ceased to call on us for further efforts. He was the soul of the revolt and even when he was moved to another group of workers, all plans and projects were still sent to him for acceptance, however great the risk. In place of Chorążycki, Engineer Galewski from Łódź was chosen, who put his whole, his soul into the idea. He was also very self-possessed, which was a considerable virtue. 233

A date in April 1943 was chosen for the revolt, but then for different reasons the date was changed several times.234 232 233

234

100

Willenberg, Surviving Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 89. ŻIH, 301/481 (Testimonies): S. Kon, Uprising in Death Camp Treblinka, Warsaw 1945. Kon, ‘The Treblinka Revolt’, in: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 227.

According to Stanisław Kon, the conspirators first made efforts to obtain weapons from two sources: from outside, and from within the camp by stealing guns from German SS or the Ukrainian guards. They also took a great interest in the camp's armory which was situated in the area of the camp occupied by the barracks of the SS and the Ukrainians. Kon: Only Germans were allowed there and it was not possible to gain access. We tried to use different ways. We planned to dig a tunnel, but this was not possible because it could have been discovered by Hitler's bandits, who guarded us very thoroughly. We decided to make extra keys for the armory. This was also not possible for as long as we did not have access to the doors of the armory. For this reason we had to wait for a suitable opportunity and then act very quickly. The lock was broken in the door to the armory and the Germans had to order a Jewish locksmith to repair it. They were so careful that they took the complete door to the workshop. The locksmith diverted the guard's attention for a moment and made a wax copy of the key. Several days later, the Committee received the key, which to us was like the most holy object. We waited for the best moment.235

Chorążycki decided to buy weapons outside the camp, and having also made contact with a Ukrainian guard, who was very well paid, he decided to buy pistols. Several successful transactions took place, but an accident put paid to further dealings. It also cost Chorążycki his life. Stanisław Kon: One day, Chorążycki had prepared a larger amount of money for the Ukrainian when the deputy Commandant of the camp, SS-man Franz suddenly arrived, a bandit who was known throughout the camp as a sadist. He discovered the banknotes in Chorążycki's smock. ‘You have money!’—screamed the SS-man. This meant that Franz believed that Chorążycki wanted to escape from the camp. Chorążycki immediately attacked Franz and tried to cut Franz's throat with a surgical knife. But Franz succeeded in reaching the window and called for help. Chorążycki, knowing the kind of torments that awaited him and how great the danger for the resistance

235

Ibid.

101

group was, drank a large dose of poison of the kind that all the conspirators possessed. The arriving SS-men tried to keep Chorążycki alive because they wanted to torture him, but with no result. So perished the initiator of the uprising, but his death did not stop our work.236

Kalman Teigman has added about the fate of Chorążycki: Chorążycki knew what his fate would be. He fell upon Kurt Franz, even though he was a man of advanced age, and Kurt Franz was powerful and tall. Chorążycki jumped away from him, fled from this hut, but he did not run far before he fell. Apparently he had taken some poison pills, or something else. They summoned all the detainees and personnel to assemble for a roll call. We were obliged to watch how they flushed Chorążycki's stomach in order to revive him, to wake him up, and to torture him anew. The faithful assistant of Kurt Franz, a Ukrainian, Zugwachmann, Rogosa, pulled out Chorążycki's tongue with some sharp instrument or a hook, I don't remember exactly. Kurt Franz poured water into his mouth from a bucket, after which he jumped on him with his boots in order to flush out his stomach. In the end, two members of the group had to raise Chorążycki by the legs in order to remove the water from his body. They repeated this operation several times, but they did not manage to resuscitate him. After all their efforts failed, they undressed him and continued beating him with clubs, after which they took him off to the ‘Lazarett’.237

Later, many transports began arriving in Treblinka from the Warsaw ghetto and from these Jews, Kon and the rest of the worker Jews learned about the uprising. Kon's testimony continues: The Germans treated them with exceptional brutality. Many wagons were loaded with the bodies of fighters from the ghetto who refused to go on the transport while still alive. The last deportees from the Warsaw ghetto were not people who were already resigned and pas-

236

237

102

Kon, ‘The Treblinka Revolt’, in: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 226. Testimony by Kalman Teigman at the Adolf Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem, June 6, 1961. (See: www. nizkor.org).

sive. In place of tears, they armed themselves with grenades and explosive materials. From them we also received some weapons. The leadership decided that this was the moment that was best for the uprising to begin. In Treblinka there was a group of Jews who acted as servants for the Germans, cleaning their rooms, etc. They were the only Jews who had access to every part of the camp. Often, they were also close to the armory. The leadership had the idea to use them. They received an order to procure 100 grenades on the day of the uprising. They did it. Haberman, who worked in the German laundry, Markus, a cleaner of shoes, and 17-year-old Jacek from Hungary, smuggled some grenades from the armoury. Especially praiseworthy were the efforts of 14-year-old Salzberg, son of a furrier from Kielce. He gathered uniforms, officially for pressing. He hid the grenades in the uniforms. Unfortunately, the grenades were without detonators and we had to change the date of the uprising at the last moment. In the meantime, new activists joined our group. Dr. Leichert from Węgrów was selected by the Germans from a new transport, and replaced Chorążycki. The second was Rudolf Masaryk (Masárek), a close relative of the President of Czechoslovakia.238 He did not want to be separated from his Jewish wife and shared her fate in the transport to Treblinka. Here he was ‘lucky,’ he was assigned to the work brigades. In front of his eyes, his pregnant wife was taken to the gas chambers. Masaryk was one of the most active people. It is also necessary to mention the driver and mechanic from Płock, Rudek, who worked in the German garage. His place of work was a focal point of our actions. Also, weapons were stored there. So passed the months of tension and waiting. We saw before us death at every step, we saw the Germans' brutality. Every day, thousands of Jews were led to the gas chambers, naked women and old people. They were driven in long rows to the ‘Judenstaat’, (‘Jew State’) as the Germans cynically called the building with 12 gas chambers.239 In the speeches Untersturmführer Franz gave at every

238

239

His surname was Masárek and he was not related to the Czech President. According to other Jewish prisoners, the building contained 10 gas chambers, not 12.

103

opportunity, he repeated that ‘If there is still even one Jew in the world, the gas chambers will be working’.240

By now, the Organizing Committee had two basic cells, one in the Lower Camp and a second in the Upper Camp. The latter was formed by Želo Bloch after his transfer from the Lower Camp to the Upper Camp. It was thanks to his arrival that both hitherto strictly segregated parts of the death camp finally had a ‘centralized planning staff’. Previously, individual escape attempts had been organized separately in the Upper and Lower Camps, and had not involved many people. The liaison between the two camps was usually undertaken by Jankiel Wiernik from the Upper camp who, as a unique exception by the SS, was allowed to move about between the two segregated areas. He has described a meeting of the new Organizing Committee in the Upper Camp: When all the prisoners who were tired from the work and from suffering would fall asleep, we would gather in a corner of the barrack on an upper bunk and take counsel. The younger ones among us, who pressured for immediate action, even without a detailed plan, nearly had to be restrained by chaining them down. We decided not to act without the Lower Camp, because to do so would have been suicidal. In our camp we were a small group, and not all were in any sort of combat condition.241

Wolf Sznajdman belonged to the privileged group of prisoners, the ‘Court Jews’, who were not watched as closely as the others. Consequently, at times they were even able enter the armory and take a weapon: There was an underground organization which, for a few weeks before the revolt, gathered and began preparing everything. They made an additional key for the armory in order to enter and remove weapons used by the Germans and Ukrainians. At first, they were successful in removing grenades, but it proved to be for nothing because they lacked detonators. They were returned to the armory. This was even more dangerous. We removed them in the afternoon 240 241

104

Kon, Uprising in Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 228. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 279.

when there was quiet, and took them back in the evening when they (the SS) changed duties. Only one gun was left (with us) from that very first attempt. Later on, we succeeded in obtaining ammunition. Some 30 persons belonged to the conspiracy. They liked to use us ‘Hofjuden’ because we could walk about freely. We could take an axe, a hammer, saying that we were about to repair something. (...) Only a Kapo could come to us, to arrange something. But although we entered into the conspiracy, we also had to be able to explain everything properly, why we went for planks or to repair something. It was necessary state an exact reason in order not to arouse any suspicion.242

Samuel Rajzman was deported to Treblinka on September 21, 1942, and became an active participant in the planning of the revolt in the camp. He attended the final planning meeting on 1 August 1943: At the Organizing Committee meeting, held late at night by the light of the fires burning the bodies of hundreds of thousands of those dearest to us, we unanimously approved the decision to launch the revolt the next day, August 2. I will never forget white-haired Zvi Kurland, the oldest among us all, who, with tears in his eyes, administered us the oath to fight to our last drop of blood for the honor of the Jewish people. Every man present sensed the tremendous responsibility involved in our decision to eliminate this creation of mad German sadism, and bring an end to Treblinka.243

Stanisław Kon recalls the run-up to the revolt: Our desire for revenge grew even greater. At last, Commander Galewski gave the order for the revolt. The date was fixed for August 2, 1943, 5 p.m. The plan was to kill the main hangmen, disarm the guards, cut the telephone line, and to set on fire and destroy all the buildings of the factory of death. We also planned to liberate the Poles from the work camp which was located 2 km away and, together with them, to escape to the forests and establish a strong partisan group. 244

242 243 244

YVA, Jerusalem, 03/1560: Wolf Sznajdman (Wolf Schneidman). Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 284. Kon, Uprising in Treblinka …, op cit., p. 228.

105

Stanisław Kon recalls that on the morning of that day, a Monday, the tension in the camp was enormous: The leaders needed all their energies to calm the people down. Finally, special inspectors came to see that the normal quota of work was carried out as usual in order not to arouse suspicion. All the details of the plan were known only to the 60 people who constituted the nucleus of the fighting organization. The activists were divided into three groups, and as soon as the signal would be given, each group was to occupy the position assigned to it.245

Kon's testimony continues: At one o'clock in the afternoon we lined up as we had been doing every day, for the roll call, the last roll call in the camp because there was never to be another. But when Galewski, the head of the group of workers, told us that work that day would end an hour earlier than usual because Rottenführer Rotner (should be SS-Scharführer Reuter, author's note) was going to Małkinia to bathe in the river Bug.246

An hour later, the distribution of weapons began. Those who had access to the SS-barracks stole about 20 rifles and a machine gun, but it proved more difficult to get hold of hand grenades. Finally, after distracting the attention of a couple of SS-men in the vicinity of the munitions room, the door was opened with the specially made duplicate key. Kon continues: Jacek, the Hungarian boy, slipped inside, climbed onto the window sill at the end of the room, used a diamond to cut out a small square in the glass and handed out the grenades and other weapons to Jakob Miller from Włodzimierz-Wołyński who was waiting outside and put them in his garbage cart. The arms were taken to the garage. (…). Spirits grew agitated and it seemed that no one would be able to keep the secret. The leaders therefore decided to start the revolt an hour before the time originally agreed upon.247

245 246 247

106

Ibid., p. 228. Ibid. Ibid., p. 229.

Tanhum Grinberg recalled the premature start of the revolt on 2 August 1943: A little before 4 p.m., ‘Kiwe’ (SS-Oberscharführer Fritz Küttner) came across a boy whose pockets were bulging. He grabbed him and took the money out of his pocket. A hail of blows immediately descended on the youth. While this was going on, another Jew happened along. ‘Komm, komm!’ (Come here, come here!) the German called to the man, and when the German found that this Jew also had money on his person, he led both (the man and the boy) behind our barrack and started beating them alternately. The designated hour had not yet arrived, but we were afraid that the two would break down and confess (…) So there was no alternative but to jump the gun and go into action immediately. One of us went over to the window and fired his pistol at ‘Kiwe’. ‘Kiwe’ died on the spot.248

Wolf Sznajdman also believed that SS-NCO Fritz Küttner had been killed in the first minutes of the revolt: We had arranged the beginning of the revolt for 4:30 the signal would be a grenade explosion. Before that hour, someone entered a barrack; he wanted to dig up money. There was a ‘Blockältester’ (Block Elder) on guard who went to Oberscharführer Küttner and reported that somebody had entered the barrack. It was Kuba, the one who had denounced many people, many people died because of him. He was one of the first to die, I saw him lying dead. Küttner was also killed. The leader of our group appeared, Zalcberg (Salzberg), and said, ‘You have to go and kill Küttner, otherwise he is going to take the man to the Verwaltung (Administration) and they will beat him and that man will give us all away.’ We ran out with anything we had. One of us had a revolver. Küttner started running. He was killed near the entrance to his barrack. The shot fired at Küttner was the beginning of uprising. There were a few weapons that we had just taken from the armory. Only a few.249

Samuel Willenberg recalled:

248

249

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 221. SS-Oberscharführer Küttner (‘Kiwe ‘) was only wounded. He survived the revolt and the war. YVA, Jerusalem, 03/1560: Wolf Sznajdman (Wolf Schneidman).

107

This was the shot we had heard, and which we had taken for the prearranged signal to start the revolt. That moment is well preserved in my memory. I remember the picture of the camp in all of its details: there was much movement all around. I was at work chopping trees with my comrades. The heat was extraordinary. We worked clad only in shirts or half-naked. The SS-man (Franz) Suchomel passed by on his bicycle and gaily shouted something to the prisoners who were busy working. Weary guards had dozed off in the watchtowers. Near the gate to the vegetable garden, which was our handiwork, one of the SS-men was strolling around. When I heard the shot I started to make a run for the barracks and take my jacket, in which I had hidden the gold intended for my escape, but at that moment a shout of ‘Hurrah!’ rang out, which turned my feet in an entirely different direction. The assault had begun.250

SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel recalled his initial reaction to the revolt: When it started, Tchechia (...) the good-looking red-blonde—was working in the kitchen. SS, cleaners and kitchen girls were all lying together on the floor in the corridors because they were shooting in from outside. Tchechia was lying quite near me. I don't know whether she had known about the revolt in advance.251

Commandant Franz Stangl recalled the day the prisoners revolted: August 2 was a very hot day. A Monday: Mondays were always a day of rest—because, of course, on Sundays nobody worked in Warsaw, so they didn't load transports.252 Kurt Franz had taken a swimming party of 20 down to the River Bug straight after lunch; four Germans and the rest Ukrainians. I had a visitor, a Viennese. He was an army political officer who was temporarily stationed in Kossov (Kosów), 6

250 251 252

108

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 210. Sereny, Into That Darkness …, p. 247. An interesting slip by Stangl, because by this time there were no more transports to Treblinka from the Warsaw ‘Umschlagplatz’. The Warsaw ghetto had been ‘cleaned’ of Jews.

km away. He had rung up to say hello and ask whether he could drop by.253

SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel recalls Stangl's visitor, and that drinking had been going on in Stangl's quarters since midmorning. Suchomel also identified Stangl's guest as his old friend Greuer, a lieutenant from a Vlasov unit in Kosów.254 According to Suchomel, by the time the revolt started, ‘Stangl and his friend were both drunk as lords and didn't know which end was up. Stangl just stood there and looked at the burning buildings.’255 Stangl continues: Looking out my window I could see some Jews on the other side of the inner fence—they must have jumped down from the roof of the SS-billets, and they were shooting (...) In an emergency like that my first duty was to inform the chief of the external security police. By the time I had done that, our petrol station blew up. That, too, had been built just like a real service station, with flower beds round it. Next thing, the whole ghetto camp was burning and then (SS-Scharführer) Matthes, the German in charge of the Upper Camp, arrived at a run and said everything was burning up there, too.256

Fedor Fedorenko, a Ukrainian guard, recalls that dramatic day in Treblinka: I was standing guard on the first gate, flames started and shots fired all around, I couldn't understand who was shooting and where the shots were coming from. The Commandant ran out and one or two Germans and we Wachmänner, we dropped to the ground and lay 253 254

255 256

Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op cit., p. 238. Ibid. The Vlasov army was named after Lt.-Gen. Andrey Andrejevich Vlasov, a Soviet army officer who, after his capture in July 1942, collaborated with the Germans and eventually raised the Russian Liberation Army (Russkaya osvobodstel'naya armiya—ROA), consisting of Soviet prisoners of the Germans and White Russian emigrés. The ROA played a significant role in the bloody suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., p. 238. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 293.

109

there, and then we saw some people running away and they ordered us to shoot, but this was far away from us.257

Franciszek Ząbecki, the Polish supervisor at Treblinka station, was carefully observing what was taking place just few kilometers away on that fateful afternoon: I heard shooting and almost at the same time saw the fires. They burned till 6 p.m. The SS came to the mayor and told him that anyone who helped escapees would be shot at once. There were hundreds of troops around; almost immediately people were so afraid to be taken for Jews, almost everybody stayed locked-up in their houses. The troops shot on sight at anything that moved. One woman, Helen Sucha, hid a Jew: they took her up to the labor camp and she was never heard of again. 258

Stanisław Kon recalls the progress of the revolt, SS-men being attacked, the telephone line cut and watchtowers set ablaze: Captain Zelo Bloch attacked two SS-men with an axe, and (…), took command. Close by the garage stood a German armored car, but Rudek swiftly put the engine out of commission. Now the car served as an ambush from which to fire at the Germans. Our gunfire felled Sturmführer Kurt Seidler (Seidel) and other Nazi dogs. The arsenal was taken by assault and the captured weapons handed out to the insurgents. We already had 200 armed men. The others attacked the Germans with axes and spades. We set fire to the gas chambers, to the ‘bathhouse’,259 burned the simulated railroad station and all the fake signs, ‘Białystok-Wółkowysk’, ‘Office’, ‘Tickets’, ‘Waiting Room’, etc. The barracks which bore the name of the Nazi hangman Max Biela were ablaze, too. Captain Zelo gave commands and encouraged the men to fight. Nobody cared about his own life. A fiery spirit of revenge had taken hold of us. We had acquired more weapons, we even had a machine gun now. Rudolf Masaryk (Masárek) took care of it. He stationed

257

258 259

110

Fedorenko Denaturalization Hearing, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA in 1978. Statement by Fedor Fedorenko. (Wiener Library, London, UK). Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., p. 248. The brick and concrete gas chambers were not extensively damaged by the fire and were soon in use again.

himself on the roof of the pigeon coop and poured fire on the confused Germans. Through the exchange of fire we can hear his voice shouting: ‘Take that for my wife, and take that for my child who did not even have a chance to come into the world! And take that, you murderers, for the humanity which you have insulted and degraded!’ Roused to action by the flames and the firing, Germans began to arrive from all sides. SS and police arrive from Kosów, soldiers from the nearby airfield, and finally a special squad of the Warsaw SS. A full-scale battle developed. Captain Želo was darting in-and-out among the flames, giving us courage and urging us to fight on. He gave orders, concise, warlike—until a Nazi bullet put an end to his life.260

Kalman Teigman described how the camp barracks were set alight: There was a young man who used to disinfect the huts of the Germans and Ukrainians. He had a receptacle on his back, with a hosepipe, with which he sprayed disinfectant. On that day, this young man was to mix the chemicals with fuel, petrol, and in fact he did so. In addition to that, there was a large tank of petrol near the garage. I think it must have contained several thousand liters of petrol. This tank was also set on fire. It exploded and spread flames along the fence which was covered with dried foliage, and it began burning.261

Richard Glazar recalls the fires in the camp, the end of the revolt, and his escape into the forest: Among the trees, racing out from the SS-barracks, a figure appears in a white shirt, without a jacket, and then suddenly disappears behind an exploding grenade. More flames leap into the air, and now the Ukrainian barracks are beginning to burn. All of a sudden, his arms spread wide, Robert falls onto a pile of chopped branches, the way boys throw themselves into a mound of hay, and he doesn't move. Saul is at the very front. Karl is running in front of me, to my left, swinging his spade over his head, and then he stops. Somehow he

260

261

Extract from Dos Naye Lebn, Warsaw, May 10, 1945. Cited in full in Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 224–230. Testimony by Kalman Teigman at the Adolf Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem June 6, 1961. (See: www. nizkor.org).

111

just can't keep going. Beyond the trees, near the barracks, I can see the chief guard (Wachmann) Rogoza, shooting in the direction of the lumberyard. Coming from up front, somewhere near the intersection at the SS-barracks, we hear a long drumfire barrage. (…) A quick hissing sound and the subsequent explosion blinds me, everything quakes under my feet, the pine tree in front of the kitchen bursts into black– bordered flames. I hear a weaker but constant crackling and see fire breaking out everywhere. (…) We duck and somehow reach the yard in front of the Ukrainian barracks. There are only a few of us. At a loss, Josek is standing there with his empty rifle in his hands. Herschek is nowhere to be seen. Lubling is running along the barracks carrying some kind of pole in his hand and chasing people out in front of him like a gooseherd, pointing to the back gate, which leads out into the field surrounding the camp: ‘Out of here, everyone out of here—into the woods!’ The gate is broken down. We run out and on across the vegetable field.262

Jerzy Rajgrodzki, and a member of the camp orchestra in the Upper Camp, ran together through wheat fields outside the camp, just as the sun was setting: Near me, a young couple were running, a dark girl with her boyfriend from the camp. In my hands I was holding a club and a razor, ready for use against anyone and, if need be, against myself. The running went on for about two hours. We reached the forest. To my left was a large group of fugitives. They said they would walk eastward, towards the Puszcza Białowieska.263 We stopped to rest in the forest.264

In the distance, Rajgrodzki and his group of eight Jews from the Lower Camp could still hear screams from far away—the screams of Jews caught by the Germans.265

262 263

264 265

112

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., pp. 143–144. Puszcza Białowieska: a huge primeval forest complex due east of Treblinka, on the border of Poland and Belarus. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 296. Ibid., p. 297.

Despite the cost in human lives, during the revolt the Jews of Treblinka had failed to put the gas chambers out of action. The mass murder in the death camp was to continue for several more weeks.

113

CHAPTER 10 The end of Treblinka and Aktion Reinhardt: August–November 1943

The revolt at Treblinka was the first mass revolt among the prisoners at an Aktion Reinhardt death camp. In mid-October, the Jews in the Sobibór camp also rose up against their SS tormentors. At Treblinka, after the revolt some semblance of normality had returned, the gassings resumed, albeit on a much reduced scale. The last known deportation trains, designated as ‘PJ-202’ and ‘PJ204’,266departed from Bialystok on August 18 and 19, 1943. The first consisted of 39 wagons and both trains arrived at Treblinka on August 19. This was only 17 days after the revolt. A number of other transports passed through Treblinka on their way to Lublin and the nearby concentration camp—Lublin (Majdanek). 267 When these last transports arrived at Treblinka station, instead of the usual 20 wagons being detached and shunted to the camp, only 10 at a time were disconnected and shunted along the branch line and into the camp. The reason being the greatly reduced number of work Jews left to sort the clothes and belongings of the victims. * Commandant Franz Stangl, instead of being the subject of an official investigation and punishment, was re-assigned to Trieste in northern Italy by SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik. He stayed in Treblinka for only three or four days while transport to Italy was organized.268

266 267

268

In the code of the Ostbahn, ‘PJ’ meant ‘Polnische Juden’ (Polish Jews). Chrostowski, Extermination camp …, op. cit., pp. 94–95. M. RusiniakKarwat, Obóz zagłady Treblinka II w pamięci społecznej (1943–1989), Neriton, Warsaw 2008, p. 17. Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., p. 249.

115

SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz was left in charge to complete the erasure of all signs of the mass murder and dismantling of the camp.269 He recalled in a post-war statement: After the prisoners' uprising in August 1943 I ran the camp more or less single–handedly for a month; however, during that period no more gassings were carried out. It was during this time that the original camp was demolished, everything was leveled-off and lupines were planted. A farm was supposed to be built on the site of the camp. Against Wirth's will, I put any material that was still usable at the disposal of the Reserve Hospital in Ostrów (Mazowiecki), 14 or 15 km away from Treblinka. The director of the hospital was an Senior Staff Doctor (Oberstabsarzt) called Friedrich Struwe (...) I used to go and see Dr. Struwe if I had any problems.270

It was to Dr. Struwe that Kurt Franz gave the infamous dog, Barry, a St. Bernard or similar cross-breed who had been a much-feared part of the bloody history of the Treblinka death camp. Dr. Struwe became the dog's new and last master and testified about the dog after its arrival in Ostrów: Barry was a very harmless animal. That dog had absolutely no temperament. He liked most to lie under my desk and sleep. Once, the dog bit me. He was jealous while I was greeting my acquaintances. Well, it seems that the dog was not always so sleepy!271

Franciszek Ząbecki, the station master at Treblinka, witnessed the dismantling of the camp and the departure of wagonloads of its equipment on September 2, 9, 13 and 21:

269

270 271

116

Franz, a man full of his own importance, declared himself on a document from this final phase at Treblinka as ‘camp Commandant’. He admitted during his trial that this had been ‘a mistake’ on his part. But it is beyond comprehension that no one was in charge of Treblinka, once Stangl had departed, hence it is clear he was the last Commandant in charge of the death camp. Klee, et al., (eds.), The Good Old Days …, op. cit., p. 247. GFH, Israel, 28646, L. Bewerunge: ‘Der gute und der böse ‘Bari’. Tierpsychologie im Treblinka-Prozess/Welche Rolle spielte der Lagerhund?’

On 30 September, the German railroadman, Rudolf Emmerich, who had been employed to supervise the transports entering the death camp, left Treblinka station and went to Warsaw. At the beginning of October, we observed at Treblinka station that elements of dismantled barracks, wooden planks, and chlorinated lime were being shipped out of the death camp. Later, the digger–excavator which was no longer needed, was also taken away. 272

Most of the barbed wire was wound up and taken to the nearby penal labor camp (Treblinka I), together with the anti-tank obstacles which had surrounded the death camp. The gas chambers were demolished, and on October 21 the gassing engines and all other metal materials were probably sent to Lublin. Some structures, such as the bakery and stables, were only partially demolished. The land on which the camp had stood was ploughed, leveled and sown with lupines, as mentioned by Kurt Franz.273 The final winding-up of the camp took place in November 1943. First, on the fourth of that month, a transport train of three wagons containing the last Jewish workers departed for the still functioning Aktion Reinhardt death camp at Sobibór. The following day, the armored car previously used for guarding the transport of valuables to Lublin, and had been put out of action during the revolt, was also shipped out. Franciszek Ząbecki at Treblinka station reported that throughout the whole of October and a part of November 1943, trains shipped out planks, bricks, rubble—all kinds of construction materials. He estimated that from the beginning of the liquidation until November 17, 1943, over 100 wagons of equipment were sent out.274 Shortly after the Treblinka revolt, SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel arrived in the Sobibór camp, along with the Jewish workers sent from Treblinka:

272 273 274

Chrostowski, Extermination Camp ..., op. cit., p. 95. Ibid., pp. 95–96. Ibid., p. 96.

117

We were received by Commandant Reichleitner (...) and briefed about our areas of responsibility. He said the camp was to be demolished, and that we had to pack up the remaining items of clothing that had belonged to the Jews. (…) During the first half of November 1943, the other Jews arrived from Treblinka. I remember quite clearly that one morning the Treblinka-Jews were lined up in the assembly area in Camp 1. The Jewish Oberkapo, Karl Blau (…), stepped forward and reported to deputy commandant Gustav Wagner (…) ‘Oberkapo Karl Blau from Treblinka with Jews reporting for work!’275

At the end of November 1943, the last remaining worker Jews in Treblinka, including some of the Ukrainian women who had worked in the kitchen, were executed. As all the barracks had already been dismantled and taken away, the remaining male Jewish inmates were kept in two freight cars guarded by SS-NCO Albert Rum. Ukrainian Wachmänner from the Treblinka penal labor camp formed a security cordon. One Jew committed suicide by hanging himself. SS-Unterscharführer Paul Bredow next led the surviving women to a hollow to the left of the farm built for the Ukrainian ‘guardian’ of the site. There, they and five male prisoners were shot in the back of their necks. The shooting was carried by Mentz, Bredow and an unidentified SS-Unterführer from the nearby Treblinka labor camp, in the presence of Kurt Franz. After the execution of the first batch of worker Jews, the rest were shot in groups of five and their bodies cremated on a makeshift open-air pyre by their surviving comrades. The last group to be shot were cremated by the Ukrainian guards. With this final execution, Franz drove a truck to the Sobibór camp, taking with him the SSNCOs Bredow, Mentz, Miete and Rum.276 The hell of Treblinka had ceased to exist. *

275

276

118

J. Schelvis, Sobibor—A History of a Nazi Death Camp, USHMM, New York/Oxford 2007, p. 189. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 315_316.

At Treblinka, a small farm was built from the bricks of the demolished gas chambers, and known locally simply as ‘the farm’. It consisted of a wooden peasant-style hut built on brick foundations, a farmyard with a wooden barn, a cellar made of wood, and a barrack hut. The farm kept horses, cows and pigs, and also cultivated vegetables. The area around the farm was fenced off to prevent entry by local villagers who believed there was still a large amount of buried Jewish gold and valuables at the camp site. According to Franciszek Ząbecki and the local villagers Eugeniusz Goska and Wacław Niemgowski, the farm was inhabited by two Ukrainian families. The first was the former Wachmann from the death camp, Strebel, who, according to the Ślebzak, lived there with his wife and children. According to Goska, however, Strebel lived on the farm together with his wife, mother-in-law and sisterin-law with her children. The second Ukrainian, also a former Wachmann from the death camp, was called Sashka, and likewise lived there with his wife. The two Wachmänner were almost certainly armed to guard against local intruders who wanted to dig for Jewish loot. Their only visitor was a Ukrainian guard from the nearby penal labor camp which was still operational. In August 1944, as the Red Army advanced on the area from the east, the former Treblinka Wachmänner set the farm buildings alight and fled with their families.277 Thirteen months after the revolt in Treblinka, Vasily Grossman, a Red Army soldier and journalist wrote a book The Hell of Treblinka in which describes what he saw on entering the site of the former death camp in early September 1944. It was immediately evident that once the Ukrainian ‘guardians’ had fled, local Poles had thoroughly dug up the earth in their search for Jewish loot. Grossman recalled:

277

Rusiniak, Obóz zagłady Treblinka II ..., op. cit, pp. 20___22. Her work focuses on ‘the functioning of the post-camp terrain in the context of human awareness as well as creating a memory of this place in the context of social awareness.’

119

It is quiet. The tops of the pine trees on either side of the railroad are barely stirring. It is these pines, this sand, this old tree stump that millions of human eyes saw as their freight cars came slowly up to the platform. With true German neatness, whitewashed stones have been laid along the borders of the black road. The ashes and crushed cinders swish softly. We enter the camp. The earth is casting up fragments of bone, teeth, sheets of paper, clothes, things of all kinds. The earth does not want to keep its secrets. And from the earth's unhealing wounds, from this earth that is splitting apart, things are escaping of their own accord. Here, there are the half-rotted shirts of those who were murdered, their trousers and shoes, their cigarette cases that have turned green, along with little cog-wheels from watches, pen-knives, shaving brushes, candlesticks, a child's shoes with red pom-poms, embroidered towels from the Ukraine, lace underwear, scissors, thimbles, corsets and bandages. Out of another fissure in the earth have escaped heaps of utensils, frying pans, aluminum mugs, cups, pots and pans of all sizes, jars, little dishes, children's plastic mugs. In yet another place—as if all that the Germans had buried was being pushed up out of the swollen, bottomless earth, as if someone's hand were pushing it all out into the light of day: half-rotted Soviet passports, notebooks with Bulgarian writing, photographs of children from Warsaw and Vienna, letters penciled in childish scrawl, a small volume of poetry, a yellowed sheet of paper on which someone had copied a prayer, ration cards from Germany. And everywhere there are hundreds of perfume bottles of all shapes and sizes—green, pink, blue. And over all this reign a terrible smell of decay, a smell that neither fire, nor sun, nor rain, nor snow, nor wind have been able to overcome. And thousands of little forest flies are crawling about over all these half-rotted bits and pieces, over all these papers and photographs.278

* For many years after the war, very little was known about what transpired on the site of the Treblinka death camp. The years 1944–1950 belong to the period when various investigation commissions inspected the site of the former death camp to collect evidence of the

278

120

Grossman, The Treblinka Hell ..., op. cit., p. 29.

crimes committed there. The first such investigation was carried out in 1944 by the Extraordinary Soviet-Polish Investigation Commission whose findings were subsequently published in Polish and English.279 The Commission also discovered the shocking behavior of local inhabitants of the region, the ‘human hyenas’, who scoured the site in search of Jewish gold and other valuables.280 The Hyenas' used many methods to uncover the treasures of Treblinka; one group of ‘treasure hunters’, instead of arduously digging in the earth, used bombs and artillery shells to blow craters in the ground in the hoping of finding valuables. The explosions also blew to pieces the bodies of Jews buried in the earth of Treblinka.281 In 1945, the first clearing-up of the former camp site was undertaken with the aim in mind of eventually erecting a monument on the site. At that time, two years after the liquidation of the camp, only small sections of the barbed wire fence remained and were not removed until 1947. During that year, the area was fenced-off by wooden boards and a unit of the Polish Army was ordered to guard the site from further intrusion by ‘treasure hunters’. In the same year, the Committee for Honoring the Victims of Treblinka was founded.282 From 1947, there were many projects for creating a suitable memorial on the place of the former death camp. For several reasons this period lasted several years, and it was not until 1958 that attempts were renewed as the Polish Government increased its interest in the project. Several designs for monuments were proposed and rejected. Finally, at the beginning of the 1960s,283 a design by 279

280 281 282 283

Z. Łukaszkiewicz, ‘Obóz zagłady Treblinka’, in: Biuletyn Głównej Komisji Badania Zbrodni Niemieckich w Polsce, vol. I, Wydawnictwo GKBZNwP, Warsaw 1946, pp. 133__143. ‘Extermination Camp Treblinka’, in: German Crimes in Poland, vol. I, Central Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, Warsaw 1946, pp. 95_106. Rusiniak, Obóz zagłady Treblinka II ..., op. cit, pp. 32, 93. Ibid. Ibid., pp. 38, 93. Ibid., pp. 48, 94.

121

Adam Haupt, Franciszek Duszenko and Franciszek Strynkiewicz was accepted It consisted of a main, massive monument erected on the site of the ‘new’ gas chamber building, and surrounded by a ‘forest of stones’—17,000284 ash-colored stones of granite brought from the famous granite quarries in Strzegom, Lower Silesia, in southwest Poland.285 Adam Haupt conceived the idea of concrete blocks to symbolize the railway track had led from the main gate to the Ramp. Beside the cobbled area of the Ramp there are ten stones on which are carved the names of countries from which the Jews were brought to Treblinka: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Germany, Poland and the Soviet Union.286 The first commemoration took place at the Memorial in April 1963 to mark the 20th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The official dedication ceremony took place on May 10 the following year, during which the monument area was highly praised as a work that was ‘deeply human, replete with blood and the victims ashes’.287 However, after the 1960s, few publications appeared about the Treblinka death camp. It was not until 2001, at the initiative of the State Museum at Treblinka, which came under the auspices of the Regional Museum in the nearby town of Siedlce, that a dual-language Polish-English booklet was published. It gave a brief history of the death camp, identified more than130 names of localities inscribed on the ‘forest of stones’, and provided a plan of the camps— Treblinka I and Treblinka II.288 In 2002, another book appeared

284

285 286 287 288

122

E. Kopówka, Plan symbolycznych kamieni. Muzeum Walki i Męceństwa w Treblince, Kosów Lacki 2001, pp. 1–2. Rusiniak, Obóz zagłady Treblinka II ..., op. cit, p. 48. Kopówka, Plan symbolycznych kamieni ..., op. cit., pp. 1–2, 7. Rusiniak, Obóz zagłady Treblinka II ..., op. cit, pp. 48, 50. Kopówka, Plan symbolycznych kamieni ..., op. cit.

which provided a detailed history of both the penal labor camp (Treblinka I) and the death camp (Treblinka II), illustrated with photographs.289 In 2008, the first detailed history of the site of the Treblinka death camp, as opposed to a history of the camp itself, was published which dealt with the period 1943–1989.290 The author divided the post-camp period into particular stages, the first period, known as the so-called ‘settled period’ was followed by period of the ‘search for valuables’, when the terrain became known as the ‘Eldorado of Podlasie’, ‘Podlasie’ being the area around Treblinka.291 The rest of the book is devoted to the years up until the end of Communist rule in Poland in 1989. Since 1983, the former site of the death camp and the monuments has been the responsibility of the Museum of Fighting and Martyrdom in Treblinka, which is a branch of the Regional Museum in Siedlce. Its responsibilities consist of the site of the former death camp and the site of the former penal labor camp, the two camps being connected by the so-called ‘Black Road’, as well as another monument adjacent to the execution site and prisoners' cemetery in a forest clearing close to the former penal labor camp.292 In the former penal camp itself there still exist the foundations of the Commandant's office, prisoners' barracks and workshops, the punishment bunker, as well as the swimming pool for the SS. Close by there is the former gravel quarry, a deep and wide gouge in the earth of Treblinka, its undulating floor covered with clumps of shrubbery. The concrete ramp where the gravel was loaded into trucks on the narrow-gauge railway for transportation to Małkinia still exists, together with a nearby concrete bunker for the camp guards.

289

290 291 292

Kopówka, Treblinka: Nigdy więcej! Muzeum Walki i Męceństwa w Treblince, Siedlce 2002. Rusiniak, Obóz zagłady Treblinka II ..., op. cit. Ibid., p. 22. Kopówka, Plan symbolicznych kamieni ..., op. cit.

123

PART II Survivors, victims and perpetrators

CHAPTER 11 Interviews with Treblinka survivors Michal Chocholatý293

I began to take an interest in the Holocaust in 1999, although I have no Jewish origins and none of my ancestors, at least as far as I know, had any experience in any of the Nazis camps. I was born in 1981, thirty-six years after end of World War II, and it was sometime in the spring of 1999 that my interest was aroused in the subject through reading a novel about the Holocaust. Later on, I also became interested after attending a lecture, and at about the same time a monographic lecture about the Nazis camps.294 The subject of the Treblinka death camp especially intrigued me because I realized that despite being a focal point of the Holocaust history, it was not a widely known camp. I visited the site of the Treblinka death camp even before visiting the fortress ghetto of Theresienstadt in my own country which was deportation point for Treblinka, or before visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was much closer than Treblinka to my home town of Plzeň (Pilsen) where I was born and where I still live.

293

294

My surname, Chocholatý, means ‘crested’ and has no connection with chocolate; many people from abroad, especially those who are Englishspeaking, have a problem with this. In this context, one of the Sobibór survivors, Tomasz ‘Toivi’ Blatt, calls me still ‘Czekolada’ which is the Polish word for chocolate. The Holocaust has given me a deeper interest in history in general. I therefore decided to study this branch of history at the Institute of World History in the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Prague. I graduated in December 2012 as a Bachelor of Arts with my thesis Gas chambers in KL Lublin in postwar historiography, defended on September 11, 2012.

125

This first trip to Treblinka took place in May 2000.295 I went alone. I was 18-years-old and had no language skills. In my youthful enthusiasm, I hoped to see abandoned barracks, ruins of gas chambers, etc. I walked eight kilometers from the town of Małkinia alongside the long disused and railroad tracks which led towards the site of the camp. This must have been the same route taken by SSScharführer Kurt Franz when he was transferred from the Bełżec death camp to Treblinka; he too walked from Małkinia to the camp. By the time I arrived, I was exhausted. Instead of the remains of the camp I had envisaged, I found myself in a big sunlit clearing in the middle of a Polish pine forest. All around there was a strange, sand-like soil. Much of the clearing was covered by hundreds of stone monuments of all sizes, dominated by a massive granite monument which resembled a giant mushroom.296 It was a very hot day and in the forest near the main gate of the former death camp orange flames started to consume the dry pine trees and smoke rose into the cloudless, blue sky. This unexpected event seemed somehow symbolic. While in Treblinka, I began to sense that something dramatic had happened here, something which I knew little about. Why was there no camp here as a monument; no barbed wire fences, no watch towers and no barracks, as can be seen as in Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek. Here, in Treblinka, there was no trace of the death camp. Nothing to remind one about what had happened here. There was only the field of stones over which loomed the big granite monument. I not know then that there had been a revolt in the camp during which several barracks were burnt down. If I had known, with the burning trees just a few meters from me, I could have imaged what

295

296

126

This visit to the camps at Treblinka I and Treblinka II took place on May 13, 2000. The Poles call the main Treblinka monument the ‘grzyb’ (phon. gzhib)—‘the mushroom’.

it must have like in the summer of 1943. The Polish firemen attempting to fight the flames during my visit was almost symbolic. But there was no one who could tell me where the remnants of the camp were, or if indeed any such remnants still existed. I had travelled so many kilometers from Pilsen to Treblinka, only to find more questions than answers. I resolved that in future no one should be so poorly informed as I was while visiting Treblinka on that first occasion. In the Czech Republic there was just one book dealing with Treblinka, published as late as 2000, and was written by one of only two Czech survivors of the camp, Richard Glazar. Immediately after I read Glazar's book, I decided I wanted to meet the author in order to put to him some questions about Treblinka, a subject that increasingly interested me. However, soon after, I learned that Glazar had committed suicide in Prague in 1997.297 His companion in Treblinka, Karel Unger, had died long before him. I was left with a great sense of disappointment. Although at that time I did not speak any foreign languages, I was determined to meet someone who had survived Treblinka. I therefore began to learn Polish, on the assumption that there would be more opportunity to meet a Polish survivor. In 2002, I learned that a certain Samuel Willenberg had survived Treblinka, but it was only after lengthy telephone enquiries that I eventually succeeded in contacting him personally. Our first meeting took place in January 2003 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Our last meeting took place later in Poland. Samuel Willenberg became the first survivor of Treblinka whom I got to know personally. From that time on, we kept in frequent telephone contact. 297

When I spoke with Richard Glazar's cousin in the same house where Glazar committed suicide by jumping out the window, she told me that she was probably the last person with whom he spoke before he jumped. Irka, his cousin, was imprisoned during the war in Theresienstadt fortress ghetto. (M. Chocholatý interview with Irka Ravelová, Prague, February 2009 and August 2011).

127

In 2003, I was also fortunate enough to make contact with a second survivor, Eliahu Rosenberg, who in turn told me how to find his companion from Treblinka, Pinchas Epstein,298 who invited me to his home in Israel where we met in 2008. A year before, I also succeeded in contacting the next survivor, Kalman Teigman. By this time, I knew I should write a book about the last living survivors from Treblinka and Sobibór death camps. Apart from the general history of Treblinka, I became particularly interested in the early stages at the camp, during the mid-summer of 1942, when only three small gas chambers were in use. This was during the reign of Dr. Irmfried Eberl, the first Commandant. This, however, presented me with a problem: none of the aforementioned survivors had been in the death camp during Dr. Eberl's brief tenure as commandant. In April 2008, I took part in a meeting of survivors of the Sobibór death camp, during which one of the participants informed me that his comrade from New York, Edi Weinstein, had spent some time in Treblinka and had escaped a few days after his arrival. I immediately contacted Weinstein, and thus began a long-lasting friendship based on his gripping accounts about Treblinka at the time the camp was approaching the end of its first phase under Dr. Eberl. I also succeeded—only for a short time, however—to talk via the telephone to Józef Czarny, another former prisoner of Treblinka, but I never met him personally. The same happened with Eliahu Rosenberg with whom I kept in close contact for many years by telephone and by post until 2007. Later, I was fortunate enough to meet in Israel Eliahu Rosenberg's daughter and grand-daughter. In the following pages I have attempted to highlight the most interesting extracts from my interviews with some of the survivors of the Treblinka death camp. Kalman Teigman died on 26 July 2012, and at the time of writing—December 2013—only Samuel Willenberg is still alive. 298

128

I had previously used statements by Willenberg and Rosenberg in my fictional trilogy: Another place, another time298, published between 2005–2006 in the Czech Republic.

I sincerely hope that through these pages I will impart a deeper and fascinating personal insight of the history of Treblinka, as well as the characters of those who endured the hell of that death camp. They spoke to me frankly about their unbelievably horrific times in order that such events should not be forgotten. I hope that through this book I have fulfilled their wish that as many people as possible should know about their experiences. This chapter is intended to honor the personal as well as collective sacrifices made by the Treblinka survivors and victims. Because Samuel Willenberg was the first Treblinka survivor with whom I became acquainted, and with whom I have been in close contact for more than 10 years, I will begin with the conversations I had with him.

Samuel Willenberg I met Samuel Willenberg for the first time in his flat in Tel Aviv on 16 January 2003. When I reached the top of the stairs to his flat, I was confronted with a healthy-looking man in a black sweater. I was immediately struck by his deep blue eyes and the roughly shaped moustache. Unfortunately, at that very first meeting I did not have a tape recorder with me, which meant that after the long conversation about Treblinka I had to write down, as best as I could, everything from memory. Over the next few years, I made sure I used a tape recorder during all conversations. I am very pleased to reproduce this almost unique and historically important information that Samuel Willenberg imparted to me about his time in Treblinka. But first, an interesting digression. At the end of our first meeting, Samuel took me down to the cellar where he had a lovely looking studio with several bronze sculptures he was preparing for an exhibition which took place a few months later in Warsaw. Willenberg's sculptures are now well known and I had the unique opportunity to see several of them before they were finished and shown to the public. The bronze sculptures represent themes taken from Samuel's memory of Treblinka. 129

He follows the artistic traces of his father Professor Perez Willenberg who was a painter. One of his paintings can be still found in Marszałkowska Street, the main street in Warsaw, under a special wooden cover at the end of a corridor leading to the cellar of the house which during World War II had served as an air-raid shelter. Samuel told me about the painting: During the Warsaw Uprising (1944) my father was in hiding and pretended to be dumb. A bomb fell on Marszałkowska Street 60, but the house in which he was hiding in was not damaged. My father walked down to the cellar afterwards, he started to talk again and he made a painting on the wall with the inscription: Jesus, I believe in You!299

According to Samuel, this work—not only the sculptures but the paintings too (one should not forget the detailed sketches he made of Treblinka, and a plan of the camp)—gave him a new lease of life, as if he had found himself again. The second meeting between us took place on March 2, 2008. I have to say that one of the most important topics we covered during our talks was Samuel's relationship with Richard Glazar, one of the only two prisoners from Czechoslovakia who survived Treblinka. Regrettably, I never had the opportunity to talk to Richard Glazar; as mentioned earlier, he committed suicide in 1997. I told Samuel that he appears in Glazar's book Trap with a Green Fence under the nickname ‘Kacap’300 (‘Kacap’ is colloquial Polish for a Russian)301 but

299

300

301

130

M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Tel Aviv, March 2008. ‘Kacap, they say he reached the partisans and finally he became an officer in the Polish army’. (Glazar, Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky, G plus G, Prague 2007, p. 360). Samuel Willenberg was known in Treblinka by this nickname which he had acquired in his childhood because his mother was Russian. While sorting the victims' clothes in the Lower Camp he wore a strange-looking cap which the Kapos thought looked Russian; thereafter he was known as ‘Kacap’.

on the other hand, Samuel has not mentioned Glazar, at least not in the 1992 English edition of his book.302 And then Samuel started to tell the story: In the 1970s, or in 1969, when he (Glazar) was still alive, I suddenly had a phone call from somebody with an Anglo-Saxon accent: ‘Excuse me, I would like to talk to Mr Willenberg from Treblinka. I am a professor’. He did not tell me his name. And I suddenly recalled Glazar. I said: ‘All right, all right (...)’. Then some 15 people from Treblinka had a meeting. And there sat the guys and I was with my wife on the edge. Suddenly, there appeared a man with a Czech woman. And he just came towards me, but I said nothing. She spins, she has blue eyes, she spins, spins, spins all around (...) Kacap!303

He clapped his hands and yelled, then continued: ‘Just Kacap. Nobody understood. Just Kacap! We were in the same work brigade in the Tarnungskommando (Camouflage Brigade).’304 When I told him that Glazar had committed suicide, he was really shocked because although he knew he had died, he did not know how he had died. Willenberg knew little about the postwar fate of other Czech survivor, Glazar's companion in Treblinka with whom he escaped, Karel Unger. I told him that Unger had passed away long before Glazar. Samuel and his wife Ada (‘Krysha’)305 also claimed many times that Glazar had no children, but this was incorrect as I found out

302

303

304

305

S. Willenberg, Revolt in Treblinka, Żydowski Instytut Historyczny (ŻIH), Warsaw 1992. In the original, Willenberg tried to sing in Czech with a strong Polish accent, Ona se totshi, ona se totshi, totshi, totshi do kola. M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Tel Aviv, March 2008; repeated in Warsaw, March 2011. ‘Krysha (Polish: ‘Krysza’) is an abbreviation for Krystyna, the name she used during the war while was hiding with Aryan papers. Her husband still calls her ‘Krysha’—even though her pre-war name was Ada, and she calls him ‘Igo’, which is an abbreviation of Samuel's pseudonym name, ‘Ignacy’, which he used after escaping from Treblinka.

131

after our second meeting. When our third meeting took place,306 I was able to correct their misunderstanding and showed them photographs of Glazar's son and daughter whom I met personally. Samuel continued about Glazar and Unger: I can remember both of them from the Camouflage Brigade. They were both in my brigade. They were quite strange and did not make friends with the Eastern Jews; frankly they did not like them. They stuck together with Czechs, but that was normal. Listen, I was ordinarily dressed, good boots, good trousers, but they had bow ties, they used to walk like dandies; that was something quite different.307

I argued they could have behaved like that because of their fear of SS-Unterscharführer August Miete. If they did not look smart and well-groomed, he could have taken them to the ‘Lazarett’ and shot them. Willenberg replied, ‘But we were all were threatened by this, by the possibility of being taken there because we were not smartly dressed. Listen, we were a good brigade’.308 When we approached the point where Glazar had written about the Eastern Jews (Ostjuden) in his book, Willenberg got quite angry. He said that Glazar had written a good book, but what he wrote about Eastern Jews was ‘ugly’. ‘He was refined (in the camp). Why the hell did he want to be refined in Treblinka!’

306 307

308

132

M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw, March 2011. Glazar remarked about himself and Karel Unger after their transferred from the Sorting Brigade to the Camouflage Brigade: ‘There was nothing left of the two glossy maschers from the clothing department of I. type after a short time spent in the camouflage commando’, Glazar, Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky …, op. cit., p. 203. This supports that they were aware they were somehow refind as claimed by Willenberg. M. Chocholatý interview with interview with Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw, March 2011.

Even though Samuel had not read Glazar's book in Czech, he said he read some parts in German.309 One cannot wonder about why he became so angry when talking about extracts from Glazar's book about the Eastern Jews. Some comments appeared in the Czech press about interviews with Glazar, and the reader could really detect a strange attitude by Glazar towards Eastern Jews. Here is an example: From those who managed to survive it was only me and my comrade Karel Unger—from ‘West’ from Czechoslovakia. All the others came from the poor wastelands of Eastern Poland. They were simple, moulded by the circumstances they grew up in. Their lives were in complete isolation from the rest, in the voluntary ghettos, which were called ‘shtetl’. To write about Treblinka was beyond their limits. After all, they had problems with statements before the International Tribunal. They could not speak good enough German, their mother language was Yiddish, and their life was streaked with lurid fantasy ...310

In the Czech version of Glazar's book, the strange title of which can be translated as Treblinka, a word as from a nursery rhyme, further evidence of this attitude can be found in a remark made by one Czech prisoner to another: ‘We are losers, bigger than the Polish ones here, because they were still like this—traffickers in hot water, profiteers and cheaters’.311 Another statement of this kind can be found in Sereny's book Into That Darkness, in which Glazar stated: ‘At the beginning of winter the huge transports from the East started coming’, Richard said. ‘The (Eastern) Polish Jews: they were people from a different world. They were filthy. They knew nothing. It was impossible to feel any compassion, any solidarity with them. Of course, I am not talking about the Warsaw or Kraków intellectuals;

309

310

311

In 2011, a Polish edition of Richard Glazar's book was published for the first time. I. Lamper, J. Šmídová, Jsem dnes jediný na světě, (13 February 1995) in: Respekt 7/1995. Glazar, Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky …, op. cit., p. 129.

133

they were no different from us. I am talking about the Belorussian Jews,312 or those from the extreme east of Poland.313

I think that this demonstrates very well the differences between the nationalities brought together in Treblinka. Of course, every nation has its own culture and traditions, and its citizens will react in different ways to any particular situation. It is generally well known that the transports of Jews deported to Treblinka from the Generalgouvernement were treated with greater brutality then those from the West. The prisoners of Willenberg's nature reacted in a different way to Treblinka than Glazar and his ‘refined’ comrades, but—as shown in their postwar meetings—they kept up a friendship with one another, and their personal views of Treblinka only represent how particular nationalities reacted in the camp. I would like to mention one more thing in support of the various views on the same situation by citing the case of another prisoner: the very well-known Kapo Rakowski. Glazar remembers him as a man standing beside the kitchen where food was distributed, and where he maintained order by using his whip, yelling: ‘Your mother was a whore! in his growing anger with the lack of discipline. Although he was right to do that, he beat even those who were starving, while he himself was not hungry.’314 I asked Samuel about his description of Kapo Rakowski. He replied that Glazar had not understood Rakowski's intention: He wanted to make soldiers of us; he made us perform marches in order to build up our physical condition. And there were few who just did not understand what he wanted from us. And he instructed them, to be ready (...) he was a good man. He was a Kapo, (...) and Chaskiel (one of the camp informers) said about him that he had a lot of money. It is possible that he wanted to escape on his own. And 312

313

314

134

During our talks I tried several times to assure Samuel that Glazar was basically talking about the Jewish from distant regions of Poland or Russia. G. Sereny, Into that Darkness—From Mercy Killing to Mass Murder, Vintage Books, New York, 1983, p. 198. Glazar, Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky …, op. cit., p. 94.

then the Jews themselves betrayed him. Miete, the ‘Angel of Death’, took him away and shot him right in the head. Miracles do not happen!315

While going through my unpublished manuscript about the last survivors from Treblinka and Sobibor, Samuel, looking at the chapter about Glazar which I planned to dedicate to him, said that I seem to be ‘favoring Glazar here and there.’ In fact, I never wanted to take sides with either Samuel Willenberg or Richard Glazar; but, of course, as a Czech, I needed to defend Glazar in some way. Although I never had the opportunity to talk with him, I am convinced that if he were still alive, he would still like to meet once again his friend Samuel Willenberg from Treblinka. When we reached the point concerning the Treblinka revolt and how Samuel escaped from the camp, in order to approach slowly the most interesting point of the revolt itself, he started to tell me a story from his childhood: I used to run from home to my friend in Częstochowa. Instead of going to school, the Gymnasium, we walked to the train station. An express train, the Warsaw-Vienna, had arrived and it had such lovely looking wagons, they smelled sweet (...) today, it is not as romantic as it was then. There was a locomotive and a sweet smell, olive-like, hot water and steam, that together created a nice ambience. We entered the wagon. Close the door! So we closed the door and when the train started moving, we opened it again. The wagons were not like today. You cannot get out of them today. But then we could climb a ladder onto the roof, and we watched Poland roll by. When we were approaching some buildings, we immediately got back down again, and in this way we travelled throughout the whole of Poland. We jumped off without knowing where we are, what town it was (...) But who cared! Thanks to these experiences I had an advantage while the revolt in Treblinka was in progress. Once we got through the fence where our friends lay dead, there was a railroad, a concrete road which was built by the Germans, and then a grove and swamps, and suddenly a village. Once all of the Jews noticed it, they threw themselves to 315

M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Tel Aviv, March 2008.

135

the left, to the right, but I went straight on and was left alone. It was a question I did not think about, I had a bullet in my leg. It is still there, until today. When they (the Germans) asked the Poles, ‘Where are the Jews?’ They replied they are there and there, but who would notice a lonely Jew? And so I went on until I came to the River Bug.316 We ran that way (points to the vegetable garden on his drawing). There was a railway in the direction of Siedlce-Małkinia. There were no trees; I used to go outside the camp, I worked on the fence (Tarnung). There were trees (points behind the corner of the Upper Camp), behind the Toytlagr.317 And we ran—listen, see my plan— (he shows the vegetable garden), this way, across the field. But the place was clean, we had eradicated all the trees. We had uprooted the forest here. With the Camouflage Brigade we got out through this gate (he showed the vegetable garden again). And I also worked close to the anti-tank obstacles (...).

I asked Samuel when these obstacles were placed around the camp. He replied: I think they started to lay them in the winter, I think, after Stalingrad. I am not absolutely sure. During March 1943, I think, the Wehrmacht gave them away because they did not need them anymore. The Russian tanks made ‘eggers’ (‘pancakes’) of them. (He clapped his hands). They represented no obstacles for them, no difficulty for a tank. And because of that, the SS took them for themselves and they used them to encircle the outer area around the camp.

I slowly returned to the subject of the revolt. I was interested in how the prisoners from the Upper Camp had taken part in this revolt. Samuel then explained that although some had escaped during the revolt: They did not have any weapons. I know they did not. We made a revolt and they joined in and that proved that there was a possibility to revolt at any time, an uprising by that mass. They yelled: Huraaah!!! and ran. There was always the possibility to revolt. The

316

M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Tel Aviv, March 2008. 317 ‘ Toytlagr’ is Yiddish for ‘death camp’.

136

crowd was moving and there was always the possibility to kill somebody.318

One of the most interesting points on Samuel's talks was how he suggestively described the process of loading the excavators, ‘Bagger’ in German, from the Upper Camp onto a flatbed wagon at the Ramp in the Lower Camp, to send them for repair: It was unbelievable when the excavators were transported away.319 There were two of them, and from time to time one of them went for repair (...) so we had to clean the teeth (on the scoops), to get rid of the human remains. Oh, how that stank! They ordered us to clean it before the excavator was loaded onto the platform. It happened a few times, they left for repairs a few times. The excavator came from here (he shows a place in the Upper Camp, behind the sand bank which separated it from the Lower Camp), and it went along the fence, on the outside, toward us on the downside (he shows the end of the siding, the end of the camp Ramp). There it went in again and onto a wagon which stood at the Ramp which led to us (our camp). That way (he shows the corner of the camp near the end of the siding), they got it inside. We had to dismantle the fence, and after it had passed through the gap, we erected a new fence.

I said: ‘You know what I do not understand? Why you (the prisoners from Lower Camp, where the excavators, in fact, did not operate) had the job of cleaning the excavators?’ Why did the prisoners in the Upper Camp not clean them themselves?’ Samuel replied that he had no idea. He continued:

318

319

Willenberg very emphatically distinguished between the terms ‘revolt’ and ‘uprising’. He did not refer to the prisoners' revolt in Treblinka as an ‘uprising’ because, according to him, an ‘uprising’ requires organization, and this could not be achieved in Treblinka because in the circumstances in the camp it was not possible to trust everybody. Willenberg stated said that the ‘uprising’ took place in Warsaw in August 1944 where, after his escape from Treblinka, he fought against the Germans. (M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Tel Aviv, January 2003). Willenberg uses the Polish word ‘koparki’, which means ‘excavators’.

137

Anyway, we had to do this job, down there, on this spot (he pointed to the Ramp). I can remember the moment we were repairing the fence: the guys from the other Treblinka (penal labor camp) were repairing the rails close to us. And we threw them bread, we had enough, and we pushed gold coins inside and we threw it to them on the other side (of the fence).

We then discussed some details about what certain parts of the camp, with which he was familiar, looked like. We began with the ‘Lazarett’. I showed Samuel a photograph of model of Treblinka, constructed by my colleague Peter Laponder,320 in which the ‘Lazarett’ and the wooden building in the corner were clearly visible. Samuel immediately exploded: ‘There was no building there!’ But I had an objection: ‘But you have drawn it on your sketch.’ ‘No’, he disagreed. We then studied the above-mentioned sketch Samuel had drawn a long time ago. ‘There is a building’. I pointed to the building-like object with a Red Cross flag. ‘But inside! And he (Laponder) has made it outside. I know what I am doing. But OK. It was made out of the fence, the same fence (he shows the fence surrounding the area of the ‘Lazarett’), just there and there led inside, it was made of the same fence, such a kind of a soft penthouse. And there the people undressed and walked out, so no building there.’ I asked Samuel to compare the Aktion Reinhardt camps: Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka. His reply was, ‘Similar, similar. They used gas there, too, they were also primitive.’ My next question was, ‘After the war, did you ever go to Sobibór or Bełżec?’

320

138

Peter Laponder's model of Treblinka is in the Holocaust Center, Cape Town, South Africa.

Samuel replied: ‘I have never been to Sabibor (Sobibór).321 I was once in Bełżec.’322 The next section regarding interviews with the other survivors could well be entitled Companions in Perdition. The reader will soon understand why.

Eliahu (‘Eli’) Rosenberg I was told about Eliahu Rosenberg, a former grave-digger from the Upper Camp, by Edward Kopówka, director of the Treblinka Memorial Museum, who gave me his address in Israel. I wrote to Eli (the abbreviation of Eliahu), and received a prompt reply. My original intention was to put to him some questions about Ivan the Terrible, 323 the Ukrainian mechanic allegedly in charge of the gas chambers, because I knew Eli had been a prisoner in the Upper Camp where this man carried out his hellish duty. Immediately after reading the first sentence of Eli's reply, I knew I had found the right person to help me with collecting information about the Upper Camp. Eli's letter, written in Polish, began with the words: ‘Mister Chocholatý, I have received your letter and I am pretty shocked, I cannot calm down because such a young person as yourself, and what is more, a Czech, has an interest about the tragedy that happened in Treblinka’. I have to stress that Eli, according to his own words, until this letter he wrote to me, had neither written nor spoken Polish for 50 years! The letter continued:

321

322 323

It is a peculiar fact that throughout our conversations, Samuel always referred to Sobibór using the Russian pronunciation—‘Sabibor’. M. Chocholatý interview with Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw, March 2011. ‘Ivan the Terrible’: identified by some survivors as Ivan (John) Demjanjuk, while others believe him to be Ivan Ivanovich Marchenko, both of Ukrainian nationality. The latter proved to be the case, based on several post-war interrogations in the Soviet Union of Marchenko's former comrades who served with him in Treblinka.

139

I would really like to help you (...) unfortunately I can testify only via letters about what happened in Treblinka II. Anyway, I will say a few words about the awful murderer Ivan the Terrible. I do not know how such an animal could be born on our planet. Mr. Michal, a few impressions: the murderer stood before the door of gas chambers and he used a bayonet to stab the victims and to cut off pieces of flesh from them. He pushed them with a peitsche. I am not strong enough to describe here all the crimes before he suffocated the people, woman and children. If you are interested in more information, here is my phone number: (…) Mr Chocholatý, we have an opportunity to meet in Poland,324 when I go (there) with the young people, and then you would learn a lot about what happened in that ‘hell.325 (...) I am giving you the address of my companion in ‘perdition’, who was there (in the Upper Camp), together with me. He carried to the graves those who had been asphyxiated. There is nobody else alive, only me and him.326

Eli's ‘Comrade in Perdition’ was Pinchas Epstein,327 whom I tried to contact; but at that time (2003) I was not very lucky. Pinchas spoke only a few words by phone, saying that he was ill and did not want 324

325 326

327

140

One of Edi's granddaughters, Inbal, took part in one such trip and wrote to me about it as follows: ‘I have a lot of material regarding my grandpa's story. I visited Poland with him in 1999. I have been to Treblinka and to all of the death camps. I think that it would be wonderful for you to tell grandpa's story and I think that Pinchas' family will also agree.’ (Letter from Inbal and to Michal Chocholatý, dated 11 December 2007). Eli's younger granddaughter, Neta, whom I personally met in Jerusalem, told me: ‘Years after grandpa stopped visiting Poland—he used to go there every year with children from a kibbutz—I grew to the age I could go there with him, but he never went there again.’(From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý, Jerusalem, March 2008). ‘Hell’ is the specific name used by Eli for the Upper Camp. From the first letter Eliahu Rosenberg sent to Chocholatý in 2003. The original letter was given to the YVA in Jerusalem in 2008. The letter is published in: M. Chocholatý, Jiné místo, jiná doba II a III: Das unser Schicksal ist, Ein Höllseher (To náš osud je, Peklovidec), České Budějovice 2006. Eli wrote his name the Polish way—‘Pynchas’.

to talk about Treblinka. Thankfully, he changed his mind, and we finally met in 2008—five years later! This was a paradox. In 2003, when I contacted Eli Rosenberg for the first time, he willingly helped me during long phone conversations which continued until 2007. Then, after the death of his beloved wife, he had a mental breakdown. It was exactly at that time that I planned to visit him and other Treblinka survivors in Israel. But my decision came too late and I discovered that Eli was now not so strong as before. Since then, there have been no conversations, no correspondence. But I made wonderful bonds of friendship with his closest relatives, his daughter Rivka Bosem and his two grand-daughters. In 2008, I decided to contact once again Eli's ‘companion in perdition’ Pinchas Epstein, after five years! This time, I had better luck. Pinchas now agreed to talk by phone and even invited me to visit him in Israel. Perhaps the fact that his old friend Eli was mentally exhausted, and the information I gave him about the lengthy conversations between Eli and myself, moved him to change his mind. So now it was to be Eli, not Pinchas, who was unattainable. The roles had reversed. To return to the content of the long-lasting phone conversations I had with Eli, I have to say how much I now regret I did not record what he told me about Treblinka and his fate. However, much of what he told me I can reproduce from memory, although there were inconsistencies about when exactly he arrived in Treblinka. In his first testimony recorded in Vienna in 1947 he stated that he came to Treblinka on August 20, 1942,328 while elsewhere in the same statement he mentions he arrived on the day that Max Biela was killed by being ‘stabbed in the chest with a knife’,329 i.e. on September 11, 1942. On the first page of a Polish statement, however, he

328

329

Jewish Historical Documentation Center (Wiesenthal), Linz, Austria. Factual Report, dated December 24, 1947: recording of an interview with Elias (Eliahu) Rosenberg, p. 1. (Copy in: GFH, Israel: 3526/4491). Ibid., p. 3.

141

claims that he arrived in Treblinka in August 1942.330 Nevertheless, it can be deduced that he did arrive on the day Biela was attacked— September 11, 1942. It seems Eliahu simply erroneously gave August as the month of his arrival in Treblinka in his first testimony.331 I can remember very well when Eli was telling me about the sounds that echoed from inside the closed gas chambers in which the naked victims were crammed, a child's soft and frightened voice calling out, ‘Mummy, mummy, where are you, it's dark, dark ...’. It was Eli who informed me for the first time that the gas chambers had ‘flip-up’ doors. He gave me this information in a very firm voice—he wanted to be sure that I understood everything perfectly. That was one of his attributes, to recount everything absolutely correctly, as I had learned not only from our telephone conversations, but also from his letters. In one of my letters, I included sketches I had made of the old, small gas chambers, and asked him to make any necessary corrections. This was his reply: I have received your letter with various sketches from this terrible hell; they are basically all right but they also need some exact revising (...) unfortunately I cannot help you right now. First of all, I would like to discuss this subject with you face-to-face and talk to you, because everything has to be exact. But now there is one more important thing here (...) In few months a new museum of the Jewish tragedy will be opened in Yad Vashem, and I am busy as a Crown witness from Treblinka. They are making lots of documentary films

330 331

142

ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, p. 1. During a telephone conversation Eliahu Rosenberg told me that he was deported to Treblinka ‘sometime in September’. Also, his daughter told me during our meeting that her father was deported to the camp sometime around Rosh HaShana (The Jewish New Year) or Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the important Jewish days that occur in September, but never in August! According to Rosenberg's daughter Rosh HaShana was a day he could remember better than some less important day in August. (From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý that took place on January 2013, Jerusalem).

with me, and because of that your sketches will have to wait.332 Once you come to Israel, you can consider it as good as done.333

In the meantime, Eliahu's grand-daughter Neta Bosem, explained to me how her grandfather had been selected for work in Treblinka, and ended up in the Upper Camp: My grandfather was a very smart man. After his arrival at the camp, he heard in Yiddish to take a broom, so he took it and started working with it, and that's how he was saved. For a few days they were busy with sorting the clothes and then a German came and asked for volunteers, right there. And the German said: ‘I want a few men for a job for 10 minutes.’ The volunteers were then led by him to a gateway.334

Neta also recalled how her grandfather repeated again and again about the fuel used in the engines which pumped their lethal exhaust fumes into the gas chambers: Oil, raw oil.335 But once, they opened a small window made from unbreakable glass which was on the roof of the small chambers. They had never opened it before. A Ukrainian climbed on the roof. I am not sure, but I think it was that Ivan (‘Ivan the Terrible’) They gave him a container with chlorine—you know what is it? Chlorine? And he infused the chlorine into the chamber where the naked people were. Their skin started to cook, just to cook. The people down there were dying in terrible agony. The SS took their revenge on them in this way because they were a small group of deportees who, after they got off the train, tried to revolt. Those who were not shot 332

333

334

335

When I walked twice (2008 and 2013) through the new museum in Yad Vashem, I went straight to the section dealing with the Aktion Reinhardt camps, and below the station sign ‘Treblinka’ there was Eli's face looking at me from a TV screen, giving an interview about that terrible hell. From a letter Rosenberg sent to Chocholatý. The original letter was presented to the YVA in Jerusalem in 2008. Reproduced in: M. Chocholatý, Jiné místo, ..., op. cit. From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý, Jerusalem, January 2013. In the original Polish, ‘Ropa, surowa ropa’.

143

or killed on the spot, were taken to the small chambers and the death by chlorine was used as a special punishment.336

When I asked Eli about ‘Ivan the Terrible’ and whether he could remember from when Ivan had been in the camp, Eli replied: When I came to Treblinka, he was not there yet. The man who was in charge of gassings was the ‘Baggermeister’ (excavator expert) Schmidt. Schmidt used to sit in the excavator and dig the pits. He left just for a while to start the gassing process, and then to give the command to open the ‘flip-up’ doors of the chambers if he thought that all of the persons inside were dead.337 He then used to say, ‘Jetzt schlafen alle’ (‘Now everyone's asleep’). Ivan arrived in October in one of the passenger carriages which was part of a Jewish transport.338

Pinchas Epstein, Eli's ‘Companion in Perdition’, told me about Fritz Schmidt, the motor mechanic from Pirna on the river Elbe: He was in charge of the engine which suffocated (...) the smoke from a diesel engine went into the cabins (Pinchas always referred to the gas chambers as ‘cabins’).339 There were three there at the beginning. Three small ones. One cabin measured four by four meters and into such a cabin could be pushed from one hundred to one hundred fifty victims. Can you imagine what they looked like, when the bodies were taken out? Battered, stabbed (...) they had not known where they

336

337 338

339

144

From a telephone conversation between Rosenberg and Chocholatý that took place sometime between 2003–2007. Unfortunately, there is no actual voice recording of the particular phone conversation in which the use of chlorine was discussed. ‘Klapa’ in the original Polish, which means ‘flap’. I am not sure that I have remembered correctly the month Eli mentioned. Most testimonies state that Ivan was in Treblinka much earlier. It is a strange fact that after the war Pinchas worked as a motor mechanic working with diesel engines. When I asked him if there was any connection with the gassing engines in Treblinka, he replied in the negative, saying it was ‘only coincidence’.

were going. Once they did realize, they moved back. And at that moment (...) Ivan, Nikolay with a saber or with an iron bar (...) Oh (...) You know, he (Ivan) was well built (...)

I asked Pinchas, looking him straight in the eye: ‘Was this person Ivan Demjanjuk or not?’ He did not wait long with his answer. ‘One thousand percent!’ He was absolutely sure about the identity of ‘Ivan the Terrible’.340 Pinchas continued about Ivan: He was 1.80 meters tall, strongly built. A healthy Ukrainian. Nikolay was thicker-set. The Ukrainians went through training in Trawniki. Trawniki, it was a university for murderers. They trained them there how to shoot (...). His voice trailed off with the words, ‘You know, it's not so easy for me now (...)’.

It was, to say the least, very kind of Pinchas, even after all he had been through in the camp and afterwards, to talk about Treblinka again. Although it undoubtedly caused him pain, he still did it. He must have felt a duty to do so because when I and my friend Jiří Strnad were leaving him, he thanked us for being interested in the subject, about Treblinka. We could see how hard it was for him to tell us about Treblinka. He told us: It is not a fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood (...) I do not forget. Just to repeat it, once again, once again. It is impossible to forget it. Such terrible experiences. I am not healthy (...) You know, now, when I am old, all the past comes back more intensively. I sometimes ask myself if it was true (...) or a nightmare. My whole family was murdered. I was left alone. And it was not easy to go through it all. I was wandering like a dog after Treblinka. Worse than a dog. I wrote something, but nobody cared. My daughter wanted me to write 340

Eliyahu Rosenberg was also sure that Ivan (John) Demjanjuk was ‘Ivan the Terrible’, as he told me on the telephone. When I asked his daughter Rivka: ‘Did your father mean that he (Demjanjuk) was Ivan the Terrible?’ she replied: ‘He was sure’. Eliyahu's granddaughter added: ‘You know, Dalia Dorner, the judge in the Demjanjuk trial (in Jerusalem), she was 100% convinced that he (Demjanjuk) was Ivan the Terrible. And even now in interviews she is still very sure’. (From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý, Jerusalem, January 2013).

145

about Treblinka, but I did not write anything, and now I feel somehow at fault. Our health, after all we had suffered (...) everything is coming back.341

Eli's grand-daughter Neta also spoke about the hard times her grandfather had after Treblinka: Eli had a lot of nightmares. My grandpa spent whole nights fighting dogs that attacked him. I can remember the Demjanjuk trial—‘Ivan the Terrible’. I was a child then. My grandpa is still sure (2008) that Demjanjuk is ‘Ivan the Terrible’. He was sure already during the trial. Demjanjuk wanted to shake his hand, but my grandpa was so furious (...) It was in the press here. There is a picture of my grandmother, grandfather and my mother. They were all sure about Demjanjuk's identity. Eli is very close to Pinchas who still calls him (2008), because he is afraid of him. Pinchas did not want to visit him on these days because my grandpa is really not feeling well. They became the best of friends after they came to Israel. My grandpa is a famous survivor of the Holocaust. I just grew up surrounded by it. I am proud to be his granddaughter.342

Eli was known by the prisoners while escaping from the camp after the revolt by the nickname ‘Saint’. He told to me how it came about—why they started to call him that: While we were escaping after the revolt we decided to get some food. Only I was able to speak Polish, so my companions chose me to go to a peasant house and knock on the door. It was night. So I went and knocked on the door. I stood there (...) After a while, a woman with a lighted candle in her hand showed herself in the half-opened door. I explained to her that I needed some food. When she saw me, she crossed herself and called me ‘Saint’. I was terribly impregnated with the smell of corpses, by the smell of burnt human flesh, my

341

342

146

M. Chocholatý interview with Pinchas Epstein, Petach Tikva, Israel, March 2008. Pinchas' daughter died at a young age. I can remember Eliahu telling me about this tragedy, saying this is the worst thing a man can face, to outlive his child. From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý, Jerusalem, March 2008.

clothes were full of it. She definitely sensed it and said I had to be a ‘Saint’ if I succeeded in escaping from hell.343

Pinchas Epstein, Eli's ‘Companion in Perdition’, told me about his transfer from the Lower Camp to the Upper Camp after only two days: After that, I was the whole time in the Upper Camp. When we arrived in the Upper camp they (the SS) were killing there every day. They were afraid we would revolt when we saw the corpses. Not two thousand, not three, every day eight, nine thousand. And when we took the bodies out of the gas chambers, it happened so fast that the speed was deadly. They brought new people there every day. And that was how I came to the death camp after two days. And there I stayed until the end, until the uprising. (...) They built 10 new gas chambers there. There was a corridor and on the left side there were five doors and on the right side the same. They could push into one of these chambers five, six hundred victims. There were pipes through which went the (...) the (...) smoke from the diesel engines. There was a bulb covered with an iron grating in order to protect it against being smashing. There was a (...) we can call it a window, through which you could see, after the bulb was switched on, if the people inside were dead or not.344

I asked about the color of the curtain that witnesses say covered the entrance door to the gassing building. Pinchas replied: ‘What color was it, you ask? It was a dark red color. A beetroot-like color. Like a beetroot turnip, red turnip.’345 Treblinka camp is the only death camp of the so-called ‘River Bug Camps’—Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka, where the old gas chambers remained intact after the construction of the new, bigger cham-

343

344

345

From a telephone conversation between Rosenberg and Chocholatý sometime between 2003–2007 that was not recorded on tape. Pinchas did not react to my remark that according to Eli Rosenberg there was a small window in the roof of the small chambers, but continued to talk about some other matter, probably an observation window in the bigger gas chambers. In the original Polish: ‘buraczkowy kolor’, lit. ‘beetroot colour’.

147

bers. I was therefore interested if it ever happened that both buildings operated together. I once asked Eli that question. He answered that there were indeed times when all of the chambers (a total of 13) were in operation together.346 Pinchas replied to the same question: ‘It happened once or twice. Believe me, I do not know exactly. I do not know why they operated together, but there were a few cases when all 13 gas chambers operated at once.’ We turned to the subject of the cremation of the bodies of those who had been gassed. Pinchas: They brought in a specialist. Herbert Floss. He started to liquidate (...) there were pits (...) What can I tell you? The biggest grave was that of Piotrków, Częstochowa, and their vicinity, all in one grave.347 The bodies, the corpses, were covered with chloride of lime. And the chloride speeded up the decomposition of the bodies. And a decomposed body burns like gasoline. And there was an excavator, two excavators. And Herbert Floss was a specialist. (...) Once a grave was emptied, it was covered and ploughed. Various plants were planted there. In the beginning, all the bodies were thrown into the pits. They laid rails then and they brought the specialist. They built the grids. Oh! (...) and the smell! Man is stronger than he thinks. The grids were built of concrete and rails and we piled the bodies into a pyramid.

Pinchas looked at the table where there was a small wooden gratelike tray. He picked it up, looked at it closely, and then said that it reminded him of the cremation grid. He continued, ‘the pyramid of human bodies was sprayed with gasoline or oil, and they burned like gasoline would burn. Once the grave was emptied it was covered and obliterated and nothing of it was left. They tried to remove all of the traces.’

346

347

148

From a telephone conversations between Rosenberg and Chocholatý sometime between the 2003–2007. Unfortunately it was not recorded on tape. The main liquidation of the Częstochowa ghetto and those nearby took place in September 1942.

I wanted Pinchas to tell me about the day-to-day life in the Upper Camp. Pinchas: We slept in a hut. There were two hundred, two hundred fifty prisoners. The women slept separately. There was a kitchen and on the edge a laundry. I can remember one song we had to sing after the Appell (roll-call) in the death camp (singing): Marishka, my Marishka, you will go to sleep with me in bed (...). That is all I can remember (about the songs of Upper Camp). And we were ordered to sing this. Every day after Appell. ‘Buba’, he was called ‘Lalka’, was very satisfied with this.348 He had a dog called Barry. It was a paradox: Saint Bernards are very good dogs349 but it depends on how you train

348

349

Several times during our conversations Pinchas used the name ‘Buba’ when talking about ‘Lalka’—Kurt Franz. I have never heard anyone refer to Franz by the nickname ‘Buba’. According to prisoners' statements, Barry could be a very aggressive dog when commanded by Franz. Barry started his bloodthirsty career in the Sobibór death camp where—according to SS-Oberscharführer Erich Bauer—he was one of three dogs in the camp: Barry the Saint Bernard, Zeppel the German Shepherd, and a black sheepdog that did not respond to any German commands. All three were additional sources of terror for the Jewish prisoners. The Polish women at the railway station were terrified of Barry—he was the size of a calf and could knock down anyone when he jumped up at them. This even happened once to SS-Oberscharführer Bauer. Barry often accompanied SS-NCO Kurt Bolender around the camp: ‘As time went on, I began to see that the animal was rather aggressive. The dog not only chased after the horses, it even tried to attack me once. (...). Occasionally, he also bit the Jew who looked after him, as well as another Jew who rushed past to report for duty. In both cases, the bites did not have severe consequences, because the Jew who was supposed to look after him carried on brushing and combing him afterwards. (...) I did find out once that the dog had allegedly bitten a Pole outside the camp.’ The camp survivors naturally knew far better than either Bauer or Bolender what the dog really got up to. According to one survivor: ‘He was trained to bite people. I saw myself how (SS-NCO) Frenzel set him on a Jewish butcher, using the words ‘Get that dog!’. Frenzel regarded the Jew rather than Barry as a dog. The dog bit the Jew's throat, killing him instantly.’ Jakub Biskubicz from Hrubieszów saw how (SS-NCO) Paul

149

them. Lalka, Lalka was ‘Buba’ (...) why was he called that? Because he was as good looking as a doll. You know, not all of the SS used to come to the Upper camp, to the death camp (...) not all of them came from the Lower camp. The only exceptions were the perpetual Ukrainians and perpetual SSmen who constantly came into the Upper camp. I can remember the girls who were brought to us. There were about twelve, thirteen of them. (…) You know, there were ten, fifteen, twenty persons a night who committed suicide. They could not keep going with that, they broke mentally and physically.

Groth set the dog on the prisoners while they were sitting on the latrine. The dog bit them in the groin, which for many resulted in an agonizing death. (Schelvis, Sobibor ..., op. cit., p. 92). Dov Freiberg, a former prisoner of Sobibor, had his own experience with Barry: ‘(SSNCO) Bolender (...) while on his way to Lager III (the extermination area in Sobibór) or on the way back, would set the dog Barry on one of the workers. You could go out of your mind from the horrible sight of Barry attacking a man, tearing his clothes, biting his flesh, as the victim screamed horribly. (...) One day, Paul (probably Groth) came to us with the dog. (...) Now and then, he would set the dog on someone: ‘Man, get that dog!’ he would order Barry. Paul was amused. (...) The fear of the dog's bite was so great that fear alone could drive you insane. (...) Barry came straight at me (...) jumped up on me with such force that I fell to the ground (...) (he) tried to bite me between my legs. I (...) pushed his head to the side, and then his teeth sank into my thigh until I felt them hit bone. (...) then he bit my backside. (...) I thought this was the end (...) (D. Freiberg, To survive Sobibor, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem/New York 2007, pp. 204–205). Another prisoner, Tomasz, ‘Toivi’ Blatt, also remembered the dog: ‘Groth had a huge dog which was a horror. His name was Barry. He was trained to respond to the command, ‘Man, get that dog!’ after which he attacked the prisoner, concentrating on his genitals. Barry was taken to Treblinka by Stangl. (T. Blatt, Zapomniane powstanie ..., op. cit., p. 83). After Barry's transfer from Sobibor to Treblinka, his reign of terror continued in that camp.

150

I asked Pinchas about an escape from the Upper camp. I knew there was a case when the prisoners dug an escape tunnel.350 He confirmed that such an escape attempt had been made: There was a group who succeeded in escaping. But at that time the first snow had fallen and they (the SS) followed their footprints. They brought back two of them alive. They tortured them the whole day and after that they killed them. You cannot imagine how they tortured those two! The first snow of that winter had betrayed them. They just followed the footprints (...) At the beginning, in the very first days (probably of Pinchas' stay in the camp), two prisoners succeeded in escaping. They took advantage of a few seconds when the Ukrainian on guard fell asleep. They cut the barbed wire and escaped. The Ukrainian woke up too late and became angry that they had escaped while he should be on guard.351

Rivka Bosem, Eliahu's daughter, asked me if I knew about a book by George Steiner. I corrected her, that the name of the author was Jean-François Steiner, and nodded that I had read the book.352 Neta then translated Rivka's Hebrew reply into English: ‘My grandfather was angry about this man because he wrote in his book things that

350

351

352

When I put to Pinchas these very detailed questions about the Upper Camp, he complimented me by saying with a smile that I had ‘done my homework well.’ M. Chocholatý interview with Pinchas Epstein, Petach Tikva, Israel, March 2008. All the statements by Pinchas Epstein included in the section ‘Companions in Perdition’ are taken from the above-mentioned conversation. Original recordings of these conversations in Michal Chocholatý's personal archive. J.-F. Steiner, Treblinka, Meridian Books, New York 1994. Original French edn. published by Librairie Arthé Fayadrd, Paris 1967. First English edn. by Weidenfeld & Nicholsen, London 1967. An interesting mistake by Rivka Bosem: George Steiner is a French-born American literary critic and, among others things, a novelist. He has written extensively about the relationship between language, literature and the impact of the Holocaust.

151

are not correct. What he wrote made it look as if the Jews were collaborating with the Germans. My mother says that she has a lot of newspapers about this.’ I said that I had read some criticisms of the book, and that people thought that it was much more a fictional rather than a non-fictional book about Treblinka. Rivka added that Steiner had definitely written it as if the Jews had cooperating with the Germans. She continued that that was the reason she and her mother were very wary of my book, but changed their minds when they read my paper on Treblinka. They did not want Eliahu put in a bad light. I explained that in fact this had also been a problem with the Jewish Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were watched by other prisoners who also believed the members of the Sonderkommando were cooperating with the Germans.353 In Treblinka, however, this problem could be observed unlikely. Richard

353

152

From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý (Jerusalem, January 2013. This is a problem encountered by many survivors who were ordered to do the ‘dirty work’—the worst jobs possible directly involved with the extermination process in the death camps. For a long time after the war, some members of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Sonderkommando were afraid to tell their story, fearing the negative and even hostile opinions of others. The tasks they were forced to do were so awful that some people believed that they could only have been accomplished by collaborators. The above are well supported by the following statements. The first two come from a former member of Birkenau Sonderkommando, Shlomo Venezia: ‘After the liberation, I heard some absurd rumors about what was supposed to have happened in the Sonderkommando to dead women. These are just lies, sick rumors initiated by people trying to undermine and discredit the men who worked in the Sonderkommando.’ (S. Venezia: Inside the Gas Chambers. Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz, Polity/USHMM, Cambridge, Malden 2009, p. 97). Venezia continues: ‘I did find out later that some people were jealous of the fact we sometimes got extra rations. Others held us partly responsible for what happened in the crematorium, but that's completely wrong—only the Germans killed. We were forced, whereas collaborators, in general, are volunteers. It's important to write that we had no choice. Those who refused

Glazar, the former prisoner of the Lower Camp in Treblinka, wrote in this context about the Upper Camp: They started selections for a second camp—the death camp (i.e. the Upper Camp). They have to form a brigade to work with death straight in its workshop and clean up afterward. As far as I remember, they never selected workers for the Upper Camp directly from a transport. They learned that the first part of the camp (Lower Camp) is a preparation for the work up there with ‘naked death’, and that no one is used to it after arriving here straight from outside. They learned that the first part of the camp is a preparation for the work with ‘naked death’ up there, and that no one is used to it after coming in here straight from the outside—from life.354

I can well remember the day that Neta sent me a message that her grandfather, the last witness of the Upper Camp in Treblinka, had died the day before. When we talked about this matter a few years later, she specified: ‘Pinchas died a few months before my grandfather. We called his wife to tell her that Eli had died and she said that Pinchas had also died.’ I asked, ‘And did Eli know that Pinchas had passed away?’

354

were immediately killed with a bullet through the back of the neck. (Ibid., pp. 101–102). However, many former prisoners of the Sonderkommando did not speak out because they were suffering deep feelings of shame. In the Brzezinka (Birkenau) death zone, they were forced into an experience in which a man facing his own survival was able to do things they could not even have imagined before. In the regime of the SS, built on terror, they were transformed into robots.’ (E. Friedler, B. Siebert, A. Kilian [eds.], Svědkové z továrny na smrt: historie a svědectví židovského sonderkommanda v Osvětimi. Rybka Publishers, Prague 2007, pp. 258–259). Today, Shlomo Venezia even doubts that it was the right thing to survive. In all the Reinhardt camps, including Treblinka, many of the prisoners from other work brigades were however more terrified of being transferred to the gas chamber and burial brigades than they were of death. Glazar, Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky …, op. cit., pp. 59–60.

153

‘No. He was in a really bad shape and we also did not know, so (...) she (Pinchas' wife) tried to call us but she could not contact us.’355 I am really glad I had the unique opportunity to talk with these two men who had come through this man-made hell on earth. I am really glad that I became a friend of Eli, and that Pinchas thanked me for my interest. Both these men, ‘Companions in Perdition’, were now dead, and I hope their souls find peace and that death brought an end to the seemingly never-ending nightmares that had haunted them for so many years.

Kalman Teigman I contacted the fourth Treblinka survivor, Kalman Teigman, with the help of Eli Rosenberg. If there was anyone who wanted to talk with someone who had survived the Lower Camp, then according to Eli Rosenberg, Kalman Teigman was a good witness to talk to. In Treblinka, Kalman had been known as ‘Kazik’ (phon. Kah-zhik). I told Kalman that I had found him thanks to Eli Rosenberg. Kalman, together with Samuel Willenberg, was one of the last two known survivors from the Treblinka death camp. In 2012 Kalman too has passed away, leaving only Willenberg as the sole survivor and last eyewitness of Treblinka. After several telephone conversations, Kalman invited me to Israel.356 Kalman Teigman was a tall man, very jocular, somewhat sarcastic but calm. During our meetings he never became excited and 355

356

154

From a conversation between Neta, Rivka and Chocholatý (Jerusalem, January 2013). I was very grateful for such an invitation because I knew that Kalman was a ‘crown witness’ for my friend and co-author Chris Webb, who was already in close contact with Kalman. During the meetings I had with Kalman in Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, Kalman often referred to Chris, ‘Chris knows everything (...) I corresponded with him for many years, but I never met him personally. I invited him to come here, but he had some troubles then so he could not come. I keep a lot of letters from him.’

always maintained an elegant and friendly approach. His cynicism showed itself when on one occasion I thanked for picking up the phone, he replied that the telephone was ‘not so heavy’. Another time, when he was looking at an old photograph of me with Samuel Willenberg, he remarked that he did not recognize the person with Willenberg. When I explained that it is me, five years ago, he looked me up and down, and then commented and said that I had ‘a little bit less flesh then’. Kalman began by telling me how he arrived in Treblinka and his first impression of the camp: I came to Treblinka on September 4, 1942. I came together with my mother. My mother was immediately led away and I was chosen for work. I did not know where I was. Only after I met the others who worked there already for a day or two, they told us, where we are. I did not imagine in the wagon where I am going. I just could not believe that they would take a healthy man who is able to work and immediately kill him. I had no time to look around. Those who were getting out of the wagons were beaten with such blows (...) Ukrainians and Germans stood there and they were beating everybody: ‘Schnell, schnell, prendko, prendko!’357—just to run in order not to become aware of what is happening all around. They pulled us out of the wagons and we had to cross the Ramp toward such a place, a courtyard, through a gate. Near the gate, stood a person who picked people out. First of all, the women entered on the left side and men on the right side. And then they picked out some of the men: ‘Stay here, go over there!’ And that is how I was chosen. I had no idea where they were taking me. I was told: ‘Stop! Attention! How old are you?’ So I stood, and then one of them said: ‘Go over there!’ It happened that some two hundred people were chosen. One hundred of that group stood here (in the Lower Camp) and another hundred went to the Upper Camp. I met a Kapo there whom I knew from Warsaw, Jurek. Once he saw me, he called out: ‘Come to me! You will be fine.’ He told me, all of the Jews were coming here. He had a jacket, high boots and a whip, he was a Kapo and he beat the men.

357

‘Prędko’ is Polish for ‘faster’.

155

When I asked Kalman about the SS from the Lower Camp, and about their characters, he said: I cannot say who within the SS was the worst one. Every one of them was evil. Some of them did not beat anyone, and there were a few of them who had not killed anyone. Then it could be said, ‘See, he is surely good!’ Suchomel never hurt anybody, but Miete was terrible (...) he was an awful son of a bitch. There was Miete, Mentz, Bölitz. This threesome were the worst. They killed in the ‘Lazarett’. (…) We called Mentz ‘Frankenstein,’ because he looked like that monster created by him. He had such ugly a mouth, big teeth, big ears. Like a devil. He stood there the whole day, shooting. And the Ukrainians were there, too. One of them sat at a huge pit where there was sand around the ‘Lazarett’. The Ukrainian sat there and played a panpipe. There was a white flag with a Red Cross. He sat up there and still played the panpipe while the bodies were burning.’

On September 11, 1942, just few days after Kalman's arrival in Treblinka, one of the prisoners had attacked an SS-man. I asked Kalman about that incident, and he replied: A German was killed. I saw it, all of us saw it. It happened during Appell (roll-call). They counted us, and naturally they beat us. I do not how, but one of us jumped out of line and he had a knife with him with which he stabbed him in the back. Naturally, he (the Jew) was killed on the spot with shovels. And the German was taken to hospital but he died on the way. His name was Max Biela. (…) They shut us in the huts and they did not allow us to leave for work. Later, they formed two groups. One was sent to the ‘Lazarett’ (…) another to the second camp. After that, Stangl came and said— they were afraid we could do it again—so they said to us that we will have living quarters where we would eat and sleep, wash ourselves, and so on. And it really came true. Before that, we had been sleeping on the sand.

I asked about the prisoners, especially about the more well-known ones like Galewski and Chorążycki. Kalman obliged: Galewski was an intelligent man; An engineer. But he was already worn out, weak. I also knew Chorążycki, but not well. I saw what happened to him. He took some poison (after it was discovered by ‘Lalka’ that he had a lot of money in his possession). When they

156

brought him, he was already dead. They brought pails with water and they poured it in his mouth, in his throat. Then he was taken by two or three men by the legs, and they picked him up, trying to flush the water out again—but they did not succeed because he was dead already, a corpse—they moved him to a bench where they used to beat prisoners, and they gave him twenty-five lashes, or fifty, I do not remember exactly. They were beating a corpse. He was then taken to the ‘Lazarett’ where his body was burnt.

Kalman recalled a Czech prisoner whom he called Masaryk. ‘But he was not Masaryk!’ I argued. ‘That's what they called him.’ ‘No, he was called Masárek,’ I said correctly. Kalman: ‘I know, but they said in the camp that he was some relative of the president (of Czechoslovakia).358 He took care of Barry, Lalka's dog. Barry was a Saint Bernard dog. Those dogs are calm. They rescue people. But he was trained to do what he was trained to do there.’ ‘How did you refer to the Upper Camp, the Totenlager?’ It depends in which language. In Polish, we called it the ‘death camp, extermination camp’.359 There were two parts there. The people came into the first one, and they killed them in the second one. The second camp was much smaller. It was separated by earth and barbed wire. You could not see into there. There was a railroad which went into the camp through the first gate, and on to the end of the camp, close to the end of the Ramp (...) at the end there was a second gate. I think the rails came to an end at some kind of buffer, but I cannot remember exactly. There was a sandy surface, but the 358

359

The first president of Czechoslovakia (today the Czech Republic) was Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1918-1935). The prisoners confused the Masárek name which sounds similar, but in fact there they were not related. In the Masárek name, the letter ‘á’ is pronounced as a long ‘a’, as in the word ‘art’. Witold Chrostowski is one of the first Treblinka researchers to draw attention to the confusion between the names Masárek and Masaryk which are be found in some statements about Treblinka. (Chrostowski, Extermination camp …, op. cit., p. 97). In the original Polish: obóz śmierci, obóz zagłady (death camp, extermination camp).

157

sand was not the same kind as here on the beach (i.e. the beach of Mediterranean sea in Tel Aviv and Bat Yam). They created a camp in the desert. There was no grass before, but they later sowed a bit grass on the Ramp. There was just a few trees. There was a more dense forest around the second camp.

In a somewhat melancholy frame of mind, Kalman added: Now there is nothing left in Treblinka. I returned once with my wife and grand-daughter. Children from the school used to go there every year. There is nothing left, only stones. They liquidated the camp in 1943. It was burnt during the revolt. If we did not exist, then nobody would know what kind of place had been there.

When I asked about what had happened to him after the war, Kalman replied: After the war, I worked in various places, I delivered carpenters' tools. But before that, I worked in a factory. Before I came here (to Israel) I spent a year and half in a camp on Cyprus. Of course, it was not the same camp as Treblinka. It was an English camp. On our way to Palestine they caught us at sea and took us to the camp. We were just kept there, nothing else. My good friend—when we met Rosenberg and Epstein (after the war) and they started to talk to us about what they came through there (in the Upper Camp), how it worked there—we did not know about it, we could not even look in the direction of the Upper Camp. We met them after the war. We used to meet every year on August 2 (the date of Treblinka revolt in 1943), those who survived. We used to tell to each other how it looked, where one worked, and when they told us how it went over there (in the Upper Camp), then I had to say to myself: ‘I went through paradise!’ I had absolutely no idea about such things. Then Rosenberg started to tell how it all happened and how the naked women came through the Schlauch (‘Tube’) (...) That was a tragedy among them. (…) We could hear cries and it could be heard how the bagger (excavator) worked there. (…) We knew after a while what was going on over there, but we did not know the details of the process. (…) The most I saw was the part of that Schlauch which the women passed through. We could not

158

walk any further. (…) But even down there where we worked, there were also murderers.360

After the meeting with Kalman in Bat Yam, he paid for a taxi for me and my friend Jiří Strnad to return to Tel Aviv. He was very kind to us, as were all of the survivors I met. I would like to thank all of them for their friendship, kindness and understanding. Edi (‘Idl’) Weinstein361 I found the sixth survivor of Treblinka by a chance. While attending a reunion of Sobibór survivors in Poland I was told by one of them that he knew a man who had escaped from Treblinka. He told me his name, which was quite unknown to me, but immediately after my return home I contacted this person, Edi Weinstein, who turned out to be a very kind man. I am pleased to say we maintained a longlasting relationship by telephone and letters, and later a personal meeting which took place in Prague. Edi was the only survivor who called me many times on his own initiative. If I did not respond quickly to his e-mails, he became concerned about my welfare. First of all, I informed him about my research for a book, and for which I was conducting interviews with the last survivors of Treblinka. In the meantime, I asked Kalman Teigman if he knew about Edi, but his replay was negative. When I mentioned this to Edi, he wrote to me in April 2008: I am very surprised that in Israel they don't know about me, since Yad Vashem published my story in 2001 in Hebrew under the title Plada Rotahat and in English in 2002 under the title Quenched Steel: The story of an escape from Treblinka. After 18 days, three of us escaped in a train picking up the clothing of the dead. We came back

360

361

All the statements in this section come from a conversation between Teigman and Chocholatý (in the company of Jiří Strnad) that took place in Bat Yam, Israel, during March 2008. Edi Weinstein: born Yehuda Jakob Wajnsztajn. He sometimes spells his first name as ‘Eddi’ or ‘Eddie’.

159

to our town. The other two left for a hiding place and never came back.362

When I asked Edi if he had ever met any other survivors from Treblinka, he replied: ‘Never. I was once at a conference of survivors in 2002 or 2003 and I had a sign: I AM LOOKING FOR PEOPLE FROM TREBLINKA. Not one.’363 Edi wrote to me about his arrival in Treblinka on 24 August 1942, that his part of train was shunted into the camp when dusk was already falling: ‘I read a book by Alexander Donat, The Death Camp Treblinka, in which he says that Franz Stangl and Kurt Hubert Franz arrived the same day I did, August 24. I was shot the first day, on 25th, around midday, since then I was hiding for four days in a big hut near the Ramp.’364 After I met Edi in person, I asked him if he would show me the scar left by the bullet. He bared his chest and said: Can you see it? It's small. It's four inches from the center and on my back it's five and half inches. Lately, maybe two months ago, I told my wife to mark it with black ink on the back and to take a photo so I could see it. You know, I have never seen the wound. My doctor from New York University, he is a Professor of Medicine, told me when he read my book in English and I came for a visit, ‘Sit down, I have to see where were you shot.’ And his reaction was, ‘How to hell did you survive?’ Every time when I came for a visit he has to find another doctor from the University and show him the wound, with my permission, of course.365

One of the things which interested me the most about Edi Weinstein's story of his stay in the death camp was the infamous ‘Lazarett’. When I asked him about this, he replied: The only time I was near the ‘Lazarett’ was when I found out there were babies sitting near the pit, and the SS-man left for his lunch. I 362

363 364

365

160

From e-mail correspondence between Weinstein and Chocholatý, April 22, 2008. M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein, Prague, August 2008. From e-mail correspondence between Weinstein and Chocholatý, April 28, 2008. M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein, Prague, August 2008.

had an urge to see for myself. It was very dangerous for me. I got some garbage and ran there. I saw those babies sitting wrapped in blankets. Not one of them was crying, looking everybody in the face and looking at this inferno with burning bodies. No, they didn't cry. Still sitting there were these sick women whom we found in the cattle car about half-an-hour before. I must have been there for only about 10 seconds. I remember that the ‘Lazarett’ was the middle one of three pits against the fence. I don't remember its shape.366 When I was there, the ‘Lazarett’ was the middle pit.367

I also wanted Edi to tell me about the pits that had existed before the ‘Lazarett’, and which he had drawn on a sketch of Treblinka he sent me earlier by post. He had drawn two round pits beside the fencing of the yard, with two huts, in the first of which work Jews slept, and in the second the women undressed. Edi: ‘When we arrived, they (the earlier pits) were full of bodies. In the morning, a big machine arrived. I saw it start to dig three big pits.’368 These pits were located at the far side of the yard, close to the camp fence. So that was how the creation of infamous Lazarett had started. Edi continued: On the Sortieren (Sorting Square) there were not two buildings. Only one long building, and we sat around the building and sorted the clothes. I was shot not far from there. A boy in front of me started to cry that his father was dead (...) My brother was behind me and he dragged me into the building (No. 18 on the sketch below). Later, they turned that place into the station. That place.

I asked him: ‘Do you remember the shape of that building? Was like in Auschwitz, like a horse stable?’ Edi replied: No, no. It was very simply put together. No windows just entrances. There were no doors. In that building I was laying there for four

366

367 368

From e-mail correspondence between Weinstein and Chocholatý, 28 April 2008. M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein, Prague, August 2008. Ibid.

161

days. I saw names from Radom. Packages. I do know which transports they came from because I do not think our train came with packages. Maybe this was before us.

I asked: ‘This building (No. 26) was where you slept?’ Edi pointed to the building: ‘There was a separate entrance from the side of the wire. (...) it was double, and there was a German guard. A German or Ukrainian. And this was for the ‘red patches’ (Red Brigade). Edi pointed to the smaller part of the barrack: ‘We slept there on the sand. The people were bringing in rugs. It was sandy there.’369

369

162

M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein, Prague, August 2008.

Plan based on the old information panel at the Treblinka Memorial.370 The basic sketch was drawn by me. Edi only added few details into the area he knew about.

370

This panel was replaced a few years ago with Samuel Willenberg's plan of Treblinka.

163

At the bottom right of the plan the three big round pits Edi drew are clearly visible, with the one in the middle labeled ‘Hospital’, i.e. the ‘Lazarett’). No. 18, marked ‘Clothing’, was later transformed into the fake railway station. Notice also the place just to the left of No. 18, marked ‘SHOT’. This is where Edi was shot while waiting in line for water. Two identical barracks, No. 25 and No. 26, are shown in a special fenced area. No. 25 indicates the Undressing Barrack. On the right-hand barrack (No. 26) it can be seen that the barrack is divided into two parts, the smaller of which served as the primitive sleeping area for ‘red badge’ work brigade. Between this barrack and the fence is the ‘Latrine’. On the other side of the fence are the two circles which represent the pits that were full of corpses when Edi arrived in Treblinka.

In the plan above, the middle pit of the three pits is labeled ‘Lazarett’. Also labeled are the prisoners' latrine, the sorting barrack and place where Edi was shot.371

371

164

Both versions of the plan come from correspondence between Weinstein and Chocholatý in 2008.

Referring to the two identical barracks in the fenced-off area on these plans, Edi stated: ‘There were two buildings. This one for undressing (No. 25).’ I mentioned to Edi that I had also heard that there was a guard standing on the roof of this building with an automatic rifle. He replied: ‘I don't know. I didn't look on the roof.’ ‘During your stay in the camp, did they cut off the women hair?’ Edi replied, ‘I don't know. This was maybe later. You see, there was a connection to gas chambers. I think there was only one entrance. I do not think there were two entrances’ (entrance to the ‘Schlauch’ between the undressing barracks and the gas chambers which is not in fact meant as an entrance and which was drown there by me during the creation of the basic sketch based on the old information panel!). As far as I knew from Edi Weinstein's book, during August 1942, the time when there were corpses scattered all around the railroad tracks near Treblinka station, he once left the camp for Treblinka village station on some flat bed railroad wagons. I asked Edi about this event because this was something that was quite specific for the time Eberl was in charge of Treblinka. Edi told me: The SS and the Ukrainians were on the first and the third flat bed, the middle one was empty. They gave us some water, so everybody wanted to get on. I was there with my brother. We arrived at the station where most of the dead were. I and three other boys were ordered to cross a small stream to pick up two dead bodies, this must have been about 600–700 meters from the platform. Most of the bodies were at the station, near the water pump. We didn't go to Małkinia, and I didn't see Ząbecki.372

Edi's account corresponds with other descriptions of those early chaotic days in Treblinka: When we arrived, there were dead people everywhere. They were sending him (Eberl) so many people. And in our train there must have been sixty, seventy percent dead people. Stangl told Gitta 372

From e-mail correspondence between Weinstein and Chocholatý, 29 April 2008.

165

Sereny what he saw when he arrived there, and that's what I saw.373 But I came at night. We came to Treblinka station where there was a water pump and they took away a part of the train. They could handle only twenty cars there. Then came another part of cattle cars and our part was the last. When they pushed it in, it was already dark.

When I argued that no transports arrived in Treblinka when it was dark. Edi retorted: This one did. I arrived. It was the beginning. Twenty-fourth of August, it was a Monday night. It started to get dark. They had to finish with the people. It was a long transport. So we were pushed in and there were lights all over. And then, when we stopped by the Ramp, we saw the dead bodies when we looked out of the windows. I do not know how long they had been lying there. And I thought they're going to shoot everybody right after opening the doors. The trip from Siedlce to Treblinka took maybe three hours, I do not know exactly. We did not look at the time. We got on the train on Monday morning. We were chased from our town on Saturday morning. We were chased out on foot. The women and the small children rode on horse and carts. We spent the whole night in the cemetery where there was once a Jewish synagogue. I am not sure, but somebody told me there had been a Jewish synagogue there. And later, there was a cemetery; anyway they pushed us there and on the next day, at two o'clock, they chased us to the railway station. But there were no trains, you know, it was wartime. Everybody was crying for water, praying generally. And we stayed there another night. Finally, Monday morning, exactly two days since we left, a train arrived, cattle cars. And they started to push us on board. I got in with my brother, my mother I lost. So I got in near the vent, because there was no air right there. And when we got in, the cattle car filled up to the brim. The people were fainting, passing out. But the density of the people kept them from falling. So my brother and I realized that we will soon die. I don't know it was my own or my brother's idea to jump out. Better to be killed from a bullet than to suffocate. There were still a couple

373

166

Sereny, Into That Darkness ..., op. cit., (Vintage Books 1983), p. 157.

hundred people left on the platform. They were pushed in like sardines into our cattle car. Realizing they could not push in any more, they added a few more cattle cars. And then, we did not know where were going, nobody knew. (...) At Treblinka station, people were jumping out of the train. In our cattle car I remember one guy, Avruhum Loshice, much older than me, and he took off his clothes, screaming. He went mad from the heat and dehydration. And the people in other cattle cars, they were packed in and were dying. The people were dead already. They wanted to get water. And 10 minutes later they started to divide our train. We did not know how many cattle (cars). So we realized this is our final destination, where we're going be living and working. But nobody could believe what they were going to do to us. The people were still jumping. And they were killed, they saw the other people being killed, but they did not care. They just wanted water.

I asked if there were guards with rifles standing on the roofs of the wagons. Edi replied that he could not see the roofs, but was sure there were no guards up there: But they were all over there and they were shooting at those who were jumping. I could not see what was happening on the roof. They were shooting at those who ran to the water pump. Not one of them got there. I cannot remember even one. Look! I would have run there too if I could have got some water. If they would let me drink enough and then they could kill me. That's how I felt.

When Edi spoke about the ‘Red Badges’ brigade I asked: ‘And what were the colors of the other work brigades?’ He replied he did not know: I remember only the red patches. Later I found out there was a blue brigade, but that was after me. When we arrived, Treblinka had only been in operation for a month, from July 23. And I escaped on the ninth or the tenth of September. So it had been 40, 50 days in operation.

I remarked: ‘Perhaps a day or two after your escape, a German, Max Biela, was killed there.’ To which Edi commented: ‘Abraham Krzepicki said he was there when he was killed so I must have been there

167

too.’374 But Edi Weinstein apparently had no clear recollection of the incident. * The above account represents only extracts from many conversations with the survivors that sometimes lasted for hours. A certain amount of ‘literary license’ has been used for the sake of continuity because the meetings did not always follow a question-and-answer routine. Very often they were disjointed and fragmentary, or were ordinary conversations interrupted by my questions, which resulted in brief replies. All the interviews were conducted in Polish, with the exception of those with Eli Rosenberg's daughter and grand-daughters, and the meeting with Edi Weinstein, which were conducted in English.

374

168

M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein, Prague, August 2008.

CHAPTER 12

Wartime reports about the death camp

Although some wartime reports about Treblinka contain a certain amount of incorrect information, especially those referring to bizarre methods of killing the victims, they nevertheless demonstrate that despite efforts by the Germans to maintain secrecy, the truth about the Treblinka death camp leaked out and became known both within and beyond Poland's borders. These reports serve as an overview in order to give the reader an idea of what was ‘publicly’ known about the death camp from the beginning of its operations. The first fugitives from Treblinka gave very detailed statements to the Polish underground to warn the Jews about the real meaning of ‘resettlement’, the truth about this death factory. In his book Cieniom Treblinki (‘Shadows of Treblinka’) Ryszard Czarkowski dedicated his longest chapter to the question: ‘Did the world know about their fate?’375—the fate of the Jews deported to Treblinka? He analyses in depth particular reports which appeared about the camp throughout the war. Czarkowski states that the first news about the death camp reached the Warsaw ghetto between August 8–10, 1942. This came about as the result of the activity of a member of the Jewish Bund

375

,Czarkowski, Cienom Treblinki ..., op. cit., pp. 88–188. (‘Czy świat wiedział o ich losie?’—Did the world know about their fate?).

169

organization376 who was sent to observe one of the transports heading for Treblinka in order to publish what he witnessed.377 Other reports, mainly from those escaped from the camp, then started to appear. In the context of Czarkowski's question ‘Did the world know about their fate?’ he raised the problem of the attitude of many Poles towards the mass murder of the Jews, and the failure of the Allies to bomb the railroad tracks to the death camps, especially those leading to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Czarkowski also provided detailed reports about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April 1943 and named the Polish organizations which assisted Jews, mentioned the underground groups and the underground press which published reports about Treblinka, as well as the individuals who courageously attempted to forward the reports to governments abroad. In many cases, this was a futile undertaking. One of the first detailed descriptions of the extermination of Jews in the Treblinka death camp was printed in the Information Bulletin of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa—AK) on August 17, 1942.378

376

377 378

170

Bund: Yiddish abbr. for Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund. Polish abbr. Ogólny Żydowski Związek Robotniczy, the Jewish Socialist Party in Poland which promoted the political, cultural and social autonomy of Jewish workers. It sought to combat anti-Semitism and was opposed to Zionism. After the partition of Poland between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia on September 17, 1939, the Bund continued to operate as an underground anti-Nazi organization in the Generalgouvernement, and in 1941 established representation in New York. Czarkowski, Cienom Treblinki …, op. cit., p. 95. Armia Krajowa (AK): the Polish Home Army, the dominant anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet resistance movement in the Generalgouvernement whose ultimate aim was a free postwar Poland. The AK came under the authority of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London which was recognized by all the Allied governments.

Report No. 30 (55) Progress in the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto. The decrease in the number of inhabitants in the ghetto at the present stage totals 200,000 persons, this is 50% of the situation that existed before July 22. In that period, between July 23 and August 7,379 the following transports left for Treblinka (…) a total of 113,100 people. Besides these transports from Warsaw, every day, additional trains from other cities reach Treblinka. For example, at the beginning of August, a transport arrived from Radom, so that altogether, every day, three transports arrived, each with 60 cars, 58 of them with Jews. In each car there were 100 people. After the engine leaves the station,380 they force the Jews to undress in order, supposedly, to go the showers. Actually, they are taken to gas chambers, exterminated there, and then buried in prepared pits, sometimes when they are still alive. The pits are dug with machines. The gas chambers are mobile,381 and they are situated above the pits. On August 5, 40,000 Jews were deported to the camp, and every day 5,000 are killed. The Ukrainians under German command carry out the liquidation. By September 10, the Aktion in the Warsaw ghetto is supposed to end. 382

379

380

381

382

Since August 6, 1942, a second train (Warsaw—Treblinka) consisting of 58 cattle cars and two passengers carriages was added to transport time schedule No. 58. (Kopówka, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 27). This refers to the smaller steam locomotive using for shunting wagons already separated at Treblinka station from the main transports along the branch line to the death camp. The gas chambers were not mobile (i. e. gas vans), they were static. There was only a narrow-gauge railway used at the beginning for taking the corpses in tip-up mining trucks, borrowed from the Treblinka I penal labor camp, from the static chambers to the pits. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 353. Czarkowski, Cieniom Treblinki …, op. cit., pp. 96–97.

171

Report No. 33 (58) The Treblinka extermination camp, the place where the Jews are being killed, is located near the labor camp. It is situated 5 km from Treblinka station, and 2 km from Poniatowo station. There is a direct telephone to Małkinia. There is an old camp for Poles (penal labor camp, Treblinka I) and a new camp whose construction is still underway—exclusively for Jews. The extermination of the Jews is now carried out in a way that is completely independent of the old camp. A locomotive pushes the wagons with the Jews to a platform. The Ukrainians remove the Jews from the wagons and lead them to the ‘shower to bathe’ This building is fenced-off with barbed wire. They enter it in groups of 300–500 people. Each group is immediately closed inside hermetically, and gassed. The gas does not affect them immediately, because the Jews still have to continue on to the pits that are a few dozen meters away and whose depth is 30 meters.383 There they fall unconscious, and an excavator covers them with a thin layer of earth. Then another group arrives. (…) Soon, we will relay an authentic testimony of a Jew who succeeded in escaping from Treblinka.384

383

384

172

The ‘walking to the pits of those being suffocated’ seems most unlikely. It is possible that either on exceptional occasions the gas failed to kill all the victims, or, in the early stages, some experiments may have been carried out with various methods of gassing, including the addition of various mixtures to the engine fuel. In such cases, some of the victims could have survived the gassing. This is supported by survivors' testimonies, that the victims had ‘only fainted’. They could then possibly ‘walk’ through the unloading doors of the gas chamber, but it is hardly imaginable they could walk into their own mass grave! Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka…, op. cit., pp. 353__354. Czarkowski, Cieniom Treblinki …, op. cit., pp. 103_104.

Report from Chamber 1631 of the Information Department of the Chief Command of the Polish Home Army October 1942 The death camp is still functioning. The transports are arriving from the whole of the GG (Generalgouvernement), the most recent from Radom, Siedlce, Międzyrzec. They are currently transporting them not in 20 wagons but 10 wagons, because removing from each wagon the corpses of those who died on the way takes a lot of time (20– 30%). The gas chambers operate as follows: outside the barracks, a 20-horse-power combustion engine works for 24 hours.385 The opening of its exhaust pipe is inserted through the barrack wall and the exhaust gases, with a mixture of poisonous gases specially added to the engine fuel, kill the people shut inside the barrack. Besides the Jewish workers, there is an orchestra and a group of Jewish women who are kept on the camp territory for the amusement of the personnel. Up until the end of August, 320,000 Jews have been killed.386 Telegram from Abraham Stupp of the Jewish Agency in Tel Aviv to Tartakower Miller at the Jewish World Congress in New York December 4, 1942 Warsaw deportations since June 22,387 7,000 daily, once 20,000. Stop. By October 36,000 remained. Stop. Deported carried Tre-

385

386

387

A 20 hp engine, as fitted to small motorcycles, would have been completely useless for gassing even a handful of people. According to the figures in Arad, up to the end of August 1942 approximately 285,00 Jews had been deported to Treblinka from the Generalgouvernment. (Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 392__393. See also Czarkowski, Cieniom Treblinki ..., op. cit., pp. 104–105). The date is incorrect. The deportations from the Warsaw ghetto were ordered on July 22, 1942, not in June.

173

blinka where every day trainloads Jews arrive—they are stripped naked—clothes given tailors to be cut through search jewelery. All heaps clothes lie about then Jews taken so-called bath-house hermetically closed chamber, air pumped away people suffocate, other reports say Jews killed poison gas. Fact is no one left house alive, dead bodies burned ashes continually carried out. Stop.388 Report from the Polish Minister of the Interior in Exile in London to the British Government August 1944 Treblinka Treblinka A is for Poles who committed offences against the occupation army by not delivering the imposed quota of agricultural products, or were caught smuggling. The discipline is very severe— the prisoners are shot under the smallest pretext. The fame of this camp is established as well as that of Auschwitz/Oświęcim.389 In March 1942, the Germans started the construction of a new camp— Treblinka B, near Treblinka A.390 This camp was designated as a concentration camp for Polish Jews and for Jews from other European countries. Poles from the neighboring camp, and Jews caught in the small towns in the vicinity, were employed in the construction. The camp was completed at the end of April, when the center point of the camp was constructed—the death house. The new camp—Treblinka B—is situated on sandy hills among brush-wood. The area of the camp is comparatively small. It is about 5,000 hectar. The camp is surrounded by a fence of greenery interwoven with barbed wire entanglements. Part of the fence runs

388

389 390

174

NA Kew (London): FO 371/30924. The abbreviated style of writing telegrams was because the sender was charged per word. Oświęcim is the Polish name for Auschwitz. ‘Treblinka A’ and ‘Treblinka B’ refers to Treblinka I and Treblinka II, or to Polish Treblinka (penal labor camp) and Jewish Treblinka (death camp).

through a young forest in the north. At the four corners of the camp, observation points were placed for the Lagerschutz (camp guard). The Lagerschutz consists mostly of Ukrainians armed with machine guns. At the observation points, strong searchlights have been placed to illuminate the entire place at night. Observation posts are also set in the middle of the camp and on the hills in the woodlands. The western border of Treblinka B is formed by a railway embankment along which runs a branch track that connects the camp with the main railroad track. The branch line was constructed in recent months in order that the transport trains could be delivered directly to the slaughter-house. The northern border of the camp is formed by a forest; east and south the border cuts through sandy hills. In the area of the camp, bushes form a long stretch parallel to the railroad track, starting in the north. A railroad crossing is adjacent to the branch line; from that barrier there is an entrance to a square which holds two to three thousand persons. The square is fenced-in with barbed wire. On the square, not far from the northern corner of the square, there is a guard house with a military post on 24-hour duty. South of the square, outside the fence, there is a clothing-sorting place, and further south there is an execution site of the camp Commandant, and the graves of the victims murdered by him. The arrival square is connected with the rest of the area by an entrance in the north-eastern corner of the fence. From there, a path runs through the woods for about 200 meters eastwards, and then turns at right-angles to the south and runs along the forest, parallel to the western limit of the arrival square.391 This road stops at a large building with an unusual shape: it is an unfinished one-storey brick construction, about 40 meters long and 15 meters wide. When we received the information

391

When the new gas chambers (‘death-house No. 2’) were built in the autumn of 1942, the ‘Tube’ (Schlauch) was shortened. The original ‘Tube’ was 350 m in length whereas the new one was only 125 m long. This modification is confirmed by the statement of SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel on September 14, 1967, in Düsseldorf.

175

concerning Treblinka B in the first half of September, this building was about to be finished. The Germans began the construction of that building after the Aktion started (in Warsaw), probably in the middle of August, with the help of Jewish artisans picked out from among the Jews brought to Treblinka for slaughter. It is significant that the bricks for the construction had been brought from as far as Warsaw, in wagons attached to each transport. The bricks were loaded at the Warsaw ‘Umschlagplatz’ by Jewish workers.392 According to the report of an eyewitness, the interior of the building is as follows: A corridor three meters wide runs through the middle, there are five chambers on each side, the height of each chamber is about two meters; the area is about 35 square meters. The execution chambers are without windows, but they have doors opening onto a corridor and a type of valve on the outside walls. (...) In the walls, pipes are installed from which water-steam is supposed to pour into the chambers. This was death-house No. 2. A path skirts the building and runs along its western wall, finally ending at the next building, the nearby death-house No. 1. This building is at right-angles to death-house No. 2. It is a brick construction, much smaller than the other. It consists of only three chambers and a steam-room. Along the northern wall of this house runs a corridor from which there are doors to the chambers. The outside walls of the chambers have valves (until recently, doors which had been changed into valves for utility reasons) (sic). Also here, a scoop in the shape of a shallow vessel is placed at the height of the valves (sic). The steam-room is adjacent to the building: inside the steamroom there is a large vat which produces the steam. The hot steam enters the chambers through pipes installed there, each having the prescribed number of vents. While this machinery of death is in action, the doors and valves are hermetically closed. The floors in the 392

176

‘Umschlagplatz’ (lit. collection/loading place). Area formed by the freight yard of the Danzig (Gdańsk) railway station between Stawki and Dzika Streets in the Muranów district of Warsaw. From there, about 320,000 Warsaw Jews were deported to Treblinka.

chambers are made of terracotta which becomes very slippery when water is poured over it. There is a well next to the steam-room, the only well in the whole area of Treblinka B. Not far from the death-house, south of the barbed wire and wooden fences, there is the grave-digger's camp.393 The grave-diggers live in barracks next to which are kitchen buildings. On both sides of the camp there is a guard house. The remaining area of Treblinka B is destined for the murdered victims. A part of that area is already a large cemetery. At first, Poles employed in the camps dug the graves; later, the slaughter was intensified and the need for more ditches grew, special digging machines/bulldozers were brought, which ran day and night at grave digging. A diesel motor supplies the energy and its rattle is the characteristic sound in Treblinka B.394 * The cited report by Czarkowski, which was published in Wiadomości (‘News’), Bulletin Nos. 3 and 4, described the genesis of the extermination methods in the Treblinka death camp. It was alleged that in the beginning the technical potential of the camp had not been perfected realized; therefore, the Germans exterminated the people by volleys from machine guns,395 this was characteristic during the time Dr. Eberl was the camp Commandant. The bodies of the victims were disposed of in a haphazard way, ‘The grave-digging brigade threw everybody—the corpses of those who were killed, seriously injured, as well as those without serious wounds—into the prepared pits and buried them.’396 Another report mentions yet another bizarre method of killing the victims—inside the transport wagons. In August 1942, when the transports reached their zenith and outpaced the capacity of the gas chambers, chloride of lime was scattered into the interior of the 393

394

395 396

The ‘grave-digger's camp’ refers to the Upper Camp (Camp II) where the gas chambers were located. NA Kew (London): FO 371/42806. Other parts of this statement can be found in Czarkowski, Cieniom Treblinki ..., op. cit., pp. 119–124. Ibid., p. 132. Ibid.

177

wagons, thereby causing the agonizing death of the deportees before they even reached the camp.397 That this sadistic and particularly gruesome method was used is borne out by the fact that on opening the wagons on the Ramp in the Lower Camp, they were found to contain only heaps of corpses.398

397

398

178

Ibid. It is more likely that the wagons had been used previously for transporting sacks of lime and the wagons had not been cleaned before being loaded with Jews. M. Chocholatý interview with Edi Weinstein, Prague, August 2008.

CHAPTER 13 Transports and death toll

The role of the German railway, the Reichsbahn, and its subsidiary in the Generalgouvernement, the expropriated prewar Polish State Railway (Polskie Koleje Państwowe—PKP), renamed General Management of the Eastern Railway (Generaldirektion der Ostbahn—abbreviated to Gedob or Ostbahn—Eastern Railway), played a vital role in the mass deportation of the Jews to Treblinka and the other death camps, first from German–occupied Poland and then from other countries in western Europe, and as far afield as the Balkans. It is no exaggeration to state that without the close collaboration of the Reichsbahn and Ostbahn with the SS, the Holocaust would not have been possible. Mass Deportations from the Generalgouvernement Treblinka was constructed primarily for the extermination of the Jews of Warsaw and other parts of the Generalgouvernement, a mass murder operation that began in the death camp on July 231942. Adam Czerniaków, Chairman of the Jewish Council (Judenrat) in the Warsaw ghetto, wrote three days earlier in his diary: ‘July 19, 1942. ‘Incredible panic in the city (...) there is talk of about 40 railroad cars ready and waiting. It transpired that 20 of them have been prepared on SS orders for 720 workers leaving tomorrow for a camp.’ 399

On July 22, 1942, the day of the first deportation from Warsaw to Treblinka, Czerniaków wrote in his diary about a visit from SS-

399

R. Hilberg, S. Staron, J. Kermisz, The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniakow, Elephant Paperbacks, Chicago 1999, p. 382.

179

Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle, the organizer of Jewish deportations on the staff of SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik in Lublin during Aktion Reinhardt: ‘Höfle and associates came at 10 o'clock (…) we were told that all Jews, irrespective of sex and age, with certain exceptions, will be deported to the East. By 4 pm today a contingent of 6,000 people must be provided. And this (the minimum) will be the daily quota.’400

The thousands of Jews caught in the round-ups were herded to an assembly point in a part of the freight yard of the Danzig (Gdańsk) railroad station, located on the corner of Stawki and Dzika Streets and behind a large abandoned building, the former ‘Czyste’ Hospital. There the deportees had to wait until the freight cars were ready to deport them to Treblinka. This area was known to the Germans as the ‘Umschlagplatz’ (lit. ‘collection’ or ‘transfer place’).401 During the often long wait to be deported, without food or water, the Jews were brutally treated by the SS and Trawnikimänner guarding them. The first wave of deportations of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka death camp took place from July 22–September 21, 1942. Estimates about how many Jews were deported vary from 250,000–320,000.402 The deportations were temporarily halted from August 28 until September 2, 1942, while Treblinka was being reorganized.403 During a visit in July 1942 by the Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler, to the Aktion Reinhardt headquarters in the ‘Julius Schreck Barracks’ in Lublin, he became aware of the transport difficulties arising from the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, and problems arising from repair works on the railroad track to the Aktion Reinhardt death camp at Sobibór. He ordered SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolf, chief of his personnel staff, to contact Dr.

400 401 402

403

180

Ibid., p. 384. Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw …, op. cit., p. 208. According to the records of the Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH) in Warsaw, a total of 253,741 Jews were deported during this period. Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw …, op. cit., p. 212.

Theodor Ganzenmüller, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Transport, to resolve these difficulties. Wolf contacted Ganzenmüller by telephone and asked for an explanation. Ganzenmüller subsequently wrote to Wolf on July 27, 1942: Since July 22, a trainload of 5,000 Jews has departed daily from Warsaw via Małkinia to Treblinka and in addition a train load of 5,000 Jews has left Przemyśl twice a week for Bełżec. Gedob is in constant contact with the Security Police in Krakow. It has been agreed that the transports from Warsaw through Lublin to Sobibór be suspended for as long as the reconstruction works on that section make those transports impossible (approximately until October 1942). These trains have been agreed upon with the commander of the Security Police in the Generalgouvernement, and SSBrigadeführer Globocnik has been advised.404

In August 1942, the Bund in Warsaw needed definite information about the fate of the thousands of Jews being transported out of Warsaw. They ordered Zalmen (Zygmunt) Frydrych to follow one of the transports travelling allegedly ‘to the East’. His mission lasted three days. Immediately after leaving the ghetto, Zygmunt made contact with an employee of the Danzig station freight terminal who was working on the Warsaw—Małkinia line. They travelled together, following the transport to Sokołów Podlaski where Zygmunt was told by local railroad workers that there the tracks forked, with one branch line leading to Treblinka. Every day, a freight train carrying people from Warsaw travelled in that direction and invariably returned empty. No transports of food were ever seen on that line, and civilians were forbidden to approach Treblinka railroad station. The following morning, on the market place in Sokołów, Zygmunt met two Jewish fugitives from the death camp who had been stripped completely of their clothes. From them, Zygmunt heard the full details of the horrible procedure in the death camp. Now, it was

404

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 51.

181

no longer a question of often wild rumors, but of facts established by eye-witnesses.405 On August 20, 1942, a group of SS-NCOs arrived for duty in Treblinka. One of them was SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel who has described the appalling condition they witnessed of the transports arriving from Warsaw and other parts of the General- gouvernement: Treblinka was then operating at full capacity. The Warsaw ghetto was being emptied then. Three trains arrived in two days, each with three, four, five thousand people aboard, all from Warsaw. But at the same time, other trains came in from Kielce and other places. So three trains arrived, (...) the trainloads of Jews were left on a station siding. What's more, the cars were French, made of steel. So that while 5,000 Jews arrived in Treblinka, 3,000 were dead in the cars. They had slashed their wrists or just died. The ones we unloaded were half-dead and half-mad. In the other trains from Kielce and elsewhere, at least half were dead.406

Jankiel Wiernik and Abraham Krzepicki were among Warsaw Jews deported to Treblinka a month after the camp began its extermination operation. Wiernik was caught in a round-up in the Warsaw ghetto on August 23, 1942, and taken to the Umschlagplatz where, as he put it, ‘the Jews came face to face with reality’: There were railroad cars, waiting to receive us. It was a bright, hot summer's day (...) next came the command to board the train. As many as 80 persons were crowded into each car, with no way of escape (...) our train was shunted from one siding to another. The air in the cars was becoming stiflingly hot and oppressive. It was difficult for us to breathe. Despair descended on us like a pall (...) amidst untold agonies we reached Małkinia, where our train stopped for the night. The next morning, our train started to move again. We saw a train passing by filled with tattered, half-naked, starved people. Un-

405

406

182

M. Edelman, The Ghetto Fights—Warsaw 1941–43, Bookmark, London 1990, p. 57. Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 53.

til noon, I suffered greatly from thirst. Then a German, who subsequently became a Hauptsturmführer, entered our car and picked out 10 men to get water for us all (...) at 4 p.m. the train started to move again and within a few minutes we pulled into the Treblinka camp.407

Abraham Krzepicki was caught two days later in the factory at Zamenhof Street 19 in Warsaw where he was employed: At the Umschlagplatz we still hoped that some kind of separation would take place (...) and we would be able to show our papers. But unfortunately we never had that chance (...) from the Umschlagplatz we were moved towards the box-cars (...) Already we could see elderly people stretched out on the floor of the first car, half–unconscious. Then steps were moved up to the box-cars and the Lithuanian auxiliaries started driving us faster with their whips, up into the cars, we had to give up all hope of being able to show our papers to somebody, and so we got into the box-cars. Over 100 people were crammed into our car. The ghetto police closed the doors. The cars began to move. We were on our way. Where to? I tried to talk to some of the young people, ‘Let's get out of here! Let's get out through the windows!’ But many of them said, ‘It's no good. If we jump we will get killed anyway.’ But two people jumped out just the same. The Germans noticed and stopped the train to shoot after them.408

Treblinka also started to receive transports from other parts of the Generalgouvernement; one such transport from the Lublin district is recalled by Chil Rajchman: We travel from Lubartów station, some 20 km from Lublin. I travel with my pretty young sister Rivka, 19-years-old, and with a good friend of mine, Wolf Ber Rojzman, and his wife and two children. Almost all of those in the freight car are my close acquaintances from the small town, Ostrów Lubelski. There are about 140 of us in the freight car, it is extraordinarily tight, with dense, stale air, all of us pressed against one another. Despite the fact that men and women are all together, each of us, in 407 408

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., pp. 150–151. Ibid., pp. 78__80.

183

these crowded conditions, has to perform his natural functions on the spot where he is standing. We travel through various stations, among them Łuków and Siedlce (...) it's four in the morning when we approach a station called Treblinka, which lies some seven kilometers from Małkinia. We stop. After a short while, the train begins to move (...) we see the train is moving backwards. The train moves very slowly and we enter a forest (...) after a short while, the door of the freight car is abruptly thrown open to the accompaniment of fiendish screams: ‘Raus! Raus!’ (Out! Out!). 409

There were many ‘outside’ witnesses who saw these appalling ‘death transports’ passing by, and from their eyewitness accounts a picture of horror emerges. One such witness was Czesław Borowi, a Pole who was born in Treblinka village in 1923. He recalled in the Claude Lanzmann film Shoah, the scene where he saw transports waiting at Treblinka station: Lots of people opened the doors, or escaped through the windows. Sometimes, the Ukrainians fired through the car walls. It happened chiefly at night. When the Jews talked to each other, as he showed us, the Ukrainian wanted things quiet and they asked (...) yes, asked them to shut up. So the Jews shut up and the guard moved off. Then the Jews started talking again in their language (...) The people who had a chance to get near the Jews did that to warn them that they'd be hanged, killed, slain, even foreign Jews from Belgium, Czechoslovkia, from France, too, surely, and from Holland and elsewhere. These didn't know, but the Polish Jews knew. In the small cities in the area, it was talked about. So the Polish Jews knew, but the others didn't.410

Hubert Pfoch, a 22-year-old Austrian serving in an infantry company of the German Wehrmacht, was on his way from Vienna to the Eastern front via Mährisch Ostrau (Moravská Ostrava),411 Kattowitz, through the Upper Silesian industrial region to Radom and Łuków. 409 410 411

184

Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., pp. 16–18. Lanzmann, Shoah ..., op. cit., pp. 30–35. Mährisch Ostrau: under Nazi occupation in the Moravian part of today's Czech Republic.

His transport train arrived at Siedlce station on the evening of August 21, 1942: From time to time we can hear shooting, and when I got out to see what was going on, I saw, a little a little distance from our track, a loading platform with a huge crowd of people—I estimated about 7,000 men, women and children. All of them were squatting or lying on the ground and whenever anyone tried to get up, the guards began to shoot (...) Early next morning—August 22—our train was shunted on to another track, just next to the loading platform, and this was when we heard the rumor that these people were a Jewish transport. They call out to us that they have been travelling without food and water for two days. And then, when they are loaded into cattle cars, we become witnesses of the most ghastly scenes. The corpses of those killed the night before were thrown by Jewish auxiliary police on to a lorry that came and went four times. The guards—Ukrainian volunteer SS, some of them drunk—cram 180 people into each car. I counted. (...) When some of them manage to climb out through the ventilating holes, they are shot the moment they reach the ground— a massacre that made us sick to our souls, a blood-bath such as I never dreamed of. A mother jumps down with her baby and calmly looks into a pointing gun-barrel—a moment later we hear the guard who shot them both boast to his fellows he managed to ‘do’ them both with one shot through their heads.412

Pfoch's harrowing description continues: When at last our train leaves the station, at least 50 dead, women, men and children, some of them totally naked, lie along the track. We saw the Jewish police remove them—all kinds of valuables disappeared into their pockets, too. Eventually, our train followed the other train and we continued to see corpses on both sides of the track—children and others (...) When we reach Treblinka station the train is next to us again— there is such an awful smell of decomposing corpses, some of us vomit. The begging for water intensifies, the indiscriminate shooting by the guards continues (...) 413

412 413

Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., pp. 158–159. Ibid., p. 159.

185

Stephan Kucharek, a Polish engine driver for the Ostbahn, recalled these transports to the Treblinka death camp: It was only when the supervisor told me I must take the train to Treblinka I knew that they brought Jews there. What could I say? Nothing. One had to go. I left half of the train at Małkinia and took the other half to Treblinka. Some were freight cars, others public coaches like those that came from France. I knew this because this was written on the coaches. I saw the coaches when they were empty and I can't describe what it was like—a mess of excrement and urine. One took risks you know. There was this one occasion, September 15, 1942. It happened at the station in Treblinka. I checked the train and this Jewess gestured to me, she was probably hungry. I had this ham sandwich, but I knew that Jews wouldn't eat anything with ham in it, but reckoned that a hungry person will eat anything. So I got out of the engine, walked over the coals—she was in the first coach behind the engine—well I simply threw the sandwich and she caught it. But the sons of whores—the Ukrainians—took it away.414

Henryk Gawkowski, another Polish train driver who also drove the transports into the death camp, was asked in the film Shoah whether he could hear screams from the wagons. He replied: ‘Obviously, since the locomotive was next to the cars. The screams from the cars closer to the locomotive could be heard very well’. He admitted that one never got used to it: ‘They screamed, asked for water.’ He found it extremely distressing. He knew the people behind him were human, like him. He and the other Polish workers for the Ostbahn were given vodka by the Germans as bonus. Without it, they could not have done it, shunting all those people to their deaths in Treblinka. Those who worked on the normal passenger or freight trains were not given such a bonus. 415 Commencing in September 1942, the Częstochowa ghetto in southern Poland was subjected to mass deportations to Treblinka

414

415

186

L. Smith, Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust—True Stories of Survival From Men, Women and Children Who Were There, Ebury Press, London 2006, pp. 159–160. Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 32.

via Warsaw. Hershl Sperling from that ghetto has provided the following testimony: When we arrive at the train, the SS shove 80–100 people into each of the wagons. The disinfectant calcium chloride (sic) is scattered liberally into every wagon.416Each wagon receives three small loaves of bread and a little water. Then the doors are pushed shut, locked and sealed. Ukrainian and Lithuanian SS stand guard on the steps of each wagon. We are shut-in like cattle, tightly crammed together. Only a tiny bit of air comes in through the one small wire-covered window, so that we can hardly breathe. The calcium chloride hardly helps to combat the unbearable smell, which gets worse all the time. Some women faint and others vomit. The natural functions also have to be performed in the wagon, which makes the situation even more terrible, and on top of everything else, we are tormented by a terrible thirst (...) thus in pain and torment, the journey drags on until we reach Warsaw. There our train in shunted onto a siding. It's not until the following morning that we travel on to Małkinia, seven kilometers from Treblinka. A special locomotive takes away 20 of the 60 wagons which made up our train. After five minutes it comes back (sic) and takes another 20 wagons (...) and now the last 20 wagons are being moved. I am in one of them. Slowly we roll on. One can clearly see that the forest here has recently been dug up. Full of trepidation, we roll towards a huge gate, guarded by a large number of SS with machine guns. The train stops and the escort is commanded to get out and wait there. Then the gate opens and the locomotive shunts all the wagons into the camp. It remains outside. The gate closes behind us. The wagons roll slowly towards a big platform. Round about it stands an SS unit, ready to receive us with hand-grenades, rubber truncheons and loaded guns. Now the doors of the wagons are flung open, and half-fainting, we are driven out onto the platform.417

* On January 9, 1943, Reichsführer-SS Himmler visited the Warsaw ghetto and ordered that 8,000 Jews whom he considered ‘illegals’ 416

417

Calcium chloride is not a disinfectant. It can be used as a desiccant, a ‘drying-out’ chemical, as in this case in the freight cars. This was to slow-down the decomposition process of the dead bodies. Smith, Treblinka Survivor …, op. cit., pp. 244–245.

187

should be deported. SS-Oberführer Dr. Ferdinand von SammernFrankenegg, the SS and Police Leader for Warsaw, commenced the so-called ‘Second Aktion’ on January 18. The commandant of the Treblinka penal labor camp, SS-Hauptsturmführer Theodor van Eupen, also took part in this Aktion. However, due to attacks by the Jewish underground in which a number of Germans were killed, the deportations were curtailed four days later. The SS managed to deport about 6,000 of the 8,000 Jews intended for Treblinka.418 The final transports from Warsaw were sent to Treblinka during the Warsaw ghetto uprising which took place during April/May 1943. SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop, who had replaced SammernFrankenegg as the SS and Police Leader for Warsaw, wrote in his daily report for April 25, 1943, to Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger, the Higher SS and Police Leader in Kraków, that he would try to obtain a train for TII (Treblinka) the next day (April 26). But in any case, the liquidation would be carried out on that day.419 Transports from Białystok, Białystok district and Grodno420 arrived in Treblinka between November 1942 and February 1943, and the last transports to be murdered at Treblinka came from Białystok during August 1943, after the camp revolt on August 2. Deportations from the Reich German and Austrian Jews deported from the Reich were sent primarily to the fortress ghetto in Theresienstadt (Terezín) in Bohemia, or to the so-called ‘exchange ghettos’ in Piaski, Izbica and Rejowiec in the Lublin District of the Generalgouvernement. From there, the 418 419

420

188

Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw …, op. cit., pp. 308 & 311. J. Stroop, The Stroop Report—The Jewish Quarter In Warsaw Is No More, Pantheon Books, New York 1979 (facsimile edition, no pagination). Secret teletype message from Stroop to Krüger, dated 25 April 1943. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 396. The city of Grodno was located on the former Polish-Lithuanian border and after the German invasion of Russia in June 1941, incorporated into the Białystok District. Today, Grodno is in western Belarus.

deported Jews were sent on to the Aktion Reinhardt death camps at Bełżec and Sobibór. Some certainly also ended up in Treblinka, which makes it difficult to be precise about the numbers sent to that camp. The case of deportations from the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto is more straightforward. According to the Bundesarchiv Memorial Database, eight transports left Theresienstadt between September 19 and October 22, 1942, carrying 18,004 deportees to Treblinka. Among those deported on these transports were two survivors, Richard Glazar and Karel Unger.421 Among those who were murdered on arrival were three sisters of the Jewish psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. One of the important differences between transports was that whereas the Polish Jews were transported to the death camp in freight cars, ordinary passenger carriages were used for the Jews from Theresienstadt. Guarded by members of the Schutzpolizei, the regular police in green uniforms, the journeys to Treblinka often took two or more days, and after crossing the border into the Generalgouvernement, headed east. Glazar recalls his journey to the death camp: We were in ordinary passenger cars. All the seats were filled. You couldn't choose. They were all numbered and assigned. In my compartment there was an elderly couple. I still remember, the good man was always hungry and his wife scolded him, saying they'd have no food left for the future. On the second day, Glazar saw a sign for Małkinia.422

Henryk Gawkowski, a Polish locomotive driver recalled in the film Shoah an extraordinary incident he witnessed at that station. A Jew

421

422

Richard Glazar was deported from Theresienstadt to Treblinka on transport ‘Bu’. He was given Transport No. 639. Lanzmann, Shoah …, op. cit., p. 34.

189

on a foreign transport got out of the passenger carriage to buy something at the station bar. The train pulled out without him, heading for Treblinka. He ran after it, to catch it up.423 Glazar's train went a short distance further: Then, very slowly, the train turned off the main track and rolled at a walking pace through a wood. While he looked out—we'd been able to open a window—the old man in our compartment saw a boy, (...) cows were grazing, (...) and he asked the boy in signs: ‘Where are we?’424

At that, the boy made a strange gesture. He drew his finger across his throat. Deportations from Bulgaria and Greece On February 2, 1943, the SS and representatives of the Bulgarian government signed an agreement that specified that 14,000 Jews living in areas annexed to Bulgaria, which included Thrace in Greece and Macedonia in Yugoslavia, would be deported ‘to the East’ by April 15, 1943, at the latest.425 Following Himmler's visit to Treblinka in early 1943, a transport from Salonika in Greece with about 2,800 Jews on board, arrived in Treblinka during the latter half of March 1943. They were all murdered in the camp. Between March and April 1943, about 7,100 Macedonian Jews also met the same fate. The trip from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, to Treblinka lasted six days. The first transport departed on March 22, 1943, with 2,338 Jews on board. The loading has been described by an eyewitness: The previous day, only about 1,600 people were selected for this transport. They were given food for a trip lasting 15 days, namely, one and one quarter kilos bread, half a kilo kashkaval (a hard cheese), two kilos of marmalade, two kilos of peksmit (a kind of bread or biscuit) and one kilo of smoked meat. Everyone refused to take the meat as a sign of protest (sic). 423 424 425

190

Ibid., p. 36. Ibid., p. 34. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 143.

On the morning of the same day, it was announced unexpectedly that an additional 800 people would be leaving. Since the train was supposed to leave soon, these people were hurriedly forced onto the transport and many of them did not manage to secure any food. When an individual's turn came to be transported, no one asked whether that person was ill, whether a woman was pregnant, or whether she had given birth just the day before. 426

Richard Glazar has described the arrival in Treblinka of such a transport from the Balkans: People climb calmly out of the cars without pushing, without crowding. Their clothes are wrinkled and dirty, but they are good clothes, items of value. Their faces look healthy and they have an unusually dark complexion. Black hair, all I see is black to pitch-black hair. On the left side, mostly on the left coat collar, each of them has a small yellow star. The star is very small, framed in black, without any lettering. And now I can see that they've been pinned on like brooches. Not made of fabric, but of some kind of material, maybe wood. I can hear that the people are speaking a completely foreign language. ‘Hey, Kuba! Where are they from?’ The answer comes back, ‘Bulgaria, the Balkans,’ we hear through the wooden wall.427

At the end of March 1943, transports of Jews from the transit camp in the Baron Hirsch district of Salonika were sent to Treblinka. Samuel Willenberg witnessed the arrival of a transport from that city, signaled by a train whistle: This time, a most strange crowd issued forth from the cars. The new arrivals, with tanned faces, and jet black curly hair, spoke among themselves in an unrecognizable language. The baggage they took with them from the cars was tagged ‘Salonika.’ Rumors of the arrival of Greek Jews spread like lightning. Among the arrivals were intellectuals, people of high station, a few professors and university lecturers. Everyone was well-dressed and carried lots of baggage. Amazed, we eyed marvelous oriental carpets, we couldn't take our eyes off the enormous reserve of food. Besides food, these Jews took along a reserve of clothing, various and sundry accessories, trinkets. 426 427

Ibid., p. 144. Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., p. 89.

191

They all disembarked from the carriages in perfect order and serenity. Attractive, well-dressed women, children as pretty as dolls, gentlemen tidying up their lapels. Miete found three German speaking Greeks and appointed them as interpreters; they moved about with armbands embellished with the Greek colors. Not a single one of the new arrivals had grasped where he was, and what was his fate was to be.428

The truth only penetrated when they were being led naked, supposedly to the baths, and suddenly the first blows from SS whips and clubs began to fall. Gypsy victims In addition to the extermination of the Jews, it is estimated that some 2,000 Gypsies were murdered at Treblinka.429 In the spring of 1943, Jankiel Wiernik witnessed a group of gypsies arriving at the death camp: Then one day, as I was busy working near the gate, I noticed quite a different spirit among the German garrison and the Ukrainian guards. The Stabsscharführer, a man of about 50, short, stocky and with a vicious face (the description fits SS-Stabsscharführer Otto Stadie), left the camp several times by car. Then the gate flew open and about 1,000 Gypsies were marched in. This was the third transport of Gypsies to arrive at Treblinka. They were followed by several wagons carrying all their possessions; filthy tatters, torn bedclothes and other junk. They arrived almost unescorted except for two Ukrainians wearing German uniforms who were not fully aware of what it all meant. They were sticklers for formality and even demanded a receipt, but they were not even admitted into the camp and their insistence on a receipt was met with sarcastic smiles. They learned on the sly from our Ukrainians that they had just delivered a batch of new victims to a death camp. They paled visibly and again knocked on the gate demanding admittance, whereupon

428 429

192

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 146. Ibid., p. 153.

the Stabsscharführer came out and handed them a sealed envelope which they took and departed.430

The Gypsies, who had come from Bessarabia, a region of Eastern Europe with a diverse and complicated history (today, divided between Moldavia and the Ukraine), were gassed just like all the others and cremated 431 Death Toll Although the precise figures will never be known, it is estimated that between at least 700,000 and perhaps as many as 885,000 Jews were murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp. Franciszek Ząbecki, the Polish station master at Treblinka who claims to have kept a careful account of all the arriving transports, which he passed on to the Polish AK, has always insisted that the real total is 1,200,000. Origin of transports

No. of people deported

Warsaw ghetto Warsaw District Radom District Lublin District Białystok ghetto Białystok District Macedonia/Bulgaria Greece Theresienstadt ghetto

309, 975 91,750 347.850 37,500 20,000 50,000 7,144 2,800 18,004

Total

885, 023

Source: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 180. Revised and updated table from: Dr. M. Burba, Treblinka: Ein NS-Vernichtungslager im Rahmen der Aktion Reinhard. Pachnike, Göttingen 1993, p. 22.

430 431

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 180. Ibid.

193

CHAPTER 14 Treblinka war crimes trials

By August 6, 1944, the Red Army was approaching Treblinka. The railroad station was already closed to traffic and Franciszek Ząbecki, knowing that the station building was about to be destroyed by the retreating Germans, smuggled out some of the railway documentation concerning transports to the death camp. A few minutes after his departure, when Ząbecki was in the surrounding fields, the station building was indeed blown up by the Germans. Several days later, neighboring villages around Treblinka were burned down by the Wehrmacht, and the local population forced to escape to different regions. On August 16, 1944, Treblinka was liberated by the Red Army, and the following month, Ząbecki returned to his work at Treblinka station. It was not until the autumn of 1945 that the Polish Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes, based at the Ministry of Justice in Warsaw, carried out an investigation into the crimes committed at Treblinka. The investigators, both Polish and Russian, were under the supervision of Zdzisław Łukaszkiewicz, a wellknown Polish judge. During questioning by Łukaszkiewicz, Ząbecki handed over to the originals of the documents he had taken from the Treblinka station.432 It was not until 1951 that the first former SS-man from Treblinka was indicted and brought to trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Josef ‘Sepp’ Hirtreiter, already questioned in July 1945 432

After completion of the investigation at Treblinka, the original documentation was deposited at the Siedlce court and copies given to the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland in Warsaw. Today, they are preserved in the archive of the Institute of National Memory (IPN) in Warsaw.

195

about the ‘T4’ euthanasia program, and in particular about the ‘euthanasia’ killing center at Hadamar in Hesse, also provided information about ‘death camps near Trawniki in Poland’ (sic). He also mentioned former members of the Hadamar staff who later had served in these death camps. Hirtreiter was released due to a lack of evidence against him.433 Josef Hirtreiter was re-arrested in March 1951 and brought to trial in Frankfurt-am-Main. In the courtroom he was recognized by Szyja Warszawski who had been left for dead in a mass grave in the Upper Camp in Treblinka. Hirtreiter was found guilty of beating two prisoners until they were unconscious because money had been found on them, then hanging them by their feet, and finally killing them with a shot in the head. He was also found guilty of killing many young children and infants during the unloading of transports at the Ramp, by seizing them by their feet and smashing their heads against the boxcars.434 Josef Hirtreiter was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and on March 3, 1951, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The First Treblinka Trial The album contained, was held in Düsseldorf from October 12, 1964–August 24, 1965, when 11 former SSNCOs were brought to trial. The main accused was former SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz, Commandant Franz Stangl's deputy. When Franz was arrested in 1959, police searching his apartment in Düsseldorf found a photograph album with an inscription on the cover: ‘Good Times’ (‘Schöne Zeiten’). In addition to family photographs, the album also contained photographs taken at the ‘euthanasia institution in Hartheim castle in Austria, where Franz had been a cook, and a number of photographs taken at Małkinia and in the Treblinka death camp, as well as photos taken during his service with Einsatz R in northern Italy.

433 434

196

T. Blatt, Sobibor—The Forgotten Revolt. H.E.P Issaquah 1998, p. 95. Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 277.

SS-Oberscharführer Fritz Küttner, one of the most sadistic SSNCOs in Treblinka, evaded justice. He died before he could be brought to trial.435 Those arraigned before the court in Düsseldorf are listed below, together with the sentences they received. Name

Role in Treblinka

FRANZ Kurt

Deputy Commandant, then Commandant

Life imprisonment

HORN Otto

Upper Camp (Corpse Brigade)

Acquitted

LAMBERT Erwin

Built large (2nd) gas chambers

4 years imprisonment

MATTHES Heinrich Arthur

Chief of the Upper Camp

Life imprisonment

MENTZ Willy

‘Lazarett’

Life imprisonment

MIETE August

‘Lazarett’ (‘Angel of Death’)

Life imprisonment

MÜNZBERGER Gustav

Upper Camp (gas chambers)

12 years imprisonment

RUM Albert Franz

Upper Camp (gas chambers)

3 years imprisonment

STADIE Otto

Camp administration

6 years imprisonment

SUCHOMEL Franz

Gold, valuables and cash (‘Goldjuden’)

7 years imprisonment

435

Sentence

Ibid., op. cit., p. 278.

197

One of the prime witnesses at the trial was Franczisek Ząbecki, the former Polish supervisor at Treblinka station. During the first confrontation with the former SS-men in the courtroom in Düsseldorf, he could not recognize any of them, as Ząbecki recalls: The judge asked me if I knew the accused, if I recognized them, and what were their names. Horrible. In the main, it had been 22 years since I had last seen them. I saw them as younger men of that time. Now they were old men, some of them gray-haired, others bald, their faces wrinkled. Also important was the fact that as younger men they had been in uniform. Now they were in civilian clothes. I stood up because I wanted to see them better. We stood for a time opposite one another. I looked at everybody, I looked into their eyes for a few seconds, before they looked away; in these short seconds I was the object of their hate-ridden, yet at the same time, interested scrutiny. I felt that they tried with difficulty to recognize who it was from the Polish railroad workers who stood before them.436

When the judge began to call the accused by name, then Ząbecki began to recognize them. During the trial he was asked for and provided details about the transport schedules from Białystok to Treblinka. He also explained how he had saved the documentation from the railroad station in Treblinka, and why he had kept records of the transports in the first place, that he had been a member of the Polish Home Army, and as such it was part of his duties to collect intelligence about German railway traffic. He also explained that his messages about the crimes the Nazis were committing in Treblinka had been transmitted to the Allies in London. In 1966, Ząbecki travelled again to Germany to attend the trial in Bielefeld of three former members of the Nazi Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei—Sipo) and Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst— SD) who had served in Białystok, and were accused of carrying out the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in the city, as well as crimes

436

198

F. Ząbecki, Wspomnienia …, op. cit., p. 121.

against the Polish inhabitants during the occupation. The main accused was Wilhelm Altenloh, former commander of the Sipo and SD in Białystok.437 Two years later, Ząbecki travelled to Frankfurt-am-Main, where the trials of Adolf Beckerle, the former Nazi ambassador to Bulgaria, and Fritz von Hahn, an official from the Jewish Affairs Office (Judenreferat) in the Nazi Foreign Ministry, were to take place. He had been invited to attend as a witness because among the documents he had saved were telegrams about the transports from Salonika and Bulgaria in 1943. In reply to the question, from what source did he know that among the deportees there were also Jews from foreign countries, Ząbecki replied: The Jews from foreign countries arrived in passenger trains and had bought tickets for the journey. The train staff collected the tickets and gave them to us at the railroad station. The tickets were the best proof of the country the deportees were from. Sometimes, a passenger would ask a Polish railway workers how far it was to the factories in Treblinka, because his whole family was there already. 438

Ząbecki then recounted to the court the incident about the passenger who decided to go to the bar while his transport stood at the station, waiting its turn to proceed to Treblinka, and that the train with the deportees had left without him. He had used the normal train service and arrived at Treblinka wanting to be with his family. During our conversation he told me where he was from and I informed him in detail about the ‘factories’ in Treblinka. He escaped immediately. There were several such incidents. 439

437

438 439

The other accused were: Richard Dibus, Hans Errelis and Lothar Heimbach. Ząbecki, Wspomnienia …, op. cit., p. 121. Ibid.

199

Ząbecki also recalled that for every train a list of wagons was issued, and that these lists included the departure station of each transport.440 The last time Ząbecki appeared as a witness at a war crimes trial was at the proceedings against former camp Commandant Franz Stangl (Second Treblinka Trial) in Düsseldorf in 1970. In court, Ząbecki made a detailed statement, not only about the transports and the camp, but also about his activity in connection with the gathering of information for the Home Army. Ząbecki also mentioned his colleague, the engineer Kaczkowski, who assisted him in collecting information about the transports. Unfortunately, Kaczkowski had been arrested by the Germans and all trace of him lost, although his colleagues believed he had been deported to a concentration camp. The court asked Ząbecki if Stangl had visited the railway station in Treblinka village. Ząbecki confirmed that he had. He also described how Stangl had visited local villages when Ukrainian guards had deserted from the camp. This was a very important moment for the court, because prior to Ząbecki's evidence, Stangl had denied that he had been the Commandant of Treblinka and claimed that he not been in the camp at the time of the mass extermination.441 * Between 29 May 1960 and 10 April 1961, before commencement of the proceedings against Adolf Eichmann, he was interrogated by Israeli police captain Avner Less and admitted that he had visited the Treblinka death camp: I came to a railroad station with a sign saying Treblinka, looking exactly like German railroad station—anywhere in Germany—a replica, with signboards, etc. There I hung back as far as I could. I didn't push closer to see it all. (...) a line of naked Jews were being driven

440

441

200

Ibid., p. 138. The court in Bielefeld sentenced von Hahn to eight years imprisonment. Beckerle was released because of ill health and never sentenced. Ząbecki, Wspomnienia ..., op. cit., 138.

into a house, a big (...) no, not a house, a big, one-room structure, to be gassed.442

Eichmann then stated (erroneously) that he believed the Jews were gassed with potassium cyanide), but he ‘didn't look to see what happened’.443 When asked if he knew the meaning of ‘Aktion Reinhardt’, Eichmann replied in the affirmative, and that it was named after Heydrich.444 During Eichmann's trial which took place in Jerusalem between April 2 and August 14, 1961, four Treblinka survivors testified against him: Jankiel Wiernik, Kalman Teigman, Eliahu Rosenberg and Avraham Lindwasser. 445 On December 2, 1961, Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death for crimes against the Jewish people and crimes against humanity. On May 31, 1962, he was executed in Ramleh prison, his body cremated, and the ashes scattered in Mediterranean.446 * Prior to the trial of Franz Stangl, which became known as the Second Treblinka trial, one of his subordinates, former SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, the supervisor of the ‘Gold Jews (‘Goldjuden) in the Lower Camp, gave the following detailed pre-trial statement in Düsseldorf on September 17, 1967.

442

443 444

445

446

J. von Lang, C. Sibyll (eds.), Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts from the Archives of the Israeli Police, The Bodley Head, London/Sydney/Toronto 1983, p. 84. Ibid. Testimony of Adolf Eichmann, Jerusalem, 18 July 1961. (http://www.nizkor.org). R. Wistrich, Who's Who in Nazi Germany, Routledge, London/New York 1995, p. 51. Ibid.

201

Franz Suchomel Düsseldorf, 14 September 1967 About the Case: SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel arrived in Treblinka on 20 August 1942. Previously, he had been employed at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution in Hadamar and occasionally worked in Berlin at the ‘T4’ head office on Tiergartenstraße. He recalled he went to Treblinka with the SS-NCOs Hirtreiter, Post, Löffler, Sydow and Matthes, (...) When Suchomel and his comrades arrived in Treblinka, Dr. Eberl was still camp Commandant. Suchomel stayed in Treblinka until October 1943 when he was posted to the Sobibór death camp. While in Treblinka, he went on home leave several times. Once for the birth of his youngest daughter on September 18, 1942. Altogether, he was given four home leaves from Treblinka. From Sobibór, he was transferred to Trieste in northern Italy. At the end of the war, Suchomel was captured by the Americans but released August 1945 after only three months in a POW camp. He could not return to his hometown of Krumau because Czechoslovakia was under Russian occupation. From 1949, he settled in Altötting, a picturesque town in the Alpine foothills of Upper Bavaria. Under oath Suchomel stated as follows: Under Dr. Eberl there was chaos in the camp. So many transports were arriving that it was impossible to deal with them. In my opinion, when these transports arrived, two-thirds of those transported were already dead. At that time I had to work on the Ramp, and I therefore know this accurately. After I had been in Treblinka quite a short time, one night Wirth appeared there. He had a fierce argument with Dr. Eberl. At that time my quarters and those of the other NCOs were in the Commandant's barrack and I heard what was going on. In the course of this argument Wirth dismissed Dr. Eberl. Wirth then went off for a day and returned accompanied by a detail consisting of Germans and Ukrainians. In Warsaw, he arranged for a three-day break in the arrival of transports, and immediately commenced a total re-organization of the camp. The method of operation was changed and the ‘Tube’ relocated. The erection of

202

a new gas chamber was started. At that time Wirth stayed in Treblinka throughout and supervised the new arrangements which included the creation of Jewish work details in both the Upper and Lower camps. Until then, there had only been the so-called ‘Court Jews’, i.e. craftsmen and others who had to carry out personal services for the Germans. As I remember it, Stangl arrived in Treblinka at the beginning of September 1942. I know for certain that he signed my leave pass. That was on September 18, 1942. My daughter was born on September 19. I recollect that when I reached Berlin my daughter had already been born. I also remember the date, because on the advice of a railroad employee from Małkinia I took a normal civilian train and not the train carrying military personnel on leave. I learned later that this train had been in collision with a train from Łódź and there had been many casualties. (...) When I returned to Treblinka on October 1, I ran into Hauptmann Schemmel. I assumed that Stangl was looking after Sobibór or was himself on leave. At any rate, he was not in Treblinka when I returned. I remember that the new gas chambers had been completed and were in use.447 I remember about the incident with Max Biela which happened before my leave. When informed that Biela had died on the evening of September 11, 1942, after being taken to the sick bay (...)

When Suchomel was then asked whether at that time Stangl was already in Treblinka, he made the following addition to his statement: I assume this was the case, but I cannot be certain. Certainly Wirth was there. As to Wirth, I can state that when he issued a command no-one else had anything to say. On the day that Biela had been 447

This part of the statement would seem to support Raul Hilberg who claimed that during this interim period the Commandant of Treblinka was Ernst Schemmel, temporarily transferred from the Bełżec death camp. Schemmel therefore was the acting commandant before Stangl arrived from Sobibór. According to Donat, however, it would appear that Schemmel was Stangl's deputy for a period of several weeks in late September–early October 1942, which was well after Stangl first took over the command of Treblinka. (Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 303).

203

knifed I was outside the camp with a work detail. When I returned I saw corpses of Jews on the reception square. I do not particularly recall the retribution action which took place the next day after an enquiry conducted on oath. I do know Wirth ordered apparently random shootings of work Jews in order to spread shock and fear.

Suchomel continued with his statement: In the course of the re-organization of the camp I was put in charge of the ‘Goldjuden’. When I returned from leave on October 1, 1942, Lindenmüller had been in charge and I was his deputy. Lindenmüller left at the start of February 1943. I remained the so-called boss of the ‘Goldjuden’ for the rest of my time in Treblinka. From November 1942, I was also put in charge of the tailors' and shoemakers' workshops. My orders concerning these workshops came from Stangl, Franz, Küttner, and the senior NCO, i.e. Stadie. As boss of the ‘Goldjuden’ I was only responsible to Stangl. The seized articles of value, gold, jewelery and money were packed into cases and ammunition boxes. The articles of value also included watches. Lists of contents were prepared for each case or munitions box. The individual articles were always listed only by number, for example: 1,000 gold watches, 500 alarm clocks, or so many thousand wedding and other rings. Paper money was sorted into separate denominations, bundled up and totaled. These cases and boxes were handed over to Stangl in his quarters. They were collected by an SS detail from Lublin and taken there. Any diamonds were kept separate and handed over to Stangl. I assume that inasmuch as the ‘Goldjuden’ possessed diamond rings they themselves removed the stones from the rings. In any event, I only ever handed diamonds to Stangl which, to my knowledge, he personally took to Lublin. From the Upper Camp I received gold teeth and to a smaller extent also other valuables. I cannot now say who brought these individual items, it could have been Matthes or Lindenmüller. In a very few instances it could have been myself who collected the valuables from the Upper Camp if I knew that the transport for Lublin was already waiting in the camp.

Suchomel was asked about Alfons Lindenmüller, the chief of the ‘Goldjuden’ and Suchomel's immediate superior in Treblinka. Suchomel replied: At that time his age would have been mid-late-twenties. He had a lean narrow face, was taller than myself, about 1 m 74. The color of

204

his hair was darkish fair to brown. He was an Oberscharführer of the Waffen-SS. I cannot say if he came to Treblinka from Lublin. From conversations with him I knew that he had been with a formation at the front where he had a motorcycle accident which resulted in a torn cartilage and damage to his kneecap. When he was well again he worked in an accounting capacity for the Waffen-SS. He mentioned that he had served in Dachau after his accident. What kind of duty I do not know. It could not have been guard duty. He was still limping when in Treblinka and complained of pain. In connection with Dachau, he spoke of postings of higher-ranking SS officers. The way he spoke pointed to a south German origin. He was not Austrian or a Sudeten-German. I do not know where he was before Treblinka. I assume he was with a unit at the front, which he also mentioned during conversations with me. He said that because of the ‘shit’ at Stalingrad there had been some ‘weeding out’. I have never heard from him since. When I was in charge of the ‘Goldjuden’ it was his responsibility to deliver the valuables to Stangl. I helped him with this from time to time. At the beginning, under Dr. Eberl, there was a big backlog to deal with, and there was a high yield from the transports as the Jews at that time apparently still believed that they were going to be resettled. As far as I know, Lindenmüller was an active member of the Waffen-SS. He told me nothing about this or that he had been a student. I do know from questioning under oath about the witness Unger,448 that this man spoke of a German who had been a doctor of psychology, who had been a decent person but had not stayed long. I stated that this man could have been Lindenmüller. As I have already stated, I know nothing about whether Lindenmüller was an academic. With Lindenmüller one could speak openly about the circumstances in Treblinka. He also made efforts to control the severity of some of his men. He particularly took a strong stand against the beatings meted out by Küttner.

448

Karel Unger from Czechoslovakia. In Treblinka, he worked in the Sorting and Camouflage Brigades. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1942.

205

When I am informed that according to the verdict of the court, Lindenmüller was said to have introduced the inspection of the genitals of naked Jewesses in the search for valuables, I have to state: If that was the case, that such a procedure was in place, it could only have happened on the orders of Wirth. As I knew Lindenmüller, he would never have given such an order.

In reply to questions about the SS-NCOs Küttner and Schiffner, the cremation of corpses, and Wirth, Suchomel offered the following information: Küttner was responsible for the allocation of duties in the Lower Camp. This had no significance for me because as boss of the ‘Goldjuden’ I had permanent duties and was responsible to commandant Stangl. As for the other workshops: after Schiffner left, I was put in charge of the carpenters and the other tradesmen. As far as I can recall, Schiffner left Treblinka in May 1943 after falling out with Wirth. After the reorganization had been completed, Wirth was in Treblinka for at least four weeks. When in the winter of 1942/43 the burning of corpses in the Upper Camp was introduced, Wirth was frequently in Treblinka. He came with Floss, a cremation specialist, I believe from Bełżec. I remember how horrified Stangl was when he first heard of this change. He told me about this and asked how it could happen that corpses already in a state of decomposition should now be burnt. Wirth then sent Hackenholt with an excavator to clear the graves. (...) (Signed) Franz Suchomel.449

Trial of Franz Paul Stangl Düsseldorf, West Germany 1970 Franz Stangl, extradited from Brazil to West Germany in 1967, for technical reasons was tried only for his participation in crimes at Treblinka, and not for crimes during the ‘T4’ euthanasia program. Stangl was sentenced to life imprisonment for participation in the

449

206

Archives of the Holocaust: Zentrale Stelle der Verwaltungen Ludwigsburg, Garland Publishing Inc, New York/London 1993, p. 423.

murder of 900,000 people during his tenure as commandant of the Treblinka death camp.450 At his first hearing in court in Düsseldorf, he declared that while it was true that he had been the Commandant at Treblinka, he denied his participation in the mass murder of Jews. He claimed that his task in the camp had been ‘solely to supervise the collection and shipment of valuables brought into the camp by the victims. The individual responsible for the killings had been Christian Wirth.’451 In 1970, the court sentenced Stangl to life imprisonment. On June 28, 1971, while awaiting the result of his appeal against the sentence, Stangl died of a heart attack in Düsseldorf prison. He had just concluded a series of interviews with the British journalist Gitta Sereny who subsequently published the interviews in a book. Sereny believed that Stangl had died after their last meeting because ‘he had finally, however briefly, faced himself and told the truth—it was a monumental effort to reach that fleeting moment when he became the man he should have been.’452 Denaturalization Trial of Fedor Fedorenko Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, 1978 Fedor Fedorenko, a former Ukrainian guard who served in Treblinka, was arraigned in 1978 before a denaturalization hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, accused of providing false information about his past when applying for US citizenship. Confirmation of Fedorenko's presence in the Treblinka death camp was provided by the Ukrainian guard Petrovich Malagon who had also served in Treblinka at the same time as Fedorenko. Malagon, however, was cautious enough not to implicate Fedorenko too deeply:

450 451 452

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 276. Ibid. Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., p. 366.

207

I remember well his person and therefore can identify him on a photograph. In the Trawniki camp, Fedorenko was also trained to be a guard (Wachmann) and wore a special ‘SS’ uniform. After he had completed his training in the Trawniki camp, Fedorenko was given the title of Wachmann. Each Wachmann was given 10 marks per month for tobacco. I cannot easily say how Fedorenko came to be in the Trawniki camp undergoing training for the duties of a Wachmann, because I did not speak with him about this. I did not meet Fedorenko in the Chełm camp and therefore cannot say from which camp precisely he was sent to be trained in the Trawniki camp.453 I also met Fedorenko in the Treblinka camp, but I cannot remember if he was employed in this camp or brought Jewish citizens there for extermination. I remember Fedorenko only with the rank of Wachmann, and I do not know whether he was promoted to higher ranks and what was the attitude of the German authorities toward him.454

In the spring of 1943, Malagon was transferred to duty with the guard unit at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and then to Buchenwald concentration camp. He was therefore not in Treblinka at the time of the revolt and could not state whether Fedorenko took a part or not in the suppression of the revolt. Fedorenko was eventually stripped of his American citizenship and deported to Russia in December 1984. In June 1986, after a 10day public trial, he was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad. His execution was officially reported by the Soviet authorities a month later.455

453

454 455

208

The ‘cage’ for Soviet prisoners in Chełm was officially designated as Stalag 319. OSI/DJ, Washington, DC: Nikolay Malagon, March 18, 1978. Teicholz, Ivan The Terrible …, op. cit., p. 376.

CHAPTER 15 From Trawniki to Treblinka

During interrogations in the USSR between 1945–1978 by officers of ‘Smersh’, the NKVD, NKGB, MGB, MVD, KGB456 and State Prosecutors, statements were taken from former Trawnikimänner who had served at the Aktion Reinhardt death camps. The extracts cited below come from transcripts given by the Soviet judicial authorities to the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) in Washington, DC, to assist the original prosecution case against John (Ivan) Demjanjuk. Translations of the interrogation protocols were prepared by OSI staff in Washington, DC. Before their duty in the death camps, including Treblinka, all those interrogated had been trained at a special establishment of the SS in the village of Trawniki, about 25 km south-east of Lublin in the Generalgouvernement, and came under the jurisdiction of SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik. The SS training school was located in the buildings of a prewar Polish sugar refinery, served by a big railway station close by.

456

‘Smersh’(‘Death to Spies’): the name coined by Stalin for three secret units formed within the Red Army in late 1942 to combat attempts by the Germans to infiltrate and subvert Soviet troops. Officially called the Department for Special Methods of Spy Detection (Spetsyalnye Methodoy Razoblachniya Shpionam), it was officially disbanded in May 1946. NKVD: Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del (National Commissariat for Internal Affairs), was the biggest law enforcement agency in the Soviet Union 1934–1946, its successor was NKGB, MGB and MVD (Ministry for Internal Affairs) until 1954. Predecessor of the KGB. KGB: Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) in the Soviet Union 1954–1991 when it was replaced by the present-day FSB (Federaln'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federalatsi), the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

209

In early July 1941, shortly after the invasion of the Soviet Union, SS-Hauptsturmführer Hermann Höfle, the deputy director of Aktion Reinhardt in Lublin, established a camp for Soviet and Polish soldiers on the factory premises.457 On October 27, 1941, Globocnik appointed SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Streibel as commandant of the newly created SS-Training Camp Trawniki (SS-Ausbildungslager Trawniki). Within a month of Streibel's arrival, a small detachment of Trawnikimänner had been sent to the Bełżec death camp which was under construction, and to the penal labor camp at Treblinka (Treblinka I).458 Thereafter, Streibel and a group of SS officers toured the so-called ‘cages’ in which Soviet troops were held and picked the fittest and healthiest for training at Trawniki. Some also volunteered in order to avoid certain death by starvation and disease in the coming winter.459 About 2,000–3,000 Soviet prisoners passed through the training camp at Trawniki during the two and a half years of its existence, to qualify as Wachmänner in the service of the SS. After a training course lasting up to two months, a company-size unit of up to 120 men was sent to guard the Aktion Reinhardt death camps at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka. Those who were bi-lingual in Russian and German or Ukrainian and German, the ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) were assigned as interpreters and platoon

457 458

459

210

R. Kuwałek, From Lublin to Bełżec, AD-REM, Lublin 2006, p. 12. P. Black, ‘Foot Soldiers of the Final Solution: The Trawniki Training Camp and Operation Reinhard’, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Oxford University Press 2011, p. 6. The conditions in these ‘cages’ were appalling. Thousands of Soviet prisoners were held under the open sky in big tracts of land surrounded by a barbed wire fence. There were no barracks, no food or water, and no sanitation. In some ‘cages’, notably Stalag 319 in Chełm, eastern Poland, the death rate reached 90%. The deliberate neglect and ill-treatment of these prisoners were the result of Stalin never signing any international treaty concerning the treatment of prisoners-of-war. Therefore, the Germans never felt any obligation to treat these prisoners under the humane rules of warfare.

leaders (Zugwachmänner).460 During their duty in Aktion Reinhardt it was not uncommon for some of them to be transferred from one death camp to another. The Soviet prisoner Dimitriy Nikolayevich Korotkikh has given a description of Trawniki, the training he underwent there and his subsequent postings: The SS training camp in which I was trained was situated at the edge of the village of Trawniki, on the territory of a factory, in a few large, brick, single-storey buildings. The German Kommandantur was also housed there in a two-storey building. (...) The training period in the SS school for Wachmänner was indefinite, it depended on the need for guards. These were taken from the camp, regardless of their state of preparedness, but the training period was roughly for about six months. During our stay in the SS guard's school, we underwent drilling and shooting training. We studied weapons—the rifle, also the rules of sentry duty. We learned German songs and took special training in sentry and convoy duty, (...) In the spring of 1942, I do not recall the month, after completing the SS school for Wachmänner, together with a group of selected guards comprising some 30 men, (...) I was sent to the city of Lublin (Poland) to guard a concentration camp situated at the edge of the city of Lublin.461 As I learned later, individuals of Jewish nationality had been held there, but by the time of our arrival they had been taken away, where to, I do not know and there were no prisoners left in the camp. We stayed there for about four days without occupation, then we were taken back to the camp in Trawniki where I stayed until the

460 461

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 22. Lublin concentration camp, usually known as ‘Majdanek’, was officially designated as a ‘Prisoner-of-War Camp of the Waffen-SS’. The name ‘Majdanek’ is a Polish invention, after the nearby village of Majdan Tatarski.

211

fall of 1942 and underwent training. After this, I was sent to the village of Treblinka where there was a camp especially destined for the mass extermination of Jews, and which was called a ‘death camp’.462

Korotkikh's comrade, Nikolay Petrovich Malagon, has also described his stay in Trawniki which lasted from October 1941 until March 1942. After that, he and 10 other Wachmänner were sent to the town of Zamość on the road between Lublin and Bełżec, where they guarded the property of a colonel: After a month we returned to the Trawniki camp, but of the four companies of guards, nobody was left except the service personnel. As I learned later, part of the guards had been sent to the Treblinka concentration camp (sic) and the rest to the Bełżec and Lublin camps. After some time I was also sent to the Lublin camp where a team of guards (Wachmänner) was being collected. 463

Malagon and his group of 50 men were then assigned as escort guards on a train taking Warsaw Jews—men, women and children— from the Umschlagplatz to Treblinka: We were all armed with rifles and live ammunition. (...) I was armed with a French rifle, with about 30 cartridges in it. Our group was led by a certain Komarkin, the first name and patronymic of whom I do not know, but he spoke Polish well. We brought the train with the Jews to the Treblinka camp, which was situated near the station of Treblinka on Polish territory. A single track railway extended from the railway station to the camp. Some of the train's cars were driven into the territory of the camp and part remained at the station. When we arrived at the camp, other guards were already in the cordon and these began to receive the Jews we had brought. (...) we handed them over to the camp guard. When we arrived at the camp, there were other guards there from the Trawniki school.

462

463

212

Office for Special Investigations at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC (hereafter, OSI/DJ): Dimitriy Nikolayevich Korotkikh, April 21, 1950. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Petrovich Malagon, March 18, 1978.

From that day I started my service in the Treblinka camp. This camp was created by the Germans with the express purpose of destroying citizens of Jewish nationality. I saw that trains carrying citizens of Jewish nationality men, women and children, old men and women arrived regularly at the camp.464

Dmitrij Nikolayevich Korotkikh, who served in Treblinka until the liquidation of the camp in November 1943, describes the layout of the death camp: The mass extermination of Jews in special gas chambers took place in this camp. It was situated in a forest. A highway passed about half a kilometer from it, and the village of Wulka was located some 2 km away.465 The entire territory of the camp was fenced-in with barbed wire, camouflaged with interwoven branches. Iron anti-tank obstacles intertwined with barbed wire were placed around the camp some 50 meters from the barbed wire, thus making it impossible to approach the camp. Four watchtowers manned by sentries from among the Wachmänner stood between the barbed wire barriers and the anti-tank obstacles. The camp had two gates, through one passed the railroad branch line from Treblinka station and on which trains bringing in the doomed prisoners arrived. The second gate served for bringing in supplies, and adjacent to it stood a sentry box. All these entrances were also guarded by Wachmänner. At the entrance to the camp, to the right, stood the barrack in which the Germans numbering some 50 persons were housed. These and the entire exterminating enterprise were under the command of the camp Commander, Untersturmführer Franz. At the entrance to the camp, to the left, stood a building in which was located the German headquarters of the camp. Four barracks situated behind the headquarters served as quarters for the Wachmänner. The barber's shop and the dining room in which the Wachmänner and Germans ate, were located in the same building. The territory of these barracks and the headquarters were fenced-off from the main area of the camp with barbed wire. Beyond the fence, on the left, in two large barracks were quartered the so-

464 465

Ibid. ‘Wulka’ = Wółka Okrąglik.

213

called ‘work brigades’ numbering some 200 people of Jewish nationality, selected by the Germans from among the people to be exterminated. Beyond the barracks, near the railroad track, there were two more barracks intended for the initial stay of people unloaded from the trains, and at the same time they served as ‘undressing places’. Both were fenced-in with a single row of barbed wire. From the ‘undressing’ place, a narrow passage made of barbed wire led to the gas chamber building, or as it was called the ‘bath-house’. At the end of the camp there stood a barrack which served as a storage place for the belongings of the exterminated prisoners.466

Pavel Vladimirovich Leleko provided an accurate overall description of the security features of the death camp: that the entire area of the camp, in the shape of an irregular quadrangle, was divided into three sections by rows of barbed wire; the outer perimeter surrounded by three meter high double rows of barbed wire intertwined with bushes and branches in order to prevent observation from one section into the other; and beyond the barbed wire a continuous line of metal anti-tank obstacles, also enmeshed in barbed wire. Leleko's comrade, Nikolai Malagon, remained on duty in Treblinka for at least three or four months, during which time at least one trainload of Jews arrived every day and were killed in the gas chambers and in the ‘Lazarett’, known euphemistically to the Wachmänner as the ‘infirmary’. He was unable to state a specific number of victims. He also knew about sporadic acts of armed resistance by the newly-arrived Jews who either used pistols or threw hand grenades. He recalls one incident on the Ramp with a grenade: When one of the prisoners on the unloading area threw a grenade, one of the guards was killed. The other guards standing in cordon formation immediately retaliated against the prisoners who had thrown the grenade, that is, they shot them on the spot. Who among the Wachmänner participated in this action and whether Fedorenko was among them, I do not know.467

466 467

214

OSI/DJ: Dimitriy Nikolayevich Korotkikh, April 21, 1950. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Petrovich Malagon, March 18, 1978.

Malagon further stated that when the Jews were brought to Treblinka, the trains were unloaded by Germans and by guards with the rank of Oberwachman or Zugwachman who were usually in cordon formation. The Jews were chased from the cars with whips and pistols, beaten and shot at. Malagon had already left Treblinka by the time of the revolt on August 2, 1943. He only heard about it later. Pavel Leleko explained that after the big barracks alongside the railway siding in the Lower Camp had been disguised as a railroad station, the Jews brought to the death camp ‘did not suspect the horrors closing in on them’. Leleko continues: Two more barracks stood about 70–100 meters from (…) two barracks situated by the railroad branch line, and served as storage space for the belongings and clothing of the doomed prisoners. One of these two barracks served as an undressing place for the women. The men undressed near the other barrack, right there on the square, winter and summer. The food, belongings and clothing taken from the doomed prisoners were stored inside this second barrack. Inside the women's undressing room there was also a so-called “Cashier's Office” where the women were ordered to hand over their money, jewelry and valuables for ‘safekeeping.’ Beyond the ‘Cashier's Office’ booth was a fenced-in area where the hair of the women was cut off. The men also handed over their valuables and money in a special ‘Cashier's Office’ situated not far from the second barrack. Both barracks were fenced-in by barbed wire.468

The naked Jews were then chased to the gas chambers through the ‘Schlauch’ made of barbed wire covered with pine branches. Malagon next describes what happened to the new-arrivals who could not go through the extermination procedure unaided and were taken to the ‘infirmary (‘Lazarett’): The principal worker in the ‘infirmary’ was a man with the last name of Rebeka (Fyodor Ryabeka). (…); he looked like a Jew. This was the man who exterminated in the ‘infirmary’ the citizens who were ailing and could not walk without help. Rebeka sometimes boasted

468

OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20, 1945.

215

that he worked so hard that the barrel of his sub-machine gun became red-hot. I did not participate personally in the shooting of the Jews brought in, but was only in the cordon, took part in the unloading of the Jews from the railroad cars, and mostly, together with a work brigade, prepared pine and fir branches that camouflaged the barbed-wire, (...) which extended around the entire camp, and the wire enclosing the corridor leading from the barracks to the gas chambers. The barbed-wire around the so-called ‘infirmary’ was similarly camouflaged with branches.469

Malagon's comrade, Pavel Leleko adds about the gas chambers that ‘until about the summer of 1942470 there was only one gas chamber building with three gas chambers, But as it was unable to handle the enormous number of people brought by the Germans to the ‘death camp’, a new, bigger gas chamber building (…) was constructed with six chambers (sic) (…) some 20 meters from the above-mentioned gas chamber building’:471 A road led from the undressing rooms to the third section of the death camp (i.e. the ‘Schlauch’, author's note) and terminated at the building where the extermination of people took place. Flowers grew alongside in long boxes. There was no door at the entrance. Instead, there was a heavy hanging made from a rug. Beyond it started a narrow corridor which ended at the opposite wall. To the right and to the left of the corridor there were five doors that closed hermetically and led into the special chambers where the poisoning took place. The chambers were about 6 meters long and as wide, about 2–3 meters high. In the center of the ceiling there was an electric light bulb (…) and two ‘shower heads’ through which poisonous gas was fed into the chamber. The walls, floor and ceiling of the chamber were of cement. On the opposite side to the entrance door there was another door, also

469 470 471

216

OSI/DJ: Nikolay Petrovich Malagon, March 18, 1978. ‘1943’ in the original statement; obviously a mistake. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20, 1945.

a hermetically closing door, through which the bodies of the poisoned people were removed. As many as 500 men, women and children were pushed into the chambers indiscriminately.472

Leleko claims that only eight chambers of the ten in the gas chamber building were used to gas people. The two remaining chambers contained two powerful German engines, each one of which fed gas to four chambers. While filling the chambers with prisoners, the Germans beat them with whips to force them to press together closer and thus make it possible for more people to be crowded inside the gas chambers. The filled–up rooms were immediately hermetically closed (...) the people inside died. Some 20–30 minutes later the doors were opened

472

Ibid. Leleko's descriptions of the new gas chambers is interesting because he mentions there were five hermetically-sealed doors on either side of the central corridor, and two rooms at the far end, each one housing a gassing engine. SS-Scharführer Heinrich Matthes, who was in charge of the Upper Camp, stated that six chambers were operational, i. e. three on each side of the central corridor. (Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 121) SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, interviewed by Claude Lanzmann in the film Shoah, stated that, in agreement with Leleko: ‘The Jews say there were five on each side. I say there were four, but I'm not sure.’ According to Suchomel, only the upper row on the east side was in operation. Jewish eyewitnesses mention 10 chambers and in correspondence to the authors, Kalman Teigman and Eliahu Rosenberg confirmed that there were 10 gas chambers, and that the engines were located in a small chamber connected to the gas chambers. (Correspondence dated September 15, 2002). During the Eichmann trial in 1961, Rosenberg confirmed that there were five chambers on each side of the central corridor. Another Treblinka survivor, Jankiel Wiernik, a master builder employed on the construction of the new gas chambers, further confirmed that there were 10 gas chambers in the new building: ‘It turned out that we were building 10 additional gas chambers, more spacious than the old ones.’ (Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 161). At the two Treblinka trials held in Düsseldorf (1964–65 and 1970) the officially accepted plan of the camp shows 10 chambers with two engine rooms at the rear of the building. (See: Burba, Treblinka, Ein NS-Vernichtungslager …, op. cit., pp. 18–19).

217

and the work brigade consisting of Jews immediately started to unload the bodies from the chambers.473

Dimitriy Korotkikh states that after each gassing, the bodies of the murdered Jews were at first dumped into big pits behind the gassing building. Later, the bodies were dug up and burned in special incinerators.474 Pavel Leleko's statement concludes with a description of the cremation site behind the new gassing building: An incinerator for the burning of the bodies was situated about 10 meters beyond the big gas chamber building. It had the shape of a cement pit about one meter deep and twenty meters long (…) covered on top with four rows of rails extending along the entire length of one of the walls of the pit. The bodies were laid on the rails, and set alight (…) About 1,000 bodies were burned simultaneously. The burning process lasted up to five hours.475

This work was performed by ‘special teams composed of individuals of Jewish nationality.’476 This work brigade of 500 Jewish prisoners was accommodated in a segregated barrack not far from the gas chamber building in the Upper Camp.477

473 474 475 476 477

218

OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, April 21, 1950. OSI/DJ: Dimitriy Nikolayevich Korotkikh, April 21, 1950. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, April 21, 1950. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Petrovich Malagon, March 18, 1978. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, April 21, 1950.

CHAPTER 16 The real ‘Ivan the Terrible’

In circumstances similar to the Fedorenko case, John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Nikolai Demjanjuk on 13 April 1920 in Dubowije Machrinzik, a village in the Ukraine) was deported from Cleveland, Ohio, USA. On February 16, 1987, he was tried before an Israeli court in Jerusalem, accused of being ‘Ivan the Terrible’ who had supervised the gas chambers at Treblinka.478 He was found guilty and sentenced to death on April 25, 1988. Following a successful appeal based on mistaken identity—although numerous witnesses who had survived Treblinka were convinced they had identified the right man—it was apparent that Demjanjuk not in Treblinka, had served at the Sobibór death camp, which he himself admitted. He was released and returned to the USA. It was obvious from evidence collected that the ‘Ivan the Terrible’ of Treblinka was actually another Ukrainian guard called Ivan Marchenko. Demjanjuk was rearrested and extradited to West Germany to stand trial for participation in crimes committed in the Sobibór death camp, and found guilty by a Munich court of being an accessory to 27,900 counts of murder. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, but released from custody pending an appeal. He died in a nursing home at Bad Feilnbach, Upper Bavaria, on March 7,

478

During interrogation in Russia, Nikolay Malagon, a former Wachmann from Treblinka, made the unlikely statement he had seen Demjanjuk in Treblinka ‘where he was employed as a cook’(!): OSI/DJ: Nikolay Malagon, October 2, 1979.

219

2012, before the appeal could be heard.479 John (Ivan) Demjanjuk died a free man and legally innocent.480 Information concerning the background and activities of the real ‘Ivan the Terrible’ of Treblinka, Ivan Ivanovich Marchenko and his assistant at the Treblinka gas chambers, Nikolay Shalayev originated from Soviet sources during the period 1944–1978. The information was provided by former comrades of Marchenko and Shalayev who had served with them at the SS training camp in Trawniki, Poland, and in the death camp at Treblinka during interrogations by officers of ‘Smersh’, the NKVD, State Prosecutors, and more recently by the KGB. From these statements some details of Marchenko's background and pre-war life can be gleaned, although even these are sometimes conflicting.481 Ivan Ivanovich Marchenko was born in 1911 in the small village of Duboviye Makharnsty, near Vininitsa in central Ukraine. Other comrades from Trawniki and Treblinka claim he was born either in 1920 or 1923 in a village in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (Province) in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Physical descriptions of him, however, are fairly consistent: well-built, with short-cropped dark hair, above average height—one of his comrades, Samuel Prits, remarked that ‘Marchenko was ‘distinguished by his tall stature’,482 while another comrade, Pavel Leleko, remarked that Marchenko ‘held himself with a stoop because he was so tall’.483 Facial features:

479

480

481

482 483

220

J. Ewing, A. Cowell, ‘Demjanjuk Taken to a Nursing Home’, in: New York Times, May 13, 2011. A. A. Semotiuk, ‘In Memory of Ivan Demjanjuk’, in: Kyiv Post, March 21, 2012. All statements in this chapter by former Trawnikimänner are from the archive of the Office for Special Investigations at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC (hereafter, OSI/DJ). OSI/DJ: Samuel Prits, August 2, 1961. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20, 1945 during interrogation by the ‘Smersh’ Directorate of Counter-Intelligence of the 2nd Belarussian

hazel eyes, narrow black eyebrows; long, straight nose; large mouth with thick lips; big ears and a prominent Adam's apple. Although he allegedly came from a village, he spoke ‘perfect Ukrainian with clear pronunciation’. After completing third grade education, Marchenko was employed as a coal miner in Kryvy Rog (Ukr. Kryvy Rih), a big steel producing city in central Ukraine. Other statements refer to him being employed for a time as a supervisor on river boat barges floating lumber on the river Dnieper. Although most statements claim Marchenko was not a member of the Communist Party, there is reference to him being considered in 1941 as a candidate for the VKB(b)484—Department (b) of the local branch of the NKVD, Stalin's secret police. He was married, with one son aged about five years, and a daughter aged nine. In Treblinka, he carried a photo of his family. A third child was born in the summer of 1941 shortly after his capture by the Germans. Drafted into the Red Army immediately after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, he was captured near the city of Belaya Tserkov (Ukr. Bila Tserkova), 80 km south of Kiev, in a battle during which his unit was surrounded and taken prisoner. After internment in a camp in the Ukraine, Marchenko and other comrades were transferred to Stalag 319, one of three camps for Soviet prisoners in the city of Chełm in eastern Poland. In October 1941, Marchenko and other former Soviet soldiers was selected for service in Aktion Reinhardt. After basic military training in the SS camp at Trawniki, he was assigned to the Treblinka death camp in the late summer of 1942 where he served until the late summer of 1943. According to Marchenko's comrade, Samuel Martynovich Prits: ‘When Marchenko arrived in the Treblinka death camp from the Trawniki SS training camp along with me in a group of SS guards,

484

Front. Note that this interrogation took place almost three months before the end of the war in Europe. Vnutrennikh Komissariat Bezopastnosti—Committee for Internal Security.

221

the mass killing of people was not yet taking place.’485 Which means they arrived some time before July 23, 1942. In the camp, Marchenko wore a black uniform, similar to a German SS-uniform;486 he also often wore a leather jacket.487 Armed with a pistol,488 he always roamed around the camp clutching a oneand-a-half or two meter long water-pipe. One of Marchenko's comrades, Grigoriy Skydan, recalls that Marchenko ‘was an expert in killing people with the water-pipe. I personally saw how with one blow of the pipe, Marchenko killed a physically strong man.’489 From the very beginning, Marchenko was friends with the deputy camp Commandant, SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz, and ‘was always hanging around the German guards’,490 especially SS-Oberscharführer Fritz Schmidt who was in charge of the SS-garage and metalwork shop. Marchenko and Schmidt repaired cars together, and when the transports arrived, they were together on the Ramp. Marchenko's main responsibility as a mechanic included safeguarding the functioning of the engine in the first gas chamber building that produced the carbon monoxide pumped into the ‘dushehubka’, the peculiar word used by the Ukrainian guards for the gas chambers. It means ‘soul destroyer’. In September 1942, Nikolay Shalayev arrived in Treblinka and was assigned to work with Marchenko as a mechanic in the engine room at the rear of the gassing building.491 Shalayev became friendly with SS-NCO Erich Schultz who often visited Shalayev in his barrack.492 485 486

487 488

489 490 491 492

222

OSI/DJ: Samuel Prits, August 2, 1961. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Yegorivich Shalayev, August 28, 1951. Samuel Prits, August 2, 1961. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Malagon, March 8, 1978. OSI/DJ: Fyador Ryabeka, August 31, 1961; Ivan Terekhov, September 13, 1961. OSI/DJ: Grigoriy Skydan, February 16, 1950. OSI/DJ: Fyador Ryabeka, August 31, 1961. OSI/DJ: Shalayev, December 20, 1950. OSI/DJ: Sergey Vasilyenko, March 6, September 16, September 18, 1961.

Marchenko and Shalayev turned on the gassing engines, first in the old gas chambers, and after the beginning of October 1942, in the machine rooms at the rear of the new and bigger gassing building. They were assisted by two Jews who re-fuelled and sometimes turned on the engines,493 two Germans and a Ukrainian who guarded the Jews and supervised their work. Because of their ‘responsibility’ at the gas chambers, personally directing the whole process of mass killing of people with exhaust gas, Marchenko and Shalayev ‘had the greatest prestige’ in the camp.494 They worked 24-hour shifts, i.e. worked for 12 hours on duty and 12 hours off-duty.495 Thereafter, both Marchenko and Shalayev considered themselves among the élite in the camp, preferred to mix with the SS-NCOs off-duty, and very rarely went to the barracks where the other Ukrainian guards lived.496 Because of the special savagery Marchenko exhibited while dealing with the Jews during the killing process, he very quickly acquired the nickname ‘Ivan the Terrible’ (Polish: ‘Iwan Gróżny’) among the

493

494

495

496

OSI/DJ: Nikolay Shalayev, December 20, 1951. Filip Fedorovich Levchishin, March 20–30, 1962. Nikolay Malagon erroneously claimed that in Treblinka, Marchenko drove a gassing van, a mistake that could have arisen because in February 1943 he and a unit of about 15 Wachmänner were transferred to the Bełżec death camp where such a van had been used early in 1942. He could well have heard about this vehicle while in Bełżec. Malagon further claimed (again erroneously) that while he was in Treblinka, Marchenko was employed in the camp as a cook, preparing food for the guards. He also made the dubious claim that he could identify the guard he named as ‘Demedyuk’ or ‘Demjanjuk’ from photographs. If this were true, he could only have met Demjanjuk while they were undergoing training together in Trawniki. OSI/DJ: Grigoriy Skydan, February 16, 1950. Samuel Prits, August 2, 1961. OSI/DJ: Grigoriy Skydan, February 16, 1950. Aleksandra Kirpa, April 18, 1951. Ibid.

223

Jews in the work brigades.497 He directly took part in the herding of the people into the gas chambers, standing at the top of the entry steps and hurrying the Jews to get inside. The people thought they would be given a bath,498 and as the procession of the naked condemned approached the gas chambers (dushehubky), Marchenko and Nikolay would shout: ‘Hurry up, or the water will get cold!’499 But then began the sadistic treatment by the two Ukrainian mechanics who viciously kicked the people or beat them with whatever was at hand.500 As the people approaching saw this, they began shouting and screaming, refusing to go into the building. Often, they tried to turn back. At that point, the beatings became even more vicious. Whips, clubs and even iron bars were used.501 Marchenko killed people with obvious satisfaction and beat them mercilessly with a whip or the iron pipe he usually carried.502 Marchenko also had a cavalryman's sword with which he mutilated the people outside the gas chambers. He cut off women's breasts,503 and cut off the noses and ears from women and men alike. Being a strong and well-built man, with one stroke of the sword Marchenko would virtually cut a man through.504 In addition to Marchenko and Shalayev, five or six SS-men armed with clubs and whips also drove the naked Jews into the corridor of the building and then into the chambers. In this, the Germans would compete with the Ukrainian mechanics in brutality towards the people selected to die.505

497 498 499

500 501 502 503 504 505

224

OSI/DJ: Sergey Vasilyenko, September 16, 1961. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Shalayev, August 28, December 20, 1950. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20–21, 1945. Nikolay Kulak, March 1, 1947. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Shalayev, August 28, December 20, 1950. OSI/DJ: Pavel Vladimirovich Leleko, February 20–21, 1945. OSI/DJ: Ivan Terekhov, September 13, 1961. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20–21, 1945. OSI/DJ: Grigoriy Skydan, February 16, 1950. OSI/DJ:. Pavel Leleko, February 20–21, 1945.

Wachmann Prokofy Ryabtsev, who stood near the entrance to the gassing building, states that he also saw the Zugwachmänner Yeger and Pilman go into the corridor: ‘I personally did not herd the condemned into the gas chambers, but stood at my post near the entrance and from there I could see what was happening inside the ‘dushehubka’.506 Each group of men or women with children were also chased along the ‘Schlauch’ from the rear by a group of SS-men, very often by deputy Commandant Kurt Franz himself, accompanied by his dog, Barry. Franz set his dog on the condemned, which was specially trained to snap at their genitals.507 SS-NCO Erich Schultz also had a dog which had been trained by Nikolai Shalayev. He too enjoyed setting the dog on the naked people running to the gas chambers. The dog would tear off pieces of flesh from the terrified men, women and children.508 One by one the gas chambers were packed full of Jews, and Marchenko made sure that the door of each chamber was closed and locked before the filling of the next chamber began.509 After the chambers on both sides of the corridor were full, Marchenko and Shalayev went together to the machine room and started the engines to begin the process of asphyxiation.510 While the engines were running Marchenko looked through special observation slits alongside each door to see how the killing process was progressing.511 When asked by their comrades what they could see inside, Marchenko and Shalayev replied that ‘the people were writhing, twisting around one another.’ The Ukrainian guard Pavel Leleko also tried to look through the little window into a gas

506 507 508 509 510

511

OSI/DJ: Prokofy Nikolayevich Ryabtsev, April 17, 1961. OSI/DJ: Pavel Vladimirovich Leleko, February 20–21, 1945. OSI/DJ: Sergey Vasilyenko, March 6, September 16, September 18, 1961. OSI/DJ: Fyodor Ryabeka, August 4, 1961. OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20–21, 1945. Prokofy Ryabtsev, April 17, 1961. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Kulak, 1 March 1947.

225

chamber, but ‘somehow I could not see anything. Gradually, the noise in the chambers subsided.’512 After about 15 minutes, the engines were turned off.513 Shalayev claimed during interrogation in 1951 that he worked as a supervisor in the machine room of the new gassing building for only 20 days. He then transferred to the job of supervisor of the electricity generator in the same room, because, as he claimed, ‘he did not want to work with the engines the gas from which was fed into the gas chambers.’ The generator provided electricity to the whole camp and was run by two Jews under Shalayev's supervision.514 After the war, Shalayev admitted during interrogation that ‘during the course of over a year's work, tens of thousands of persons were sent through the chambers of the ‘dushehubka’ by Marchenko with the help of other Wachmänner and the SS.’515 Shalayev neglected to mention his own indisputable participation in the mass murder that certainly extended well beyond the 20 days he claims. Whenever executions were carried out in the camp by firing squad, usually on the orders of deputy Commandant Kurt Franz, Marchenko was always a member.516 One such execution was ordered after a Ukrainian guard, Oberwachman Robertus, together with others, began to sadistically hack with axes members of a work brigade. In desperation, one of the workers cut Robertus on the neck with a razor.517 Robertus escaped and ran to Marchenko for help. For this ‘transgression’, practically the entire work brigade was executed by firing squad.518 Altogether, about 10–15 men were executed next to one of the excavators in the Upper Camp on the orders of Franz.519

512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519

226

OSI/DJ: Pavel Leleko, February 20–21, 1945. Ibid. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Shalayev, August 28, December 20, 1951. Ibid. OSI/DJ: Nikolay Kulak, March 1, 1947. OSI/DJ: Grigoriy Skydan, February 16, 1950. Ibid. OSI/DJ: Ananiy Grigoryevich Kuzminsky, March 20, 1965.

The firing squad consisted of Marchenko and several other Wachmänner, and SS-NCO Erich Schultz.520 In cases where Ukrainian guards were attacked and injured by Jews in the work brigades, on returning from hospital, it was characteristic that they wreaked their revenge, without regard for age or gender, killing and torturing the Jews of the work brigades at every opportunity.521 By all accounts, Ivan Marchenko was an alcoholic who was always drunk, both on and off-duty.522 On one occasion outside the camp, he attacked one of his comrades, Fyodor Ryabeka: ‘I was in the village of Wólka and met Marchenko who struck me with his fist. He was in a very intoxicated state and the next day said that he did not remember what it was all about.523 One of the surprising facts to emerge from the statements by the former Treblinka Wachmänner is that during the period from February–September 1943, the SS in the camp employed about a dozen Ukrainian women to work in the German compound as cooks cleaners and laundresses.524 They had originally been destined for work in Germany, but en route their carriage had been disconnected from the rest of the train and diverted to Treblinka. Although they were forbidden to enter the Upper Camp, they socialized with the Ukrainian guards who were employed in both the Lower and Upper Camps and soon learned the details about what was happening on the other side of the barbed wire. Ivan

520 521 522

523 524

Ibid. OSI/DJ: Grigoriy Skydan, February 16, 1950. OSI/DJ: Ivan Terekhov, September 13, 1961. Aleksandra Kirpa, April 18, 1951. Fyodor Ryabeka, August 31, 1961. Ibid. Of the dozen women taken to Treblinka to work for the SS in the camp the following were identified after the war by the Soviet authorities: Aleksandra Terentyevna Kirpa, Maria Ivanovna Korobka, Malanya Yefimovna Nezdliyminoha, Nina Dimitriyevna Shiyenko, Alexandra Nikiforovna Sumskaya, Anna Ivanovna Sumskaya, Nadezhda Yavtuckyevna Timofenko, Yevdokiya Nikitovna Tretyak.

227

Marchenko, whom the women also state was almost permanently drunk, was particularly forthcoming with information. He was particularly friendly with Aleksandra Terentyevna Kirpa, who shared a room with Nina Dimitriyevna Shiyenko. Shiyenko testified that: Marchenko often came to our room and talked about his work. (...) (he) personally told me and my girlfriends in the camp that he worked as a mechanic in the gas ‘dushehubka’. (...) Besides that, I myself saw the glow of a fire and smoke from over in the other camp (i.e. The Upper Camp, author's note) around the clock and the smoke, and there was a strong smell of burning bodies.525

Aleksandra Kirpa, however, seems to have completely misunderstood what Marchenko told her; or, more likely, he gave a garbled version of events while intoxicated. Kirpa claims that ‘the Wachmänner serving in the ‘SS’ unit ‘undressed these people and cut their hair, and afterwards led the naked people into a stone, windowless building and were tightly shut in.’526 She continues: Then, on a certain signal, Marchenko turned on the engine and let the gas into the place where the people were. After a few minutes the room of the ‘dushehubka was opened and the prisoners in the camp (mostly Jews) brought the corpses to special pits where they were burned and the ashes removed for fertilizer.527

In the autumn of 1943, during the liquidation of the camp, all the female Ukrainian service personnel were transferred to another camp in the city of Lublin, while the Wachmänner, including Marchenko, remained in Treblinka. None of them ever saw Marchenko again.528 On September 20, 1943, a convoy of SS-men and about 100 Ukrainian guards from the Aktion Reinhardt death camps left Lublin en route for the port city of Trieste on the Adriatic coast of northern

525 526 527 528

228

OSI/DJ: Nina Dimitriyevna Shiyenko, May 3, 1951. OSI/DJ: Aleksandra Teryentyevna Kirpa, April 18, 1961. Ibid. OSI/DJ: Nina Dimitriyevna Shiyenko, May 3, 1951.

Italy. The convoy was led by SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik, accompanied by Christian Wirth and Franz Stangl. Ivan Marchenko and Nikolai Shalayev were among the group of Ukrainian Wachmänner. In Trieste, Marchenko apparently wore SS-uniform, and armed with a rifle, ‘he guarded German warehouses at the port, guarded the Trieste prison, and took part in the round-up of Italian citizens for forced labor in Germany.’529 The ‘Trieste prison’ refers to the San Sabba rice mill that was Wirth's headquarters as the head of Einsatz R, the round-up and deportation of Italian Jews to Auschwitz and other camps in Germany. In the spring of 1945, together with a Ukrainian driver by the name of Grigory, formerly a mechanic in the gas chambers of the Sobibór death camp, Marchenko seized an armored personnel carrier in Fiume and fled to the partisans over the border in Yugoslavia.530 Shalayev last saw Marchenko in Fiume at the end of March 1945: I saw Marchenko coming out of a brothel. At that time he no longer served with the Germans but was with the partisans and, as he said, he had come on leave. He invited me to a nearby restaurant where he began to tell me about his escape from the Germans. Marchenko told me that he did not intend to return home at the end of the war and that he wanted to stay in Fiume where he had a Yugoslav girlfriend whom he wished to marry, and that he wanted to settle down. This girl was involved with the partisans and received intelligence from him regarding the Germans.531

529 530 531

OSI/DJ: Nikolay Shalayev, December 20, 1950. Ibid. Ibid. Shalayev also mentions that Alexander Schultz, a 27-year-old Volksdeutsche from the Povolzhye region of the Volga, married a Yugoslav woman and remained in Udine, northern Italy.

229

After this meeting, Shalayev never saw Marchenko again and afterwards never heard anything more about him. The subsequent fate of Ivan Marchenko remains unknown.532

532

230

In April 1945, Shalayev retreated with the Germans over the border into Carinthia (Kärnten) in Austria. At the end of May, he was handed over to the Soviet command as a prisoner-of-war and drafted into the Soviet Army. After demobilization he returned to the USSR.

CHAPTER 17 Roll of Remembrance: Jewish survivors and victims

The Roll of Remembrance, with some brief histories and fate of individual survivors, escapees and victims, is an attempt to record the names of Jews who entered the living hell that was the Treblinka death camp. Research has revealed that the names of approximately 100 survivors, or escapees who did not survive the war of Treblinka are known, of whom very little is known about many of them. Likewise, any list of the victims of Treblinka can only include a very small fraction of the several hundred thousand murdered in the death camp. Despite intensive research, the names of approximately 300 plus victims have been found out of the 900,000 murdered in the camp. The results presented in the Roll of Remembrance are not intended to be merely an impersonal statistical list; wherever possible an attempt has been made to show that these people were once flesh and blood. However, such was the secrecy surrounding Treblinka and the murderous efficiency of the Nazis that of the several hundred thousand Jews deported to Treblinka, the vast majority remain anonymous, their backgrounds and lives unknown. Only one thing is certain, that they were murdered in the Treblinka death camp.533 533

The Germans only drew up lists of names for the Dutch and German Jews deported to Sobibór from the Westerbork camp in Holland during 1943. The list of names of survivors and victims was compiled from archival sources, Internet websites and authors' correspondence with survivors. New research by the authors corrected previous errors and brought new information to light, primarily through the Częstochowa documents from the USHMM in Washington, DC, in March 2012, and a new publication by Barbara Engelking, and Jacek Leociak, The Warsaw Ghetto—A Guide to Perished Places. Other invaluable sources were

231

The second part of the Roll of Remembrance (Treblinka Victims) is therefore important for keeping alive the memory of the few victims whose names are known. Survivors and escapees AUGUSTYNIAK, Czesław. Last heard of in 1979 living in Sweden. BERGER, Oskar. Businessman from Katowice, Upper Silesia. Moved early in the war to Kielce, Poland. Deported from Kielce to Treblinka in August 1942, together with his wife and son who were killed immediately on arrival in the camp. In September 1942, Berger, together with a young boy, escaped hidden beneath a pile of prisoners' clothing being shipped to Germany. Arrested again in July 1943, he was incarcerated in Buchenwald concentration camp where he was liberated in 1945. BERKOWICZ, Yechiel. Deported from the Częstochowa ghetto. In Treblinka, together with Abraham Bomba and Yechezkel Cooperman, prepared a hideaway in the piles of clothing in the Sorting Yard, and escaped at night sometime in January 1943. Berkowicz returned to the Częstochowa ghetto. BOMBA, Abraham. Born on June 9, 1913, in Beuthen, Upper Silesia. His family moved to Częstochowa where he became a barber. Together with his wife Reizl and infant son Berl, Bomba was deported from Częstochowa to Treblinka where they arrived on September 30, 1942. His wife Reizl and 4-weeks-old son Berl were gassed on arrival. Bomba was assigned first to sorting the clothes and belongings of the victims, and later assigned as a barber cutting the women's hair before they were gassed. Together with Yechiel Berkowicz and Yechezkel Cooperman, prepared a hiding place among the bundles of clothes in the sorting barracks and escaped via the ‘Lazarett’ in January 1943. All three returned to the Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims, the Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony, Warsaw Ghetto Database, and the Ghetto Fighters' Online archive.

232

the Częstochowa ghetto, via Warsaw. In Częstochowa, Bomba was employed as a forced laborer in the HASAG factory until the camp was liberated.534 He testified at the trial of SS-NCO Josef Hirtreiter in Frankfurt-am-Main in 1951 and at the First Treblinka Trial in Düsseldorf 1964–65 against Kurt Franz et al. BOORSTEIN, Moshe. Escaped from Treblinka with Simcha Laski (see below) at the end of July 1942 by hiding in bales of clothing stacked in a freight car. They jumped from the train along with two others who were killed. Boorstein and Laski reached Warsaw on the day of the so-called ‘Children's Operation’ (‘Kinder-Aktion’) on August 6, 1942. BORAKS, Gustav. Born in 1901 in Wieluń, a small town near Łódź in Poland; trained as a barber. Deported from Częstochowa with his wife and two sons, Pinhas and Yossef, they arrived in Treblinka on Yom Kippur, September 21, 1942. His wife and two sons were gassed on arrival. Boraks was selected to work as a barber, cutting the women's hair before they were gassed. He also worked at sorting clothes and in the Camouflage Brigade. Boraks escaped from Treblinka during the revolt on 2 August 1943. He testified at the Feodor Fedorenko denaturalization hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, in 1978. He also appeared as a prosecution witness at the trial of John (Ivan) Demjanjuk in Israel in 1987. BRENNER, Henryk (‘Henry’). In Treblinka, assigned to the Camouflage Brigade. One of 13 survivors who gave evidence in 1946 for the Main Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. After the war, Brenner settled in the USA. Gave evidence at the Demjanjuk Trial in Germany.

534

HASAG—Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft—Metallwarenfabrik, a German metal goods manufacturer based in Leipzig. During World War II, HASAG relied heavily on foreign forced labor in its factories, the biggest of which was in Częstochowa.

233

BROTHANDEL. Pictured in the Treblinka survivors reunion photograph in 1944. CIECHANOWSKI, Chaim and Lejzer. Pictured in the Treblinka survivors reunion photograph in 1944. Both settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina. CIENKI Brothers. Two brothers from Międzyrzec Podlaski, Poland. They were deported from there to Treblinka during the second Aktion which took place on October 6-9, 1942, together with about 7,000 other Jews from Międzyrzec and the surrounding area. They managed to escape from the camp and returned to Międzyrzec Podlaski where they informed the Jewish Council (Judenrat) about Treblinka and the fate of the deportees. The chairman of the Jewish Council, Klarberg, informed the Germans about the two escapees who were arrested and shot by the Gestapo. Because some of the Jews from Międzyrzec Podlaski had heard the accounts by the brothers, some of them decided to jump from the trains during the course of the following deportations. COOPERMAN, Yechezkel. Together with Yechiel Berkowicz and Abraham Bomba prepared a hiding place among the bundles of clothes in the sorting barracks and in January 1943 escaped through the ‘Lazarett’. They returned to the Częstochowa ghetto via Warsaw. CZARNY, Józef. Born on July 27, 1926, in Warsaw. Deported to Treblinka in September 1942, and selected to work at sorting clothes before being appointed to the ‘Court Jews’ (‘Hofjuden’) where he was appointed servant to Kurt Franz, and also looked after the chicken coop. He survived the revolt on August 2, 1943, settled in Israel, and gave evidence at the Fedor Fedorenko denaturalization trial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. He was also a witness at the trial of John (Ivan) Demjanjuk in Jerusalem in 1986. CZECHOWICZ, Aaron. Arrived in Treblinka on September 9, 1942. He was one of the 13 survivors who gave evidence in 1946 for the 234

Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. Settled in Caracas, Venezuela, South America. Gave evidence at the Demjanjuk Trial in Germany. DIAMANT, Nachum. Escaped from Treblinka together with Władysław Salzberg in the summer of 1942. He informed the Kielce Jewish Council about the death camp. DOMB, Jakob. In Treblinka, Domb drove a horse-drawn wagon to collect rubbish in the Lower Camp. While driving near the Upper Camp on the day of the uprising he shouted out in Hebrew to the prisoners working across the fence, “End of the world today, the day of judgment at 4 o'clock!” He appears in the Treblinka reunion photograph taken in 1944. EINSHINDLER, Israel. Originally from Łódź, moved to Częstochowa in southern Poland and deported from there to Treblinka. He worked in the Sorting Yard and showed Oskar Strawczyński how to sort the clothes and luggage from the murdered Jews. Shortly after Oskar Strawczyński's arrival in Treblinka, Einshindler escaped from the camp. EISNER, Jakob. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa. He escaped in January 1943 with Moshe Rappaport and returned to Częstochowa. Settled in Israel. EPSTEIN, Pinchas. Born on March 3, 1925, in Częstochowa from where he was deported on September 22, 1942. He was selected to live. His brother David tried to join him, whereupon an SSman hit him with the butt of his rifle and killed him. Pinchas witnessed the incident After only a few days in the Lower Camp he was assigned to the Upper Camp where he carried corpses. After the August 2, 1943 revolt he escaped and returned to Częstochowa. Under false documents he was employed as a laborer in Germany. In July 1948, he settled in Israel, and in 1978 gave evidence at the Fedorenko Denaturalization hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. He also appeared as witness at the Ivan

235

Demjanjuk Trial in Jerusalem in 1987. Epstein died in Israel in 2010. FINKELSTEIN, Leon. Deported from Warsaw on July 22, 1942, he arrived on the first transport to the Treblinka death camp. According to Chil Rajchman, Finkelstein was a dentist in the Upper Camp. On one occasion he was tortured by Ivan Marchenko (‘Ivan the Terrible), who used an auger on his buttocks. He escaped after the revolt on August 2, 1943, and is possibly the Leon mentioned by fellow-escapee Berek Rojzman. He was one of the 13 survivors who gave evidence in 1946 for the Main Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. After the war he was a butcher in Paris, France. GALEWSKI, Alfred (some survivors claim his name was Marceli). Born in Łódź, he was a member of a wealthy and completely assimilated family. An engineer by profession, he was one of the main employees in the head office in Warsaw of CENTOS, a Jewish charity organization.535 Deported from Warsaw to Treblinka he was selected for work and appointed Camp Elder (Lagerälteste) by the SS. He was involved in the camp Underground and helped plan the revolt on August 2, 1943, during which he escaped from the camp. According to Leon Perelstein, however, Galewski's nerves failed him and after running a few kilometers he committed suicide by taking poison. GELBERD, Aron. Deported from Częstochowa to Treblinka together with Moshe Lubling on October 2, 1942. He was selected to work with the ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’). Escaped from the camp on October 21, 1942, and returned to Częstochowa. Settled in Israel. GLAZAR (GOLDSCHMID), Richard. Born on November 29, 1920, in Prague. He was accepted at the University of Prague in 1939, but

535

236

CENTOS—Central Society for the Care of Orphans, director: Adolf Abraham Berman. One of several Jewish charity organizations in the ghetto which ran schools, provided food, clothing and shelter.

the Germans closed the universities after students' demonstrations. Thereafter, worked on a farm near Prague. On September 2, 1942, he was ordered to report to the Mustermesse—a big exhibition hall in Prague. After a stay of two or three days in the Mustermesse he was sent to the Theresienstadt transit ghetto on transport number ‘BG-417’. After working for four weeks in the refuse disposal unit, he was deported to Treblinka on transport ‘Bu’, which left Theresienstadt on October 8, 1942. Glazar had the registration number 639. The transport arrived in Treblinka two days later, on October 10, 1942. Glazar, together with his close friend Karel Unger, worked at sorting the victims' belongings and in the Camouflage Brigade. He and Unger took part in the revolt on August 2, 1943 and escaped. They made their way across Poland but were arrested by a forester near Nowe Miasto-nad-Pilicą in the south-western corner of the Mazovian Province. They convinced their captors that they were workers for the Organization Todt, the Nazi construction brigades, and were sent to Germany as laborers. Travelling from the assembly camp in Częstochowa, they travelled through Moravia to Vienna, and on to Mannheim in Germany where they arrived on September 24, 1943. They worked for the Heinrich Lanz firm which manufactured agricultural machinery. After liberation by the US Army, Glazar returned to Prague. After the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Army in 1968, he and his family fled to Switzerland where he became an engineer. He wrote a book about Treblinka entitled Trap with a Green Fence—Surviving in Treblinka which was published in several languages. After the death of his wife Zdena, he committed suicide in Prague on December 20, 1997. GOLDBERG, Shimon. Born 1914 in Warsaw. According to Oskar Strawczyński, he was a carpenter from Radomsko in Łódź Province who worked in the Upper Camp for four months. He escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1942, and 10 months later met Strawczyński in a forest where they had been hiding. Goldberg appears in the Treblinka reunion photograph taken in 1944. Goldberg died in 1976. 237

GOLDFARB, Abraham. From Białystok in north-east Poland. Arrived in Treblinka on August 25, 1942, with his wife and four children. A cobbler by trade, he was selected to work in the Upper Camp, at first at the mass graves and later cremating the bodies. He escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943 by breaking through the north gate. He settled in Israel. GOSTYNSKI, Zygmunt. Settled in Israel. GRINBERG, Tanhum. Born in Błonie, near Warsaw in 1913. In 1941, ‘relocated’ to the Warsaw ghetto with his mother, three younger brothers and a sister. Although a cobbler by trade, he was employed in the workshop of the Fritz Schultz firm, a Gdańsk-based fur company. On returning home from work one day, he found his apartment empty. His entire family had been taken away, probably to Treblinka. A short time later, Grinberg himself was deported from Warsaw to Treblinka where he was selected to work, employed as a cobbler. Active in the preparation for the revolt on August 2, 1942, he escaped from the camp and sought refuge in the village of Sterdyń, only 18 km from Sokołów Podlaski, and later joined a partisan unit. He was a witness at the First Treblinka Trial in Düsseldorf in 1964–65 (Kurt Franz et al.). He settled in Israel and was killed in an automobile accident in 1976. GRINSBACH, Eliahu. An electrician. Settled in Israel. GROSS, Yosef. A mechanic by trade. Settled in Israel. GUTMAN, Józef. Born in Warsaw in 1919. Deported in July 1942 from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka where he spent only two weeks, but was an eyewitness to the murder of the Kielce and Siedlce Jews in the camp. Employed at carrying the bodies of those who had died on the transports to the mass graves. After two weeks, together with four other prisoners, he escaped from a train transporting the clothes of the murdered victims to Lublin. He returned to the Warsaw ghetto and tried to warn people about what was going on in Treblinka, but most did not believe him. 238

During the Warsaw ghetto uprising in April–May 1943 he was deported to the Poniatowa labor camp in the Lublin District, but escaped from the train and returned to Warsaw where he spent several months in hiding. He obtained ‘Aryan’ papers from Polish friends and was sent to Vienna as a Polish forced laborer, where he worked until the liberation. After the war, he returned to Warsaw. HELFING, Isadore. Deported with his family from Kielce, between Kraków and Kielce in Świętokrzyskie Province, to Treblinka in 1942. Avoided being sent to the gas chambers by joining a group of prisoners carrying bodies out of the transport. Later employed in the SS stable. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. HELLMAN, Shlomo. Arrived in Treblinka from Warsaw in September 1942. Worked in the construction of the new gas chambers and later in burying the dead in the Upper Camp. Escaped from Treblinka during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Settled in Israel. ISHKAH, Elena Leo. Deported from Skopje (then in Macedonia). JAKUBOWICZ, Jakob. KELIN, Judah KOHN (KON), Stanisław-Shulem. Born in 1909 in Praszka near Łódź where he lived until 1939. He fought in the Polish army during the September 1939 Polish Campaign. He returned to Łódź, and from there in March 1940, together with his wife and child, he moved to Częstochowa where they lived until October 1, 1942. During the Aktion in the Częstochowa ghetto at that time, Kon and his family were deported to Treblinka where his wife and child were killed on arrival. He was selected to work in the camp at sorting the clothing of the murdered Jews. Kon escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943, and was one of the survivors of Treblinka who provided details about the revolt in the death camp. His testimony was also one of the first to be collected in 1944 in liberated Lublin. In 1945, long extracts from his memoirs were

239

published in the Jewish newspaper Dos Naje Lebn (The New Life), a Warsaw newspaper published in Yiddish. KRZEPICKI, Abraham. Born in 1918 in Danzig (Gdańsk). Deported from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka on 25 August 1942. He escaped with three other prisoners 18 days later (September 13) by hiding in a freight car full of clothes. He alone succeeded in returning to the Warsaw ghetto. During December 1942 and January 1943, the leaders of the ghetto underground archives under the historian Emanuel Ringelblum entrusted Rachel Auerbach with the task of recording Krzepicki's testimony.536 The manuscript, written in Yiddish, was buried in the rubble of the ghetto, together with other documents from the second part of the Ringelblum archives.537 Krzepicki was a member of Hanoar-Hatzioni, a Zionist Youth organization, headed by Jakob Praszker, which fought under the auspices of the Jewish Combat Organization (Żydowska Organizaja Bojowa—ŻOB). During the shelling of the brush makers' workshop on Świętojańska Street he was wounded in the leg. His comrades, forced to evacuate the burning building, had to abandon him and other wounded insurgents.

536

537

240

Rachel Auerbach, born 1903 in Lanowce, Galica (today, Lanovtsy in Ukraine) as Rokhl Rachela Eiga Auerbakh, a prolific Yiddish and Polish writer, historian and essayist. Died May 31, 1976, in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Ringelblum Archive consists of 30,000 documents and photographs collected between 1940–1942 under the supervision of Emanuel Ringelblum, a Polish-Jewish historian, politician and social worker, recording the fate of Polish Jewry. The collection was divided into three parts which were buried separately in the cellars of buildings in the ghetto; the first part in 10 metal cases in August 1942, and the second part in three milk churns in December 1943. In February 1946, the first collection was unearthed from beneath the ruins of Nowolipki Street 68, and the second collection from the same location in December 1950. The third collection, believed to have been buried in the vicinity of Świętojerska Street 34, has never been found. This unique collection is preserved today in the archive of the Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH) in Warsaw.

KOLSKI, Abraham. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa in southern Poland on October 2, 1942. Employed in the Camouflage Brigade. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Attended the Treblinka Trials in Düsseldorf 1964–65 and 1970. KOSZYCKI, Jakob. KRUK. Remembered by Chil Rajchman, he was from Plock, who escaped with him during the revolt on 2 August 1943.538 KUDLIK, Arie. Deported to Treblinka from the Częstochowa ghetto on October 12, 1942. Selected to live, he was employed at sorting the clothes of the gassed victims. He escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943, and was photographed at the Treblinka reunion in 1944. LACHMAN, Salek. From Działoszyn, near Częstochowa. He and his family were deported from Częstochowa to Treblinka in September 1942. In Treblinka, employed first in the Sorting Brigade, then in the Camouflage Brigade. Settled in New York. Testified in San Diego, California, in 1980 under the name Sol Lackman in the denaturalization cases against Ivan (John) Demjanjuk and Fedor Fedorenko. LAKS, Moszek (‘Mietek’). Escaped during the revolt on 2 August 1943. Drew a plan of Treblinka which he gave to the Central Jewish Historical Commission (Centralna Żydowska Komisja Historyczna—CŻKH) in Warsaw in 1946. Settled in Israel. LASKI, Simcha. Deported from Warsaw to Treblinka at the end of July 1942. Escaped four days later by hiding in bales of clothing being transported out of the camp. He jumped to freedom with Moshe Boorstein. Laski reached the Warsaw ghetto on August 6, the day the Kinder-Aktion (Children's Operation) was being carried out in the ghetto. LEWI, Leon.

538

Rajchman, Treblinka …, op. cit., p. 104.

241

LEWKOWICZ, Sonia. Born on March 11, 1922, in the city of Dombrovar, Bulgaria. Deported to Treblinka in December 1942. Selected to work, she was employed in the laundry in the Lower Camp, and on March 5, 1943 she was sent to work in the laundry in the Upper Camp. She escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Settled in Israel. In 1978, Lewkowicz gave evidence at the Fedorenko Denaturalization Hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. LIEBERMAN, David. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa during the Aktionen of September 1942 in which 39,000 Jews were deported to Treblinka. Succeeded in escaping shortly after arrival and returned to the so-called ‘small ghetto’ in Częstochowa which housed the surviving 2,000 Jews. Employed in the HASAG munitions factory. Settled in New York, USA. LIEBESKIND, Aaron. A young clock-maker from Bilgoraj in Lublin District. On arrival in Treblinka, on the Ramp, he was forced to witness the murder of his wife, Edith, and little son. He begged a Kapo to allow him to stay the night watching over his son's body. Aaron knelt beside the body of the small boy and composed the words of a lullaby which he gave the title ‘Lullaby for my son in the crematorium.’ During that night Liebeskind's hair turned white. He escaped from Treblinka and made his way to Berlin, where he was arrested and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp just north of the Reich capital. There he met and befriended Aleksander Kulisziewicz, the Polish singer and songwriter and sang the lullaby for him in Yiddish explaining the circumstances under which it was composed. Kulisziewicz translated it into Polish. In late 1942 Liebeskind was sent on a transport of Jewish prisoners from Sachsenhausen to Auschwitz Birkenau where he died some time during the following year. LINDWASSER, Avraham. Born in 1909. Deported from Warsaw and arrived in Treblinka on August 28, 1942. Selected to live and worked as a ‘dentist’ in the Upper Camp. After the revolt on August 2, 1943, he escaped from the camp and hid in the forest. After 242

the war, he volunteered to serve in the Polish army. Settled in Israel in 1948 and testified at the Adolf Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem in 1961. LUCK, Moshe. MATTEL, Morton. Settled in Hollywood, United States of America. MEDRZYCKI, Anshel. Escaped from Treblinka and teamed up with Abraham Krzepicki in the forest during September 1942. MILGROM, David. Escaped in August 1942. MILLER, Jakob. Born during 1918 in Włodzimierz, Volhynia, eastern Poland. Deported to Treblinka from the Siedlce ghetto on August 22, 1942, he participated in the revolt on August 2, 1943, and escaped with Kalman Teigman. He testified before the Jewish Historical Commission in Lublin in 1945. Settled in Uruguay, South America. MITLEBERG, M. MOISHELE. He was a tailor who escaped during the revolt, as recalled by Jerzy Rajgrodzki. “He had a rile without bullets. He was wounded near the heart… A short while later he lost consciousness and died.” 539 MORDZKY, Lejzer. Escaped during the revolt on 2 August 1943 and hid in a village only 5km from Treblinka where he was murdered by the AK. MYDLO, Morris. Settled In New York, USA. Gave evidence at the Demjanjuk Trial in Germany. NOWODWORSKI, Dawid. Born 1912 in Warsaw. A member of the Jewish Youth Guard (Hashomer Hatzair), a Socialist-Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement, and in the ghetto was an active member of the underground. He lived at Leszno Street 6 where he listened to the radio (which could incur the death penalty) 539

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 296.

243

and passed information to the underground press. Deported to Treblinka in August 1942, he escaped and returned to the Warsaw ghetto where he participated in the ghetto uprising in April 1943 in which commanded the Hashomer Hatzair combat unit group based at Nowolipie Street 67. On April 29, 1943, he and other Jewish fighters escaped from the ghetto through the sewers, and later commanded one of several partisan units in the Wyszków forest, about 60 kilometers north-east of Warsaw. Returned to Warsaw before the liberation to organize the emigration of Jews through Hungary to Palestine. He was denounced to the Germans by an ethnic German (Volksdeutsche) and shot. PACANOWSKI, Moshe. Settled in the USA. Gave testimony at the First Treblinka Trial in Düsseldorf 1964–65. PERELSTEIN, Leon. In Treblinka he managed the tool-store for the Construction Brigade. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Testified at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem about Galewski's suicide after the escape, that after they had run a few kilometers, Galewski felt he did not have the strength to go on. He took some poison out of his pocket, swallowed it, and died on the spot. PETAKOWSKIY, Marek. PLATKIEWICZ, Marian. From Płock on the Vistula River in central Poland. Served in the Polish army from 1938 and taken prisoner by the Germans during the Polish Campaign in 1939, after which he returned to Warsaw. Deported to Treblinka from the Warsaw ghetto in July 1942. Employed first in the Sorting Brigade and later with the small ‘potato cleaning’ brigade. He participated in the revolt on August 2, 1942, and escaped from the camp. Settled in Israel. Drew a plan of the camp which was given to the Central Jewish Historical Committee in Poland. PORZECKI, Moshe. Arrived in Treblinka in a transport of 6,000 men, women and children. In the Alexander Donat book Death Camp Treblinka, Moshe describes his arrival:

244

We were met by a crowd of SS-men and Ukrainians, all armed. We got off the train. In the rush, whoever happened to turn around or look behind him was beaten at once. Women and children were led away in one direction, men in the other. We had to get down on our knees. Whoever tried to get up was shot immediately. No resistance was possible. There was no help for us.540

POSWOLSKI, Henryk. From Warsaw. After the war settled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. RABINOWICZ, Jakob. A journalist who escaped from the Treblinka death camp and wrote a report. The Jewish Bund in Warsaw sent an emissary to Kosów and Sokołów Podlaski in the vicinity of Treblinka to check the accuracy of the report. In Sokołów Podlaski the emissary met another escapee from Treblinka by the name of Azriel Wallach, and from him received verification of Rabinowicz's report. RAJCHMAN, Yekhiel Meyer (‘Chil’). Born on June 14, 1914, in Łódź (Litzmannstadt) in central Poland. Deported to Treblinka with his sister Rivka from Ostrów Lubelski in the Lublin District in October 1942. His sister was gassed on arrival. Chil was selected for work and employed in the Sorting Brigade, and then as a ‘barber’ cutting off the women's hair before they were gassed. Transferred to the Upper Camp, first with the Corpse Carrying Brigade, and then as a ‘dentist’. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943, together with Kalman Teigman and Jakob Miller. In 1946, after testifying before the Central Jewish Historical Commission, he emigrated to Uruguay, South America. He testified at the trial of John (Ivan) Demjanjuk in 1987. Rajchman died in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 2004. RAJGRODZKI, Jerzy. Born in Siedlce. Escaped during the revolt on 2 August 1943. RAJZMAN, Samuel. Born in 1902 in Węgrów, between Warsaw and Sokołów Podlaski. Before the war, lived in Warsaw with his wife 540

Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 288.

245

and daughter; employed in an import–export business. On September 21, 1942, he was deported to Treblinka with his wife, but their daughter was taken in by another Jewish family. She was murdered in the Poniatowo labor camp in Lublin District. In Treblinka, Rajzman was recognized by Galewski, the Camp Elder, who put him to work cleaning spectacles and microscopes. He was a member of the prisoners' underground committee planning the uprising. On the day of the revolt, August 2, 1943, Rajzman was working in the lumberyard from where escaped while leading a group fighting their way out of the camp. In 1944, he wrote one of the first reports about Treblinka, which was published in the Lublin literary weekly Odrodzenie (‘Revival’).541 He was the only witness to testify about Treblinka at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. After the liberation, he worked in Germany as director of personnel with the Central Committee of Liberated Jews; later moved to Paris, and then in 1950, finally settled in Montreal, Canada. He also testified at the Treblinka Trials in Düsseldorf, and was a witness at the Fedorenko Denaturalization Hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, in 1978. RAK, Meir. Possibly from Mlawa, Mazowian Province in north–central Poland. RAPPAPORT, Moshe. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa in southern Poland on October 2, 1942, together with Aron Gelberd. Escaped with Jakob Eisner in January 1943 and returned to the ‘small ghetto’ in Częstochowa. Settled in the USA. RICHTER. Escaped from Treblinka and returned to Częstochowa and in October 1942 tried to kill the German officer Rohn, who was one of those in charge of the deportation ‘action.’ ROJZMAN, Berek. Born on March 15, 1912, in Grójec, a town to the south-east of Warsaw. A butcher by trade, he arrived in Treblinka on November 2, 1942, and was employed in the camp supply 541

246

Odrodzenia was the first weekly published in Poland after the war: 1944 in Lublin, 1945 in Kraków, and 1947 in Warsaw.

store. He lost his entire family in Treblinka. Escaped from the camp during the revolt on August 2, 1943, and hid in the forests for a year with five other escapees. Unlike every other survivor of Treblinka after the war, Rojzman did not emigrate but remained in Poland. ROSENBERG, Eliahu (‘Eli’). Born May 10, 1924, in Warsaw. Deported from the Warsaw ghetto during September 1942 with his mother and three sisters. Selected to work in the Upper Camp while the rest of his family were gassed on arrival. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. In 1945, he wrote a report about Treblinka in Polish, and in 1947 a German version of one of his subsequent reports was published. He wrote a longer version in Yiddish, which was published in Bleter far Geszichte (‘Historical Notes’) and describes events in the Warsaw ghetto as well as in Treblinka, and events following the revolt. He settled in Israel and testified at the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem in 1961, and at the trial of John (Ivan) Demjanjuk, also in Jerusalem, in 1987. The last survivor of the Upper Camp, he died in 2010. ROSENKRANZ, Sol. From Grabów in Łódź Province. Settled in the United States of America. ROSENTHAL, Lejbel. According to Abraham Bomba, Lejbel escaped from Treblinka, returned to the camp and explained to Alfred Galewski, the Camp Elder, how he had managed to escape. He then escaped again from the death camp, photographed at the Treblinka re-union in 1944. SALZBERG, Heinrich (‘Heniek’). The 16-year-old son of Władek Salzberg who was in charge of the ‘ghetto’ and workshops area in the Lower Camp, while his brother Welwel worked in the laundry. According to Stanisław Kon, Salzberg managed to obtain weapons from the German quarters and is believed to have survived the camp revolt on August 2, 1943. His father and older brother were killed. Richard Glazar believed that Salzberg was living somewhere in Spain.

247

SALZBERG, Władysław. Escaped from Treblinka with Nachum Diamant in the summer of 1942. SZNAJDMAN (SCHNEIDMANN), Wolf. Deported from Stoczek, near Węgrów in Mazowsza Province, north-east Poland, to Treblinka penal labor camp in June 1942. Participated in the construction of the death camp and became one of the ‘Court Jews’ (‘Hofjuden’). He escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Included in the photograph of the reunion of Treblinka survivors in 1944. Settled in New York. SHARSON, Lazar. During the night of December 31, 1942, an escape was carried out from the Upper Camp through a tunnel; five prisoners successfully reached a nearby village. The Germans and Wachmänner pursued the escapees and caught the entire group. One was shot on the spot, three returned to the camp and were hanged, and one—Lazar Sharson—got away. He returned to the Warsaw ghetto and fought in the Ghetto Uprising until the end of September 1943. SIEDLECKI, Joseph (‘Joe’). A soldier in the Polish army. Deported with his wife from Warsaw to Treblinka in July 1942. She was gassed on arrival while Siedlecki was selected to work in the Red Brigade in the undressing barracks. Later, he worked in the disinfection room which was located in a part of the undressing barracks. Escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943, and using false papers obtained employment with a Polish construction unit attached to the German army. Settled in the USA. SPERLING, Hershl (‘Henry’). Born on March 10, 1927, in Kłobuck (Klobutzko), Silesia. In early October 1940, the Sperling family moved into the Częstochowa ghetto. Herschl, together with his father, mother and sister, arrived in Treblinka in late September or early October 1942. He was selected to work in the Sorting Brigade, but the rest of his family were murdered in the gas chambers. Escaped from Treblinka during the revolt on August 2, 1943, and returned to Warsaw via Rembertów. Recaptured by the Germans in Kołuszki, Łódź Province, he was sent to a penal camp in 248

Radom, central-eastern Poland. From there, he was transferred to Auschwitz where he arrived on October 2, 1943, and received the tattooed prisoner number 154,356. In October 1944, Sperling was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and on November 17, 1944 he arrived in Dachau where, after a short time, he was sent to the sub-camp at Kaufering, near Landsberg-amLech in Bavaria. After the liberation he settled in Glasgow, Scotland, where he committed suicide on September 26, 1989. STRAWCZYŃSKI, Oskar. Born in Łódź, Poland, in 1906. Became a skilled and accomplished artisan whose abilities as a tinsmith eventually saved his life and that of his brother Zygmunt in Treblinka. Oskar's immediate family perished during the Holocaust; only Zygmunt and a younger sister survived. Deported from Częstochowa to Treblinka, Oskar and his family, together with many other relatives, arrived at the death camp on October 5, 1942. His wife Anka, two children Guta and Abus and his parents Yoseph and Malka were gassed on arrival. Oskar was selected to live and worked at sorting the clothes and belongings of the murdered Jews, and later worked in the blacksmith workshop. He participated in the revolt on August 2, 1943, escaped from the camp, and joined a partisan group in the forest. He was one of the 13 survivors to give evidence in 1946 to the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. He was photographed at the reunion of Treblinka survivors in 1944. Settled in Montreal, Canada, and testified at the First Treblinka Trial in Düsseldorf 1964-65 (Kurt Franz et al.). He died in Montreal in 1966. STRAWCZYŃSKI, Zygmunt. (Oskar Strawczyński's brother). They both lived in Częstochowa, but during the Aktion in September 1942, Zygmunt fled the ghetto with his wife and daughter, heading for Bochnia, a small town in the sub-Carpathian mountains in southern Poland. They left the train en route, were captured by the Germans and taken to Radomsko in Łódź Province. From there they were deported to Treblinka between October 10–12, 1942. Starwczyński's family was gassed on arrival, but Zygmunt 249

was selected to work, initially at sorting the clothes and belongings of the murdered Jews. He was then employed with his brother in the tinsmiths' workshop. They escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. They made their way to Warsaw where they were re-united with Treblinka escapee Samuel Willenberg. After the war, the Strawczyński brothers settled in Canada. Zygmunt died in Montreal in 1975, nine years after his brother. SUKNO, Bronka. Deported from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka on January 18, 1943. She was selected by SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel to work in the laundry and then in the tailors' workshop shop in the Lower Camp. She also worked in the Ukrainian guard's kitchen. She escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Settled in Israel. SZEJNBERG, Wolf. Settled in France. SZMULOWICZ, Jakob. Settled in Israel. SZTAJER, Chaim. Worked in the Upper Camp and escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Settled in Melbourne, Australia, where he constructed a model of the Treblinka death camp. Gave evidence at the Demjanjuk Trial in Germany. TEKULSKY, Józef (‘Joe’). Settled in New York, USA. Gave evidence at the Demjanjuk Trial in Germany. TEIGMAN, Kalman. Born on December 24, 1922, in Warsaw. His family lived on Twarda Street in the Muranów district of Warsaw that later became the ghetto. Teigman worked at Okęcie airport on the southern outskirts of the city,542 together with his comrade Słamek Rozenblum, and in the Astra-Werke at Wildstraße

542

250

Okęcie civilian airport was taken over after September 1939 by the Junkers aircraft construction firm. The Luftwaffe also used it as a repair depot and pilot training school.

30 (Zamenhof Street 30).543 Deported to Treblinka from the Astra-Werke workshop with his mother Tema, on September 4, 1942, they arrived at the death camp the following day. In Treblinka, he was selected to work, but his mother was gassed on arrival. He worked at sorting the belongings of the murdered Jews at renovating aluminum wares. Kalman escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943, together with Jakob Miller and others. After the war, he spent some time in a refugee camp on Cyprus, before settling in Israel. He testified at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961, the First and Second Treblinka Trials in Düsseldorf 1964-65 and the trial of Franz Stangl in Düsseldorf in 1970. Kalman died on 26 July 2012. TOBIAS, Mieczyslaw. TUROWSKI, Eugen. Born on January 14, 1914, in Łódź, Poland. Served as a NCO in the Polish infantry, captured by the Germans in Poznań Province on September 14, 1939. Released three weeks later, he returned to Łódź and then moved with his family to Częstochowa, where he was employed as a teacher in a professional technical school. Deported from Częstochowa on the first transport to Treblinka on August 22, 1942, the day after Yom Kippur. At Częstochowa station, Turowski and his son were singled out and placed among a group selected for work, a temporary reprieve from deportation. His wife, son, mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law were deported to the death camp where they were gassed on arrival. Turowski spent eight days in a temporary camp, after which the Germans discovered he was with his young son, and sent both of them to Treblinka, where they arrived on October 5. Through the promptings of his former students who told the camp SS that Turowski was a qualified mechanic, he was selected to work. His son was shot on the Undressing Square. Turowski worked for three weeks at sorting the belongings and clothing of the murdered Jews, after which he worked in the 543

The Astra-Werke, based in Chemnitz, eastern Germany, specialized in the construction of typewriters and calculating machines.

251

camp repair shop as a mechanic. He claims it was he who made the duplicate key to the SS armory, a claim supported by Kalman Teigman.544 He escaped during the revolt on August 2, 1943, and in 1946 testified before the Main Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. Settled in Israel and testified at the First Treblinka Trial in Düsseldorf 1964–65 (Kurt Franz et al.), and at the Fedorenko Denaturalization Hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, in 1978. UNGER, Karel. Born on April 15, 1921, in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia. Deported from there to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 30, 1942, and then to Treblinka on transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942 (the same transport as Richard Glazar). His parents and younger brother were gassed on arrival, but he was selected to live and worked in the Sorting and Camouflage Brigades. Participated in the revolt on August 2, 1943, and escaped together with Richard Glazar. They made their way across Poland, but were arrested by a forester near Nowe Miasto-nad-Pilicą, south of Warsaw, and manage to convince their captors they are workers for the Organisation Todt, the Nazi construction brigades, and sent to Germany as workers. From an assembly camp in Częstochowa they travelled through Moravia and Vienna to Mannheim in Germany, where they arrived on September 24, 1943. They were both employed by Heinrich Lanz AG, a firm that manufactured agricultural machinery, until liberated by the US Army in 1945. Unger settled in the USA where he worked as a brew-master, but never wanted to talk to anybody about Treblinka. He died a long time before his comrade Richard Glazar. WARSZAWSKI, Szyja. Deported from the Warsaw ghetto on the first transport on July 22, 1943, arrived in the next day, and was selected to work in the Upper Camp. He was one of the 13 survivors who gave evidence to the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. In 1951, he identified former

544

252

Letter from Kalman Teigman to Chris Webb, dated June 24, 2003.

SS-NCO Josef (‘Sepp’) Hirtreiter at his trial in Frankfurt-amMain. WALLACH, Azriel. A nephew of the former Soviet foreign minister, Maxim Litvinov. Escaped from Treblinka and met Zalmen Frydrych, a member of the Jewish Underground, in Sokołów Podlaski, where he provided him with details of the death camp. A description of Treblinka published in Oyf der vakh (‘On Guard’), an underground publication of the Bund, was evidently based on Wallach's information. WEINBERG, Boris (‘Kazik’) Deported from Warsaw on September 4 1942, and selected in Treblinka for the ‘Sorting Kommando. Later employed in the Blau Kommando, receiving transports on the Ramp. WEINER. A Hassidic Jew who escaped together with Abraham Krzepicki from Treblinka in September 1942. WEINSTEIN, Edward (‘Edi’). Deported from Łosice, Lower Silesia, with his family. Arrived in Treblinka on August 24, 1942, and escaped on September 9. Settled in the United States of America where he died in 2010. WIERNIK, Jankiel (‘Jakob’). Born in 1887 in the Brisk district, now Brest, Belarus, although some accounts claim he was born in 1890 in Biała Podlaska in the Lublin district of eastern Poland. He joined the Bund in 1904, was arrested and sent to Siberia. After his release, he served in the Tsarist army after which he settled in Warsaw and became a building contractor. Deported to Treblinka on August 23, 1942. As a skilled craftsman he was selected to live by the SS who employed him as a carpenter. He participated in the construction of the new, bigger gas chambers in the autumn of 1942, as well as the Tyrolean style main gate and guard-house in 1943. Wiernik played a leading role in the organization of the revolt on August 2, 1943, because he was the only prisoner permitted free access between the Upper and Lower Camps. He maintained contact between the conspirators in the 253

two compounds. He escaped during the revolt, but was shot in the shoulder by a Ukrainian guard from the Treblinka penal labor camp (Treblinka I). But before the guard could shoot again, Wiernik killed him with an axe and escaped into the forest. Wiernik made his way to Warsaw where he approached some Jews using a code word: ‘Amcha’.545 Recognized as a Jew, he was accepted as a member of the Jewish Underground. At the age of 56 he became a member of the Communist-led People's Army (Armja Ludowa—AL) in Warsaw.546 He drew a plan of the Treblinka death camp and wrote about his experiences, first in Polish, then in December 1944 in Hebrew. English and Yiddish versions were published simultaneously. In 1946, Wiernik gave evidence to the Main Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. He moved to Mandate Palestine547 and in the 1950s settled in Holon.548 In 1955, he met Zivia Lubetkin and Yitzhak Zukerman, two key figures in the Jewish resistance in Warsaw and founders of the Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz and Mu-

545

546

547

548

254

‘Amcha’: a Yiddish word meaning ‘your people’. Jews in Europe, especially during the period of the Holocaust, sometimes used the word to ask strangers if they, too, were Jewish. Armia Ludowa (AL): the underground Communist partisan organization that supported the Soviet military and political causes and the establishment of a pro-Soviet government in Poland after the war. During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, Wiernik fought in the same AL unit as Samuel Willenberg. (See next entry). The British Mandate for Palestine was a legal commission for the administration of Palestine by the League of Nations which came into effect in 1923. The main objective of the Mandate system was to administer parts of the Ottoman Empire which had been in control of the Middle East since the 16th century, ‘until such time as they are able to stand alone’. The British Mandate covered Palestine in the west and Transjordan in the east, with the Dead Sea in the center. The State of Israel came into being in May 1948. Holon is a city on the coast of Israel, 6 km south of Tel Aviv.

seum in Western Galilee. This encounter inspired him to construct a model of the Treblinka death camp for the museum.549 He also testified at the Adolf Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem in 1961. He took part, as a white-haired elder survivor, at the Treblinka memorial ceremonial on May 10, 1964. He died in 1972. WILLENBERG, Samuel. Born in Częstochowa, southern Poland, in 1923. His father taught art at the Jewish Grammar school in the city. His mother, from an aristocratic background and a Russian of Orthodox by faith, had settled in Poland during the revolution. Aged 16 at the outbreak of war, Willenberg volunteered to serve in the Polish army and was wounded at Chełmno. The Willenberg family was split up and Samuel went in hiding in Częstochowa. His sisters, Itta and Tamara, were arrested and deported to Treblinka where they were murdered. His mother and father remained in hiding, while Samuel went to the ghetto in Opatów, between Kraków and Lublin. Deported to Treblinka from Opatów on October 20, 1942, he was selected for work and assigned to sorting the clothes and belongings of the murdered Jews. He also worked in the Camouflage Brigade. Took part in the revolt on August 2, 1943, and despite being shot in the leg he managed to escape into the forest, and found shelter in Rembertów, just outside Warsaw. He eventually went to Warsaw where he was re-united with his father and mother. In 1944, he participated in the Warsaw Uprising in the ranks of the AK, during which time he was reunited with Treblinka escapee Zygmunt Strawczyński. After escaping from the virtually destroyed city through the sewers, he joined one of several partisan units in the Kampinos Forest (Puszcza Kampinoska), a big forest complex west of Warsaw. After the liberation of Poland, he joined the Communist Polish Army and served as a captain until 1947. In

549

Willenberg's model is still on display in the Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz Museum in Israel.

255

1950, he emigrated to Israel with his wife and mother. Willenberg's book Revolt in Treblinka went through several editions,550 after which he took up painting and sculpture. After the death of Kalman Teigman in July 2012, Samuel Willenberg is now the last Treblinka survivor. The very last man standing from a total of about 900,000 people murdered in the death camp. ZIEGELMAN. ZYMERMAN, Joseph. Settled in New York, United States of America. Only approximately 100 plus survivors' or escapees names are known. Only this figure out of a total of around 900,000 is horrifying evidence of the murderous efficiency of the Nazi extermination machine in which individuals ceased to exist—reduced only to numbers. Treblinka Victims ABRAMOWICZ, Reizl. Educated in Janusz Korczak's orphanage on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw, she worked there and was deported to Treblinka, together with Korczak and other staff members during the Kinder-Aktion (‘Children's Operation’) on August 6, 1942. ADLERFLIGEL, Abram. From Warsaw. Adolf. Owner of a chocolate factory in Łódź. Killed during the revolt.

550

256

First published in Hebrew: Mered be-Treblinka, Israeli Ministry of Defence, Tel Aviv 1986; in Spanish: Rebelion en Treblinka, La Semana Publications, Jerusalem 1988; English edition: Surviving Treblinka, Basil Blackwell, Oxford and New York 1989; Polish edition: Bunt w Treblince, Res Publica, Warsaw 1991; Second edition in English: Revolt in Treblinka, Żydowski Instytut Historyczny (ŻIH), Warsaw 1992.

Dr. Adrian. Remembered by Richard Glazar as member of the Camouflage Brigade, ‘he was known as a doctor of speculation sciences, and it is impossible to imagine the Camouflage Brigade without him.’551 AINBINDER, Chaim. AJZENBERG, Chana. From Siedlce in eastern Poland. AJZENBOIM, Ester. AJZENWASSER, Henia. ALTMAN, Sara. From Warsaw. ALTSCHUL, Robert. Czechoslovakian medical student, born on July 24, 1916. Deported from Prague to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on 12 September 1942, and from there to Treblinka on October 8, 1942, on transport ‘Bu’. In the camp Robert worked in the Sorting Brigade. Became close friends with Želo Bloch, one of the Underground leaders who planned the revolt. Altschul's death during the revolt on August 2, 1943, witnessed by Richard Glazar. Dr. ANISFELT, Wolf. Director of the Jewish Gymnasium in Częstochowa before the war. During the Nazi occupation he was a member of the Jewish Council in the Częstochowa ghetto and was responsible for organizing the Jewish police. He wrote a fourvolume diary which was hidden in the ghetto before his deportation to Treblinka on October 4, 1942, together with other members of the Częstochowa Jewish Council and the Jewish policemen. Anisfelt's diary has never been found. ANKIER, Boxing trainer from the Jewish ‘Makkabi’ sports organization. APELBOJM, Chajm.

551

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., p. 129.

257

ARNDT, Ernst. German-Jewish actor born in 1861 in Mecklenburg, Germany. From 1910, a member of the Burg Theater Ensemble in Vienna. He occasionally appeared in supporting roles in films. 1931, made an honorary citizen of Vienna. On July 10, 1942, at the age of 81, he was deported to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto, and from there to Treblinka on September 23, 1942. ARNSZTAJNOWA, Franciszka AUFRICHTIG, Biene. Born 1862 in Vienna. Deported to Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 20, 1942, and from there to Treblinka (date not known). AUFRICHTIG, Fanny. Born 1875 in Vienna. Deported to Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 28, 1942, and from there to Treblinka (date not known). AUFRICHTIG, Regina. Born 1866 in Vienna. Deported to Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on August 13, 1942, and from there to Treblinka (date not known). AWROBLAŃSKI, Chaim. BACHNER, Kurt and Lilly. Deported from the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bt’ on October 5, 1942. BACK, Eugen. Born on 26 November 1917. Deported from Prague on February 12 1942 to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto, and from there to Treblinka on October 8, 1942, on transport ‘Bu’. Selected to live, he worked in the Sorting Brigade. Glazar recalled that Back, was known in the camp as the ‘Eiffel Tower’ because of his height.552 Back caught typhus and was taken from the sick bay to the ‘Lazarett’ where he was shot. Dr. BĄK, P. From Warsaw. In Treblinka he was assigned as a doctor in the ‘ghetto’ barracks sick bay. No further information available.

552

258

Ibid., p. 74.

BART, Tadeusz. Born on October 15, 1873, in Warsaw. Former director of a paint factory and former vice-chairman of the Union of Merchants. A member of the Warsaw ghetto Jewish Council, he lived at Chłodna Street 36 and later at Pawia Street 66. Deported to Treblinka in January 1943. BEKER, Chana. BERGMAN, Moisze. BERLINER, Aaron. A worker from Częstochowa who ‘rescued’ Oskar Strawczyński on his arrival in Treblinka, and arranged for him to be selected for work. BERLINER, Meier. A citizen of Argentina. In Treblinka, stabbed SSNCO Max Biela to death on September 11, 1942, and immediately brutally killed in retaliation. BERNSTEIN, Siegfried. Born on May 27, 1888. A musician from Cottbus, Germany. Deported to the Warsaw ghetto in April 1942 and from there to Treblinka. BERTMANN, Njomka. From Orla, a village in Białystok district. BIRENBAUM, Ludwika. BIRNBAUM, Petr. Born on May 28, 1923. Deported from Olmütz (Olomouc) in Moravia, Czechoslovakia, to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 30, 1942. From there, deported to Treblinka on transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942. BLANKET, Moshe. Deported from Warsaw. In Treblinka, he was recognized by Abraham Krzepicki at the gate to the Undressing Square, but was unable to rescue him from the gas chambers. BLAU, Adele (née Wallisch). Born on February 18, 1898, in Schaffa, Moravia. Deported from Vienna to Kielce in Poland, together with her husband Karl on February 19, 1941, and from there to Treblinka. In the camp they had the unique distinction of being the only husband and wife permitted to live. While her husband was appointed Oberkapo, she was employed in the camp as a 259

cook. Later, they were both taken to the death camp at Sobibór where he retained his position as an Oberkapo. When the dismantling of Sobibór had been completed in November 1943, they both committed suicide by taking poison. BLAU, Alexander. Born in 1866. During the war he lived in Vienna and deported from there to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on ‘Transport 31’ on July 14, 1942. Deported from Theresienstadt to Treblinka on Transport ‘BP’ on September 21, 1942. BLAU, Karl. Born on February 15, 1892, in Kollersdorf, Lower Austria. He and his wife Adele were deported from Vienna to Kielce in Poland on February 19, 1941. They were deported from Kielce to Treblinka and had the unique distinction as being the only husband and wife allowed to live. After serving as the Oberkapo in Treblinka, he and his wife were transferred to the Sobibór death where again he was appointed Oberkapo. When the dismantling of the camp had been completed in November 1943, he and his wife committed suicide by taking poison. BLAUFUKS, Aharon. A Jewish artist born in Warsaw in 1894. Murdered in Treblinka in 1942. BLOCH, Želomír (Želo or Zhelo). From Prešov in Slovakia. A photographer by profession and former lieutenant in the Czech army. He and his wife were deported to Treblinka from Dęblin in Lublin District, Poland. Richard Glazar describes Bloch as ‘not tall, he has more of a sturdy build, and has a round face with a small moustache. His thick black hair falls into waves over his high forehead.’ In Treblinka, he was appointed a Vorarbeiter (Foreman) in Sorting Barracks ‘A’ in which the clothing of the murdered Jews was sorted. One day in March 1943, just after Želo had recovered from a bout of typhus, SS-Oberscharführer Fritz Küttner discovered that 73 bundles of men's shirts were missing. As a punishment, Želo and the other foreman, Adasch, were transferred to the Upper Camp. Because of his prewar military experience, Želo was an important member of the Treblinka un-

260

derground and in the Upper Camp he organized a new committee that worked together with the Underground Committee in the Lower Camp. He fought bravely in the revolt on August 2, 1943, rallying the insurgents before being killed in the thick of the fighting. BODNIK, Efraam and Leibisch (brothers) From Nowy Dwór. In Treblinka, they worked together in the tinsmiths' workshop in the Lower Camp. BOEHM/BÖHM, Alfred. Originally from Germany, settled in Częstochowa, Poland, in the 1930's, with his Polish-born parents. He was befriended by Samuel Willenberg, as they both lived on Fabryczna Street. They were re-united in Treblinka, and according to Willenberg, Alfred was given the job of picking up rubbish using a small pram. He was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. BORAKS, Edek. Born in 1918 in Kalisz, at that time a city in Imperial Russia that a year later was incorporated into the newly independent Republic of Poland. He was a member of the Hashomer Hatzair, the Zionist Youth Movement, and the Hachshara, a Zionist training program for children and adolescents. At the outbreak of war, he was drafted into the Polish army, and in 1940 he arrived in Vilnius where he served on the main steering committee of Hashomer Hatzair from 1941.553 In December 1941, he travelled to Warsaw, then returned to Vilnius the following year where he was active in the Lithuanian United Partisan Organization (Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye—FPO), based in the Vilnius ghetto. The FPO was the first Jewish resistance organization to be established in the ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe. From there he went to Białystok in north-east Poland where he

553

Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, had been a part of Poland since 1922 and known as Vilno. On August 3, 1940, it was annexed by the Soviet Union and Vilno became the capital of the newly-created Lithuanian SSR.

261

was active in the Jewish Combat Organization (Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa—ŻOB). In February 1943, Boraks commanded a combat unit of the ŻOB. He was captured by the Germans and deported to Treblinka. BORENSTEIN, Meyer. BORNSZTEIN, Tadeusz. Born in 1919 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, south-east of Łódź, Poland. An artist by profession, he was deported to Treblinka sometime in the last months of 1942. BORZYKOWSKA, Luba. BORZYKOWSKA, Ruhla. BRAT, Dawid. Lived at Kożia Street 3 in the Częstochowa ghetto. Deported to Treblinka, he worked in the sorting barracks in the Lower Camp with Richard Glazar. BREITER, Yitzhok. Born 1886. A Breslover Hasidic rabbi.554 BRESLAUER, Egon. Born on October 22, 1889, he was a merchant in Cottbus, Germany. In April 1942, together with his family, he was deported to the Warsaw ghetto and from there to Treblinka. BRESLAUER, Lotte (wife of Egon Breslauer). Born on July 13, 1897. Deported with him and their daughter Ursula to the Warsaw ghetto in April 1942, and from there to Treblinka. BRESLAUER, Ursula (daughter of Egon and Lotte Breslauer). Born on May 9, 1930, in Cottbus, a town on the river Spree south-west of Berlin in Brandenburg Province, Germany. Deported to the Warsaw ghetto in April 1942, and from there was deported to Treblinka. She was 12 years old.

554

262

Breslover Hasidim: a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded in Breslov, Ukraine, by Rebbe Nachman (1772–1810), the great-grandson of rabbi Yisroel (Israel) ben Elezier (1698–1760), founder of Hasidim, a mystic rabbi usually known as the Baal Shem Tov (Besht)—the Holy Master of the Good Name.

BROGER. Worked in the Camouflage Brigade, according to Samuel Willenberg. Knew of the plans to destroy the camp. BURG, Hans. Born on March 19, 1925. Deported on Transport ‘Bg’ from Prague to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on September 12, 1942. From there he was deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942. According to Richard Glazar, Hans Burg, the youngest of the Czech contingent, in early 1943 was taken to the ‘Lazarett’ and shot. He had only just recovered from typhus. BURSTEIN, Lolek. Escaped from the Warsaw ghetto to Opatów, an open ghetto in Świętokrzskie Province. Deported to Treblinka on October 20, 1942, on the same transport as Samuel Willenberg, Burstein was gassed on arrival. BURSTEIN, Mark. From Grodno. Only 2-years-old when deported to Treblinka. BURSZTYN, Galina (‘Gisha’). Born in Pułtusk in 1877, at that time a part of Imperial Russia. She married in the late 1890's and moved with her husband, Shmuel David Bursztyn, to the city of Warsaw (also in Imperial Russia), where Shmuel owned and operated a bakery on Zamenhofa Street in Muranów, the city's Jewish quarter. In 1920, the Bursztyn family, which consisted of eight children, moved to a two-bedroom apartment at Mila Street 47. By 1939, only her youngest son and daughter were still at home, and her husband had given up his business and was working for the Kagan Bakery, the biggest kosher bakery in Warsaw, when the Germans occupied Poland. In April 1942, her husband was killed by the Germans, and Gisha sought shelter in one of the ghetto bunkers. During the first big round-up on July 22, 1942, she was rousted from the bunker and deported to Treblinka. BUZYN, Regina. CAMHI, Matilda. Born in 1925 in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. A student, she was deported from Skopje to Treblinka in March 1943. She was 18 years old.

263

‘Cescha’ (possibly the same woman as Tchechia Mendel). Richard Glazar recalled Cescha as ‘our robust peasant woman, (...) She works in the German mess and the few girls who are here look up to her the same way as we looked up to Želo.’555 Chaskel/Chaskiel. In his late 20s, a butcher from Warsaw where he was also known as a thief. In Treblinka, one of the informers for the SS. CHILINOWICZ, Ben–Zion. A journalist on the Warsaw daily newspaper Ruch (‘Movement’). His specialty was writing about the Polish Parliament. Lived at Nowolipie Street in the Muranów district of Warsaw, the Jewish district which became the ghetto. Deported to Treblinka in 1942 with his family. CHODŻKO, Mieczysław. Dr. CHORĄŻYCKI, Julian. A laryngologist, born in Warsaw in 1885, he lived at Nowolipki Street 54, Apartment 4, in the Muranów district of Warsaw that later became the ghetto. Although 57years-old when he was deported to Treblinka, he was selected by the SS to head their own sick bay (‘Revierstube’). As a former captain in the Polish army, he was involved in the prisoner's conspiracy from the outset, entrusted with the task of obtaining as much money as possible to buy weapons, as his clinic was near the barracks of the ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’) who sorted the cash and valuables of the victims. He was discovered by SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz, the deputy Commandant, with a large sum of money on him. But before he could be tortured to reveal the source, he committed suicide by swallowing poison. In 1945, on the second anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, Dr. Chorążycki was posthumously awarded the military Cross of Valor (Krzyż Walecznyk) by Poland's then Minister of Defence, General Rola—Żymierski.

555

264

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., p. 112

Dr. COMBER, Lipman. A young Jewish historian who before the war was connected with the Jewish Institute of Science in Vilno (Vilnius). In the Warsaw ghetto he ran a dormitory for poor Jewish children. Deported to Treblinka in 1942. CUKIERMAN, Cypora. From Kock, a small town in eastern Poland, 45 km north of Lublin. DORFMANN, Ruth. Samuel Willenberg recalled the tragic fate of this young woman as he worked at cutting the women's hair before they went to the gas chambers: Hundreds of women went through my station that day. Among them was a very lovely one about 20-years-old; though our acquaintance lasted only a few short minutes, I would not forget her for many years. Her name was Ruth Dorfmann, she said, and she had just finished matriculation. She was well aware of what awaited her, and kept it no secret from me. Her beautiful eyes displayed neither fear nor agony of any kind, only pain and boundless sadness. How long would she have to suffer?—she asked. ‘Only a few moments’, I answered. A heavy stone seemed to roll off her heart; tears welled up in our eyes. Suchomil (SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel) (...) the man in charge of sorting gold and dispatching transports to the gas chambers (...) passed by.556 We fell silent until he was gone. I continued cutting her long, silken hair. When I had finished, Ruth stood up from the stool and gave me one long, last look, as if saying goodbye to me and to a cruel, merciless world, and set out slowly on her final walk. A few minutes later I heard the racket of the motor which produced the gas and imagined Ruth in the mass of naked bodies, her soul departed.557

DORFMAN, Slamic. A barber who worked with Abraham Bomba in the gas chamber in the autumn of 1942. Along with another unknown barber, he ran into a gas chamber and was gassed with the victims from a transport.

556

557

SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, supervisor of the ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’) in the Lower Camp. S. Willenberg, Revolt in Treblinka, Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH), Warsaw 1992, p. 65.

265

DZIALOSZYNSKI , Alfred. From Częstochowa, he worked and lived in the same barrack as Samuel Willenberg. According to Willenberg, Działoszyński was murdered by the Germans as a direct consequence of ‘Hermann’ (Chaskiel) the official camp informer. EBERT. An engineer from Warsaw. Participated in the construction of the new gas chambers. ‘Edek’. Richard Glazar recalled the arrival in Treblinka of ‘little Edek’ who, at the age of 14 was small for his age: When he got off the train and stood on the Ramp, all one could see of him was his head and his shoes; in between was the accordion he'd brought and that was all he brought. An SS-man saw him and said right away, ‘Come on, come on!’, and from that day he played for them. They made a kind of mascot of him. He played everywhere, at all hours, and almost nightly in their mess.558

ELJASZEWICZ, Nachum. A tinsmith from Częstochowa in southern Poland. Oskar Strawczyński brought him into the workshops to help him. ENGEL, Abraham. From Warsaw. ERLICHMAN, Chana. From Lublin. ETTINGER, Moshe. Treblinka survivor Yekhiel Meyer Rajchman (Chil) recalls Moshe Ettinger embracing him ‘with bitter tears’ because he could not forgive himself for remaining alive while his wife and son had been murdered. FARBER, Mordechai. From Boćki village near Biała Podlaska in north-eastern Poland from where the Jews were moved to the ghetto in Sokołów Podlaski. From there, deported to Treblinka on November 11, 1942. FELMAN, Sarah Rivka. From Sokołów Podlaski. Deported with her entire family during the September 22, 1942, deportation of the town's 5,000 Jews to Treblinka.

558

266

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op cit., p. 30.

FELNER, Avraham. Born in Wyskow, Poland. He was a Yeshiva student and single. He was deported from Wyskow to Treblinka where he perished FINKELSTEIN, Samuel. Born in 1895 in Sandomierz, Świętokrzrskie Province in south-eastern Poland. After World War I, he settled on Łódź and became a well-known Jewish painter during the inter-war years. FINKELSTEIN, Shumel. Born in 1926 in Węgrów, between Warsaw and Sokołów Podlaski. Deported to Treblinka in 1942. FISZLEWICZ, Mendel. FISCHMAN, Michał. From Biała Podlaska. In Treblinka selected to work in the Sorting Brigade in the Lower Camp. FOJGENBAUM, Szmul. Photographed on April 1, 1943, with three other Jews: Jankiel Waserman, Wigda Szpektor, and Abraham Koltun, in the Wisznice ghetto near Biała Podlaski in Lublin District. Deported to Treblinka later that year. FOLKENFLICK, Rachmiel. FRIEDMAN, Adolf (‘Adasch’). From Łódź. In his 30s when deported to Treblinka where he worked as a foreman in the Sorting Square. In March 1943, together with Želo Bloch, transferred to the Upper Camp as a punishment for bundles of men's shirts that went missing. Friedman was appointed a foreman in the corpse— burning brigade. In the Upper Camp in late May–early June 1943, he and Bloch became key members of the Committee organizing the revolt. He was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. FREUD, Marie. Born on March 22, 1861, in Vienna, a sister of the renowned Sigmund Freud. She lived at Seegasse 9 in Vienna before being deported to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 28, 1942. From there she was deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bq’ on September 23, 1942. FREUND, Hans (‘Honza’). Born on March 18, 1907. Deported from Prague to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 20, 1942, and 267

on October 8, deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’. Richard Glazar recalls Freund thus: Hans Freund towers over all of us even when he is sitting. Words come out of his mouth in the same ambling way he moves his body. You hear in every sentence that he's a true son of Prague. Many of his expressions come from the world of commerce, from the textile business. Because of his size, Hans simply could not be overlooked upon his arrival at the undressing site. His wife and small son, however, went into the pipeline.559

Hans Freund was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. FREY, Pavel. Born on July 27, 1913. Deported on April 28, 1942, from Prague to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto, and on October 8, 1942 deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’. Selected to live, he worked in the Lower Camp at sorting the belongings of the murdered Jews. FRYDMAN, Feliks. Deported to Treblinka on one of the first transports from the Warsaw Umschlagplatz in July 1942. FUCHS, Treblinka survivor Jerzy Rajgrodzki recalled that in the Upper Camp there was a man called Fuchs who had worked in the past for Polish radio, and in the death camp played the clarinet in the camp orchestra FUKS, Chaim. Chaim Fuks was born in Opoczno in Łódź Province, Poland. Deported to Treblinka on an unknown date. FÜRST, Willi. A Czech hotelier, born on November 11, 1910. Deported to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto from Mährisch Ostrau (Moravská Ostrava) in northern Moravia, the third biggest Jewish community in Czechoslovakia after Prague and Brno. Transport ‘Bm’ left Theresienstadt for Treblinka on September 30, 1942, for the Theresienstadt ghetto, and from there he was deported on Transport ‘Bu’ to the Treblinka death camp on October 8, 1942. Richard Glazar recalls Fürst, known as ‘Little Willi

559

268

Ibid., p. 23.

Fürst’, and of all the Jews deported from Theresienstadt, he was the best informed about events in Treblinka: He spends most of his time sitting down at the big depository, where he can easily observe the comings and goings of the SS. Among the 12 members of the ‘Goldjuden’ brigade, Willi always seems to be playing some kind of supporting role. The black eyes, bushy eyebrows, the moustache under his nose, his somewhat rotund figure—they all add to the confusion.560

GAJKOWSKI, Chana. From Lida, a town in Grodno district in eastern Poland. GAŃCWOL-GANKIEWSKI, Adolf. Photographer from Siedlce. GELLERT. A butcher by trade. Kapo in Treblinka. GERSCHONOVITZ, Eduard (‘Edek’). A merchant from Częstochowa in Poland. Deported to Treblinka with his wife Esther in 1942. GERSTENMAN, Wolf. From Działoszyce, a small village in the south-west corner of Świętokrzyskie Province. GILBERT, Szlomo. Born in 1885. A writer and poet, author of essays and short stories published in Jewish periodicals in Warsaw. In the ghetto he lived at Nowolipie Street 58 and worked with YIKOR, the Society for Jewish Culture that strived to establish Yiddish as the official language of the ghetto, and organized an ambitious program of cultural events. Although it is known that wrote a great deal in ghetto, his manuscripts were lost during the deportations. Murdered in Treblinka sometime in the summer of 1942. GITLER, Joseph. A lawyer by profession and a member of the Częstochowa Jewish Council. Deported to Treblinka on 4 October 1942.

560

Ibid., p. 96.

269

GLATSTEIN, Jakob. Born in 1908 to Moshe and Yeta. A baker by profession and married to Ita. GLATTSZTAJN, Jakub. A musician, voice teacher and conductor of the Bund ‘Tsukunft’ (‘The Future’) youth choir during the German occupation.561 He took part in cultural activities in the Warsaw ghetto and organized choral groups of refugee children. He composed the melody to Yitzhak Katzenelson's poem in Hebrew, Yats ‘a Yehudi le-Rechov (A Jew went out to the Street). GODIN, Rashka (‘Elka’) and Shmuel. Lived at Stawki Street 9 in the Warsaw ghetto. Deported to Treblinka at the beginning of 1943. Grandparents of Israeli politician and former government minister Ehud Barak.562 GOLCZEWSKY, Ester. From Przytyk, a small village about 20 km west of the city of Radom in Radom District, east-central Poland. GOLD, Artur. Born in 1897, the son of Michał and Helena Gold. In 1922 he established a jazz band with his cousin Jerzy Petersburski, which became very popular. He travelled to England and recorded for Columbia Records in Hayes, Middlesex, near London. From 1929 he performed at the famous ‘Adria’ coffee house at Moniuszki Street 8, the most elegant and modern in Warsaw for dancing and cabaret. During the 1930's he composed popular songs such as Jesienna róży (Autumn Roses), Oczy czarny (Eyes of Black), Tango Milonga (Oh, Donna Clara) and To Ostatnia Niedziela (The Last Sunday). He lived and worked with his brothers Adam and Henryk, who were also musicians, at Chmielna 561

562

270

Official, name: Yugn Bund ‘Tsukunft’ (lit. ‘Future’ Youth Association)— a youth organization of the Jewish Labor Union, the Bund. By 1939, it had 15,000 members of whom many took part in the Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943 as part of the Jewish Combat Organization (Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa—ŻOB). Ehud Barak, born 1942 in Mandate Palestine. Changed his family name from ‘Brog’ to ‘Barak’ in 1972. Served as Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's second government 2009– 2012.

Street 122 in Warsaw. In 1940 he was forced to move to the Warsaw ghetto, where he performed at the Nowoczesna Café at Nowolipki Street 10, where Władysław Szpilman played daily on the piano. Szpilman's entire family was murdered in Treblinka. Artur Gold was deported from Warsaw to Treblinka in late 1942. Recognized as the famous musician, he was saved from the gas chambers and ordered by SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz to form a small orchestra. Richard Glazar recalled about the formation of the camp orchestra: We all knew that Lalka (Kurt Franz) was interested in music and someone alerted him to the fact that Artur Gold, the famous Warsaw musician, had arrived on one of the last transports. Lalka brought out Gold and gave him the assignment of forming a small orchestra in Treblinka. There were certainly enough musicians here; both of the red-haired Schermanns, Salwe the tenor, little Edek with his accordion, and many others.563

It is ironic that two of Gold's most popular hits, Tango Milonga and the haunting To Ostatnia Niedziela, also became the favorites of the SS in Treblinka, who ordered him and the camp orchestra to play them while the victims were on their way to the gas chambers. Artur Gold was murdered in Treblinka in 1943. GOLDBERG, Jolke. From Łosice in the northern part of Lublin District. Shot in Treblinka. GOLDBERG, Sane. From Łosice. GOLDBERGER, Karel. Born on May 4, 1922. Deported on June 30, 1942, from Olmütz (Olomouc) in eastern Moravia, Czechoslovakia, to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto, and from there to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942. GOLDFARB, Leybl. From Łódź (Litzmannstadt) in central Poland. Barber by trade.

563

Ibid., p. 117

271

GOLDMAN, Henryk. Arrived in Treblinka from Opatów, between Kraków and Lublin, on the same transport as Samuel Willenberg. Last seen in the Undressing Square’, clutching his father, before going to the gas chambers. GOLDSZTAJN, Bale. From the city of Radom in Radom District, west-central Poland. Only 12-years-old when deported to Treblinka. GOLDSTEIN, Abraham. From Kock, a small town in eastern Poland, 40 km north of Lublin. GOTLIEB, Moshe. GRADOWCZYK, Hirsh. GRAF, Rosa (née Freud). Born on March 21, 1860, in Vienna, a sister of the renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Deported from Vienna to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto, and from there to Treblinka. GRINBERG, Meir. Son of a scribe, and in Treblinka the Kapo of the Blue Brigade at the Ramp. According to Samuel Willenberg, Kapo Grinberg was ‘a plump, hump-backed, red-head, and also an orthodox Jew.’ Oskar Strawczyński recalled about Kapo Grinberg: Each evening at the end of the workday, when all were locked into the barracks, he would stand and pray the Evening Service and end with El male Rachamim.564 Then the Jews in the hut would recite Kaddish (‘The Sanctification of God's Name’), a prayer usually recited as part of the mourning rituals of Judaism.565 The SS-men would come and stand near the hut and listen to the Meir's pleasant voice.566

Meir Grinberg was shot in Treblinka 564

565

566

272

El Male Rachamin (‘God full of Compassion’): an Ashkenazi funeral prayer for the souls of the departed. Kaddish (‘Sanctification of God's Name’): recited as a part of the mourning ritual in Judaism. Recited only by a quorum of 10 Jewish male adults. YVA, Jerusalem, 0-3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months in Treblinka.

GRINBERG, Meir. A student, born in Klementów, a village in Łódź Province, central Poland in 1924 Murdered in Treblinka in 1943. GRINBERG, Meir. A student, born in 1923 in Opatów, between Kraków and Lublin. Deported to Treblinka at the age of 21. GRINBERG, Meir. Born circa. 1904 in Warsaw. GRYNBERG, Alter. From Opatów, between Kraków and Lublin in Poland. Murdered in Treblinka in 1942. GRÜNBERG, Adam. Born in 1919 in Warsaw. A 22-year-old student, deported to Treblinka from the Warsaw ghetto in July 1942. GUTTER, Noah. From Łódź, the third largest city in Poland, in the central part of the country and about 135 km south-west of Warsaw. HABERMAN, Leon. An artisan from Warsaw. In Treblinka employed in the SS laundry and managed to steal hand-grenades on the day of the revolt. HECHTKOPF, Szejndl. Born in Zamość, Lublin District, in 1911. In 1932 she moved to Warsaw with her family, and completed her law studies. During the war she was a member of the ‘Dror’ Jewish youth movement and the Jewish Combat Organization (Żydowski Organizacja Bojowa—ŻOB). Ran a soup kitchen which served as a meeting place for members of the resistance movement, and organized educational courses for workers and activity programs for children. On September 6, 1942, she was arrested and deported to Treblinka. HERMANN. An architect and master cabinet maker from Bohemia. HELLER. In Treblinka in charge of the kitchen in the Upper Camp. HERSCHKOWITZ. Father and son murdered in Treblinka. HERSZAFT, Adam–Abraham. Born in 1886. A Jewish graphic artist and painter who studied art in Warsaw and Paris. His work was displayed at various exhibitions in Warsaw, Łódź and Katowice.

273

Herszaft was an employee of the Supply Section in the Warsaw Jewish Council. Deported to Treblinka in 1942. HERSZKOWICZ, Moniek. Former owner of a canning factory in Łódź. Together with Oskar and Zygmunt Strawczyński, decided to escape through the roof skylight of the blacksmiths' workshop, but the attempt had to be aborted. HERZ, Sofie. Deported to Treblinka from the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto. Dr. HILFERDING, Margarethe. Born on June 20, 1871. She was the first female member of the Vienna Psychoanalysis Society (Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung)567and an activist of the Viennese Social Democratic Party. Deported from Vienna to the Theresienstadt fortress on June 28, 1942, and from there to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bq’ on September 23, 1942. HIRSCH, Walter. Born in 1909. Deported from Mährisch Ostrau (Moravská Ostrava) in the Moravian part of Czechoslovakia to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on September 29, 1942. Deported to Treblinka from Theresienstadt on October 5, 1942 on Transport ‘Bt’. In the death camp he wrote the lyrics for the camp song Fester Schritt (music by Artur Gold). Hirsch was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. HOLCMAN, Ludwik. HOLZMAN, Malka. From Wyszków, a town in north-eastern Poland HUBERBAND, Szymon. Born in 1909 in Chęcina, Świętokrzyski Province, Poland. A rabbi, self-taught historian and advisor to the Jewish Self-Help Association (Żydowskiej Samopomocy Społecznej—ŻSS) in Piotrków Trybunalski in Łódź Province, central Poland. He moved to Warsaw in 1939 and the following year was forced to live in the ghetto, at Zamenhof Street 19, where he 567

274

The Vienna Psychoanalysis Society was founded in 1902 with Sigmund Freud as its leading light. The Nazi Anschluss of Austria in 1938 resulted in Freud's emigration to London and dissolution of the Society.

continued his work with the ŻSS. He collected documents on religious life in the ghetto, and the fate of synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, religious books and holy artifacts at the hands of the Germans. These documents formed a part of the Ringelblum Archive which was hidden in the ghetto in 1942 and 1943, and recovered after the war. Rabbi Huberband was deported from Warsaw and murdered in Treblinka on August 18, 1942. IMICH, Józef Rubin. Born on August 9, 1868, in Częstochowa, southern Poland. Deported to Treblinka sometime in October 1942. IMICH, Laja Ludwika. Born in Łódź, central Poland. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa with her husband Józef during October 1942. JABŁKOWSKI, Hershel. From Stoczek in northern Poland. Probably arrived in Treblinka on June 18, 1942—just over a month before the arrival of the first transport from Warsaw. According to Oskar Strawczyński, ‘Hershel was a quiet and reliable man’ who later became the camp's master-blacksmith and employed in building the ‘bath’, i.e. the first gas chambers. Strawczyński also recalled that Hershel told him about the gas chambers in the Upper Camp and the mass killing procedure. Herschel was responsible for making the beautiful iron decoration which was placed on top of the main entrance gate to the camp. Before the revolt, he sharpened knives and axes and turning metal files into daggers. He was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1942. ‘Jacek’. A 17-year-old Hungarian-Jew. JAKUBOWICZ, Beila. From Przedborz, a town in Łódź Province. JAKUBOWICZ, Herszlik. Jazik. A soloist and cabaret dancer. In Treblinka, a member of the camp orchestra.

275

Jurek. A former rickshaw driver in Warsaw. In Treblinka, Jurek was the Kapo of the Red Brigade supervised the undressing of the victims in the Lower Camp. Oskar Strawczyński described Kapo Jurek as being: So corrupt and debauched that ‘no deed was too foul for him. This brute would not hesitate to take a girl aside, already naked, on her march to the ‘bath’. Promising to save her, he would do the worst, and then push her back into the line.568

KALMAN, Estera. KALMAN, Maier. KAMINSKY, Daniel. A fireman. Relative of the famous American singer, actor, dancer and comedian Danny Kaye.569 In Treblinka, Kaminsky was employed as a barber in the Upper Camp. KAPLAN, Aron Chaim. Born in 1880 in Horodyszcze, a village in Lublin District. A teacher and writer, he settled in 1902 in Warsaw, where he set up a Hebrew elementary school, located first at Karmelicka Street 29, then at Pawia Street 13 and finally at Dzielna Street 15 until the outbreak of war. He was the author of a dozen or more Hebrew school textbooks, articles and essays about the problems of Hebrew education, and a member of the Association of Hebrew Writers and Journalists in Warsaw. In the ghetto he lived on the corner of Nowolipki and Karmelicka Streets. From 1933–August 1942 he kept a diary which he managed to smuggle to the Aryan side. He was killed along with his wife in Treblinka, probably in December 1942 or January 1943. KAPLAN, Shmuel. Born in Warsaw in 1907 where he became one of the founders of a branch of the HaNoar HaTzioni a Zionist Youth 568 569

276

YVA, Jerusalem, 0-3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months in Treblinka. Danny Kaye, born David Daniel Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York in 1913, to a Ukrainian-Jewish couple who had emigrated to the USA in 1911 from Ekaterinoslav (today, Dnepropetrovsk) on the Dnieper River in central Ukraine. Kaye changed his name from Kaminsky to Kaye in 1913, at the very beginning of his career as an entertainer.

movement. At the outbreak of the World War I he became the chairman of the movement's national leadership in Poland. Kaplan was one of the initiators of the kibbutz, a communal group based on agriculture established in the ghetto at Długa Street 27. In July 1942 he was deported to Treblinka. KAPŁANSKI, Chaim. From Brańsk, a small town in Podlasie Province in eastern Poland, 69 km south-west of Białystok. KAROLIŃSKI, Doba. From Różany, a small village in Łód Province, 31 km north-east of the city of Łódź. KATCENELSON, Ester. From Nowogródek, a town in Grodno district in north-eastern Poland KATZENELSON, Hanna. Wife of Yitzhak Katzenelson, the famous Jewish poet, play-writer and educator. Deported to Treblinka, together with their sons Benjamin and Ben Zion on August 14, 1942. KIERBEL, Chinda. From Chmielnik, a small village near Sokołów Podlaski. KIŚIELNICKI, Feiga. Born circa. 1888 in the small, predominantly Jewish town of Kałuszyń, near Minsk Mazowiecki, about 40 km east of Warsaw, in Mazovia Province. Feiga was a housewife; her husband was a merchant who often traveled to Warsaw by horse and wagon. The family was religious and spoke Yiddish at home. Their 21-year-old son Israel Yitzak died of typhus in late 1942, at about the same time that Feiga and her family were deported to Treblinka. KLEINMANN, Heinrich. A former civil servant from Czechoslovakia, ‘a quiet polite, bespectacled man.’ In Treblinka he was the foreman of the Camouflage Brigade where, according to Richard Glazar, ‘He thought he was a curious choice of foreman, for our tough little gang of dare–devils.’570

570

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op cit., p. 132.

277

KLEINMANN, Leopold. Born in 1863. Deported from Vienna to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 28, 1942, and from there deported to Treblinka. KOBYLA, Itzik. From Warsaw. According to Jankiel Wiernik he was an informer in the camp. KOHLENBRENNER. Recalled by Richard Glazar as having approached him with an escape plan for Glazar's group of six plus himself leading to Warsaw, but the escape does not materialize.571 KOLTUN, Abram. Photographed in the Wisznice ghetto, Lublin District, on April 1, 1943. Deported to Treblinka the same year. KONGORECKI/KONGURECKI. Samuel Willenberg remembered that Kongorecki, who was from Częstochowa in southern Poland, argued with Doctors Rybak and Reislik about having an injection prior going to the ‘Lazarett’. Kongorecki resisted and they were disturbed. Kongorecki died several weeks later in his bunk. KORCZAK, Janusz. Born in 1878 or 1879 in Warsaw. A doctor, educationist, writer, founder and editor of Maly Przeglad (‘Little Review’), a weekly children's supplement to Nasz Przeglad (‘Our Review’); he was also the author of radio programs and talks where he used the pseudonym the ‘Old Doctor’. In 1928, he was the co-founder of the Dom Sierota Jewish Orphans' Home, with Stefania Wilczyńska, and in 1912 Nasz Dom (Our Home), with Maria Falska an orphanage for Polish children. At the outbreak of war he volunteered for the Polish Army but was rejected because of his age (he was 64). The Germans then forced him to relocate the Jewish orphanage from Krochmalna Street 92 to the ghetto, first to Chłodna Street 38 and later to a building on the corner of Sienna and Śliska Streets. Dr. Korczak became a wellknown and respected figure in the ghetto. On Thursday, August 6, 1942, the SS came to the orphanage to collect the 192 children

571

278

Ibid., p. 42.

for deportation to Treblinka. This was the beginning of the Kinder-Aktion (Children's Operation) during which all orphanages in the ghetto were cleared out and the children sent to the Umschlagplatz. Twice, Dr. Korczak was offered immunity from deportation. Twice he refused. Korczak and Stefania Wilczyńska led the children, in an orderly manner, to the Umschlagplatz where even the SS offered him immunity. Again he refused—he would not abandon his children. Nachum Remba, witnessed the scene at the Umschlagplatz: They began the loading. I stood by the cordon of the Order Service, which led to the trains.572 (...) I asked all the time about the numbers in the train cars. They loaded them constantly, but they were still not full. (...) Korczak went at the head of the column. No, I will never forget that sight. It was not a march to the trains; it was an organized, silent protest against banditry. In contrast with the packed masses, who went like cattle to the slaughter, it was a march of a kind that had never taken place before. All the children were formed in fours, with Korczak at the head, and with his eyes directed upwards, he held two children by their tiny hands, leading the procession. The second column was led by Stefania Wilczyńska, and the third by Broniatowska—her children had blue knapsacks, while the fourth column was led by Szternfeld from the boarding house in Twarda Street. They were the first Jewish ranks that went to their death with dignity, giving the barbarians looks full of contempt. When the Germans saw Korczak, they asked, ‘Who is that man?’573

Dr. Janusz Korczak, his three assistants and 192 children were all murdered in Treblinka on arrival.

572

573

Order Service (Ordnungsdienst—OD): the Jewish Ghetto Police who functioned under German supervision. Cited in: B. Engelking, J. Leociak, Getto Warszawskie—Przewodnik po nieistniejącycm mieście, Centrum Badań nad Zagłada Żydów, Warsaw 2013. (Eng. edn.: The Warsaw Ghetto—A Guide to Perished Places, Yale University Press, New Haven/London 2009.

279

KOTT, Berek. Lived at Marienstraße 36 in the Częstochowa ghetto. A mechanic and welder, in Treblinka he was responsible for renovating the Ramp. In the SS administration building he constructed a special iron furnace for incinerating the secret German files, should the camp come under attack. KOZIEBROCKI, Avraham. A school teacher who lived with his wife Feige in Pruszków, a town just south-west of Warsaw. Murdered in Treblinka at the age of 63. KRONENBERG. A journalist who lived in Lwów (Lemberg), Galician District. In Treblinka he contracted typhus and hid among a pile of furs in the sorting barracks. He was discovered by SS-NCO Miete, taken to the ‘Lazarett’ and shot. Kuba. From Warsaw, ‘a thief and a pimp’. In Treblinka assigned as ‘Barrack Elder’ (Blockälteste) in Barrack II in the Lower Camp. He was also a much feared informer who was killed in the ‘ghetto’ workshop area by fellow prisoners during the revolt on August 2, 1943. KUBEK, Wilhelm (‘Jakob’). A childhood friend of Samuel Willenberg from Częstochowa. He caught typhus in the spring of 1943 and was shot in the ‘Lazarett’ by a Ukrainian Wachmann, witnessed by Willenberg. KURLAND, Zev/Zvi. From Warsaw, about 50-years-old. In Treblinka assigned as the Kapo supervising the ‘Lazarett’ brigade, the smallest in the camp. Described by Richard Glazar as a small man, the ‘oldest gravedigger’: Looking out over small round lenses in metal frames are eyes that must have seen a lot and have come to understand a lot. His nose is somewhat bulbous, a few of his teeth are missing, his cheeks are sunken and his face seems to have been colored by the sand that has been burned dark and mixed with ashes. The whip that hangs from his belt always seems to be getting in his way; somehow it gets between his legs, which are clothed in pants made of a coarse material,

280

and felt boots. And since he is of such small stature, the end of the thing drags across the floor.574

Kurland, one of the key figures in the Organizing Committee from the beginning, was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. KUSZER, Mendel. Born in Siedlce, Mazowia, eastern Poland. Deported from Siedlce to Treblinka in 1942. LAJCHER, Berek. LANDAU, Natalia. Born in Warsaw in 1907. A Jewish artist by profession, deported to Treblinka in 1942. LANGER. From Częstochowa in southern Poland and old school friend of Samuel Willenberg. Langer was spotted by SS-Unterscharführer Miete in conversation with two other prisoners. Miete found a few gold coins in Langer's possession and for that he was hung upside down and savagely beaten. Miete ordered him to denounce the prisoners who were in conversation with him, but Langer stubbornly refused. He was shot in the head by Miete. LAU, Moshe Chaim. Born in 1892 in Lwów (Lemberg). A rabbi, married to Khaia (née Frenkel). Prior to the Second World War he lived in Piotrków, Poland. He was deported to Treblinka in 1942 along with one of his sons Milek, where they were both murdered. ŁAZOWERTÓWNA, Henryka. Born 1910 in Warsaw. A poet close to the Skamander group of Polish experimental poets, founded in 1918. After study in Warsaw and Grenoble in France, she became an active member of the Polish Writers' Union, wrote for the periodicals Droga (Road) and Pion (Perpendicular) and published two volumes of poetry. In the Warsaw ghetto she worked for the Jewish Self-Help Organization (Żydowska Samopomoc Społeczna—ŻSS), and was a member of Emanuel Ringelblum's Oneg 574

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., p. 56.

281

Shabbat group, documenting the tragic daily life in the ghetto. She also continued to write poetry, the best-known being Mały Szmugler (‘The Little Smuggler’) which dealt with a child-smuggler struggling single-handedly to keep his family alive by smuggling food into the ghetto from the Aryan side of the wall, at great risk to his own life. In August 1942 she went voluntarily with her mother to the Umschlagplatz and was deported to Treblinka, where they were murdered. LEBER, Myriam. Dr. LEICHERT. From Węgrów, between Warsaw and Sokołów Podlaski. A physician and a former reserve officer in the Polish Army and in Treblinka a member of the Organizing Committee. Dr. Leichert replaced Dr. Chorążycki, according to Stanisław Kon. He was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. LEITEISEN. Remembered by Jankiel Wiernik as a Warsaw baker employed in the Lower Camp. Acted as a liaison between the conspirators. LENGE, Zalman. Performed weddings according to Jewish law in the Upper Camp. He was formerly a porter from Warsaw. LERER, Jechiel. A poet, born 1910 in Zelechów, a small town a few kilometers south-east of Warsaw, in Garwolin county. Employed in the Warsaw ghetto as a post office clerk, and also active in the YIKOR organization.575 He worked with the Underground press, especially the Hebrew periodical Hamadrikh (‘The Guide’) and wrote poetry, some of which survived and was published in 1948. Deported to Treblinka in August 1942. LESZCZYŃSKI, Chil. From Łódź.

575

282

YIKOR (Yiddish Cultural Organization): the biggest of several underground cultural organizations in the Warsaw ghetto whose main aim was to make Yiddish the official language of the ghetto.

LEWKOWSKA, Irene (‘Irka’). Dr. Irene Lewkowska a physician worked with Dr. Chorążycki in the infirmary. She was ordered by the SS to pump out his stomach, which she did, to no avail. LEWIN, Luba. Born in 1900, née Hotner. Wife of Abraham Lewin, who kept a diary in the Warsaw ghetto. After a blockade on Gęsia Street 30 in the ghetto, she was deported to Treblinka on August 12, 1942. LEWKOWICZ, Chaim Cheel. Chaim and his wife Freda owned a house and a small grocery/butcher's shop at Bodzentiskya Street in Kielce, Poland. They lived together with their children Lajzer, Mania, Mottel, Rivka and Shaindel. A younger brother died at an early age, one sister was shot by the Nazis while smuggling food into the ghetto. The whole family was deported to Treblinka when the Kielce ghetto was liquidated. Marek Meyer, another brother, survived the war and now lives in Canada. LICHTBLAU, Samuel, Stanisław (‘Standa’). Born on May 3, 1909. Deported to Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on September 18, 1942, from Mährisch Ostrau (Moravská Ostrava), the third biggest Jewish community in Moravian Czechoslovakia after Prague and Brno. Deported to Treblinka on October 8, 1942, on Transport ‘Bu’ from Theresienstadt. In the death camp he worked in the SS garage. On August 2, 1943, Lichtblau sabotaged the big fuel tank in the garage which exploded and caused an extensive fire in which he was killed. His wife and daughter were murdered Treblinka. LICHTSTEIN, Jakob. LIET, Zielo. Killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. LOWY, Yitzhak. Born 1887 in Warsaw. In 1907, at the age of 20, he joined the Yiddish Theatre Group with whom he became an actor of note and toured eastern and western Europe. 1911–1912 the theatre group was in Prague where Lowy befriended the Czech writer Franz Kafka.

283

LUBLING, Ester. Daughter of Moshe and Zelda. She and her mother were murdered in Treblinka in 1942. Her father was killed in the revolt on August 2, 1943. LUBLING, Moshe Y. Born in Wolbrom, Upper Silesia, Poland in 1902. Served in the Polish army 1926–1928. He was the chairman of HaNoar HaOved,576 and other organizations in Sosnowiec, also in Upper Silesia. Lubling was chairman of the Workers Council in the Częstochowa ghetto which evolved into the Resistance Organization in the city and established relations with the left-wing Polish Resistance Movement. Moshe Lubling's wife Zelda, née Fisch, and Ester their 12-year-old daughter Ester were deported to Treblinka on September 22, 1942, where they were murdered. Moshe and his son Pinchas were separated from Zelda and Ester, and remained in Częstochowa, accommodated in a former Jewish-owned metal ware factory—Metalurgja, which had been expropriated by the Germans. In late September or early October 1942, Lubling was deported to Treblinka, but Pinchas Lubling remained in Częstochowa. It was the last time Pinchas saw his father, but not the last time he had contact with him. In the death camp, Moshe Lubling was selected to join the ‘Goldjuden’, and became one of the original members of the Organizing Committee that planned the prisoner revolt. In May 1943, he sent a letter from Treblinka to the resistance organization in the ‘small ghetto’ in Częstochowa containing information about the preparation for the revolt and encouraging the resistance in ghetto to do the same.577 Moshe Lubling was killed during the revolt on August 2, 1943. In 1961, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem awarded Moshe 576

577

284

HaNoar HaOved: Federation of Working and Studying Youth. A Jewish organization founded in 1926 to conduct educational activities and supervise working conditions and wages of Jewish youths aged 13–18. The existence of the letter is confirmed by the testimonies of Aron Gelberd, Tsvi Rosenvayn, Moshe Rappaport, Pinchas Lubling and Dr. Binyamin Orenstein. Gelberd and Rappaport both escaped from Treblinka, the former after 19 days in the camp and the latter after three months. Both returned to the ‘small’ ghetto in Częstochowa.

Lubling a citation for his heroic resistance against the Nazis. His son Pinchas survived the war and settled in Israel. LUBRENITSKI, Rudek. From Płock in Mazowsze county, north-west of Warsaw, Poland. In the death camp he was in charge of the garage and petrol stores, and was a key figure in the revolt on August 2, 1943. On that day, he immobilized the engine of the armored car parked outside the SS-garage, and played a big part in distributing the weapons taken from the SS armory. Together with Standa Lichtblau, he set fire to the petrol storage tank, causing explosions and a huge fire. He was killed during the revolt. LUKSEMBURG, Wolf. Born in 1936 in Dęblin, Lublin District, southeast Poland. Nothing further known. Maier. A 16-year-old youth from Warsaw. In Treblinka, he sorted the belongings of the murdered Jews. Accused by SS-Oberscharführer Küttner of not removing a Jewish star from a woman's coat, he was executed on the spot by a Ukrainian guard. MANDELBAUM, Jakub. MANNES, Kapo. Remembered by Richard Glazar, “as straightforward in his movements, precise in his actions, his brown face clean.”578 Marcus. A youth from Warsaw, he was a putzer (cleaner) who shined the boots and cleaned the uniforms of the SS. He was the leader of a group of four boys who were responsible for removing weapons from the SS armory. Marcus also managed to remove newspapers from the SS living quarters through which the prisoners learned that the tide of war was turning against the Germans. On the day of the revolt, the boys led by Marcus broke into the armory, wrapped the weapons in sacking, removed a bar from the back window of the armory facing the western fence, and passed

578

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., p. 38.

285

the weapons out. From there, the weapons were taken to a leanto shed at the nearby garage and delivered to Rudek Lubrenitski. Dr. MARKIN, Estera. A doctor of psychology and author of scientific works. Before the war she had been a teacher of philosophy and psychology in secondary schools in Warsaw; she was also an assistant to Władysław Witwicki at Warsaw University. In the Warsaw ghetto she worked for CENTOS, a Jewish charity organization which helped Jewish orphans. She was deported to Treblinka in 1942. MASÁREK, Rudolf. Born on September 10, 1913, in Czechoslovakia. Prior to the German occupation he had served in the Czech army with the rank of lieutenant. He was deported from Prague on August 10, 1942 to Theresienstadt fortress ghetto. On October 8, 1942, deported on transport ‘Bu’ from Theresienstadt to Treblinka, together with his pregnant wife. Masárek was a half-Jew; his wife who was Jewish was gassed on arrival. Masárek worked in the tailors' workshop under SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel and appointed as a ‘Hofjude’ (‘Court Jew’). He also looked after SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz's dog, the much-feared Barry. Active in the Organizing Committee that planned the revolt, he was last seen on the roof of the SS zoo, firing a heavy machine gun at the Germans. According to Richard Glazar, Masárek wanted to die in the same place as his wife and unborn child, and this he shouted defiantly at the Germans from the roof of the zoo. Richard Glazar believed he was killed with all the other key leaders in the revolt. This is at odds with information from Chil Rajchman who states that Masárek escaped with him to the forest and made an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide by slitting his wrists. Rajchman bound his wounds, but Masárek succeeded at the second attempt. At the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem in 1961, Kalman Teigman testified that he believed that Masárek had been killed during the revolt. Despite belief to the contrary, the half-Jewish Masárek was not related to the Czech President. 286

MASS, Arik. Mechel. From Warsaw. Escaped from the Upper Camp in Treblinka on the night of December 31, 1942, together with four other prisoners. One escaped, one was shot dead and the other three were returned to the camp. He was the last of the three to be hanged, and as he stood under the gallows he called out: ‘Down with Hitler! Long live the Jewish people!’ MENDEL, Tchechia. From Lwów (Lemberg), was an extremely well educated woman, the daughter of an industrialist in Galicia. According to SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel, Tchechia was Kapo Rakowski's girlfriend and she became pregnant by him and had an abortion. She was executed along with a number of girls who were kept alive after the revolt. Prof. MERRING.. In Częstochowa had been Samuel Willenberg's history teacher. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa with his wife and daughter who were gassed on arrival. He was shot in the ‘Lazarett’ in 1943. MEYER, Frederike. Born in 1877. Deported from Vienna to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on July 10, 1942, and from there deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bp’ on September 21, 1942. Dr. MILEJKOWSKI, Izrael. Born on July 17, 1887. A Warsaw dermatologist who lived at Orla Street 5. In the ghetto he organized research into starvation. A member of the Warsaw Jewish Council (Judenrat). Deported to Treblinka in January 1943. MIKA, Chaim. A building contractor from Nowy Dwór near Sokołów Podlaski. In Treblinka, he supervised the digging of two new wells, one in the Ukrainian courtyard and one in the Jewish ‘ghetto’ area. He also constructed cellars for storing ice and potatoes. Generally, he led a small brigade responsible for the storage of potatoes.579

579

YVA, Jerusalem, 0-3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months in Treblinka.

287

Moniek. Described as a young, dynamic fellow from Warsaw who was the Kapo of the Hofjuden (‘Court Jews’). He was a member of the Organizing Committee that planned the camp revolt. MOKOTOWSKI, Yitzhak. Born in 1890 in Otwock a spa town 15 km south-east of Warsaw. Deported to Treblinka on August 19, 1942, with 7,000 Otwock Jews, including the Mostowska family members listed below. MOKOTOWSKA, Rachel. Born 1899 in Otwock. MOKOTOWSKI, Leibl. Born 1902 in Otwock. MOKOTOWSKI, Joshua. Born 1904 in Otwock. Son of Yitzhak and Chava. MOKOTOWSKA, Pina. Born 1906 in Otwock. MOKOTOWSKA, Yenta. Born 1908 in Otwock. Daughter of Yitzhak and Chava. MOKOTOWSKA, Yenta. Born 1920 in Otwock. Daughter of Leibl and Rachel. Moritz. From Częstochowa. Dressed as a clown, he guarded the barracks during the day to ensure no one entered. Moshko/Moiszke. From Słonim in eastern Poland. In Treblinka, an informer for the SS. MŁYNEK, Bluma. From Warsaw. NAHMIAS, Bohora. Born in 1876 in Bitolj, Yugoslavia (today in Macedonia). A housewife and a widow. Deported from Bitolj to Treblinka in 1943. NEUMARK, Wolf. From Częstochowa in southern Poland. In Treblinka he was a foreman, ‘a decent young man’, worked in the Sorting Yard in the Lower Camp.

288

NIUDOWSKI, Szolom. Born in 1880. Married, and a shochet (ritual slaughterman).580 He lived in Kosów Lacki, Sokołów County, a village located close to the Treblinka death camp. He was murdered in the camp during 1942. NAJMAN, Itccak. NAJMAN, Perła. ORENSTEIN, Marek. Born in 1878 in Warsaw. A self-taught writer, he had completed a drama course in Los Angeles, USA. In Warsaw, he obtained a diploma in directing from ZASP,581 a union for theatre artists, and directed his first play in 1903. He was the author of poetry, songs, humoresques, stories and dramas. Before the war he was a stage manager and director in Jewish theatres, a popularizer of classic Jewish drama, a translator, and author of stage adaptations. In the Warsaw ghetto he was the manager of the Nowy Kameralny Theatre (New Chamber Theater) where he also directed stage productions.582 OSELKA, Joshua. OSLERNER, Chana. OSTRYŃSKA, Etka. OSTRZEGA, Avraham. A sculptor, born in 1889 in Radzymin, a town 25 km north-east of Warsaw. Lived in Warsaw and deported to Treblinka from the Warsaw ghetto in 1942.

580

581 582

The shochet was a religious Jew trained and licensed to carry out shechita, the slaughter of animals ‘with respect and compassion’, according to Jewish tradition and Jewish dietary laws. ZASP: Związek Artystów Scen Polskich (Union of Polish Stage Artists). Among his best known theater pieces were Chasydzi (‘The Hasidim’), Piesniaze ghetto (‘The Bards of the Ghetto’), Fanatycy (‘The Fanatics’), Krółestwo Krzywdy (‘The Kingdom of Injustice’), Nędzarze (‘The Paupers’), Krółowa Sabat (‘Queen of the Sabbath’), and Ostatni Mesjasz (‘The Last Messiah’).

289

Pałacz. His arrival and fate in Treblinka is described by Oskar Strawczyński in his statement Ten Months in Treblinka: From a distance I recognize neighbors. I see my neighbor Pałacz being led to the ‘Lazarett’, from where shortly a shot is heard. Pałacz, a rather weak, delicate young man, evidently could not pass the training.583

Perla/Paulinka. Perla, or as she was usually called Paulinka, was the women's Kapo in the Lower Camp. She was notorious for her ill treatment of the women under her supervision and feared as an informer. SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel recalled that she betrayed at least six Jews to SS-Oberscharführer Fritz Küttner. After the revolt on August 2 1943, she was found on the path to the Upper Camp with her head shattered. PIASEK, Oskar Strawczyński recalled that Piasek had arrived in Treblinka with his wife and six children. In the camp, he supervised a group of upholsterers: He was an ugly creature. He had come to Treblinka, but behaved like a street brat, singing dirty songs, gorging himself, getting drunk and molesting women who tried to avoid him.584

PIOTROWSKI, Izig. From Łódź. Dr. POHORILLE, Szymon. A lawyer from Częstochowa in southern Poland who served as a member of the Jewish Council (Judenrat) in the ghetto. Deported to Treblinka on October 4, 1942. POSNER. Remembered by Abraham Krzepicki, as the Kapo in charge of the Forest Brigade (Waldkommando) in September 1942 when two Jews escaped. The supervising SS-Scharführer discovered they were missing, but Kapo Posner told him that the men were asleep in their barracks. Several Wachmänner searched the nearby forest, found the two men hiding in a tree, and brought them back to the camp where they were executed.

583 584

290

YVA, Jerusalem, 0-3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months In Treblinka. Ibid.

Kapo Posner received twenty-five lashes in front of his brigade because he had lied. POTTNER, Emil. Born in 1872. Deported from Berlin to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on July 24, 1942, and from there deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Br’ on September 26, 1942. PULLMAN, Szymon. Born 1890 in Warsaw. A violinist, conductor and music teacher who had studied in St. Petersburg and Paris. In 1915, he moved back to Warsaw where he formed a string quartet and then a chamber orchestra, Pullman's Orchestra, with which he gave concerts in Poland and throughout Europe. In 1921, he became a professor of the Conservatoire in Vienna and a seminal figure in the evolution of the performance of chamber music. He escaped to Paris at the time of the 1938 Nazi Anschluss of Austria. While visiting his family in Warsaw in August 1939, he was unable to leave at the outbreak of war and ended up in the Warsaw ghetto. In the ghetto he was one of the founders and conductors of the Ghetto Symphony Orchestra which played regularly between 1940 and 1942. Pullman was deported to Treblinka in August 1942. RABINOWICZ, Henrik. Born in Warsaw in 1900 and murdered in Treblinka in 1942. RAKOWSKI, Benjamin. A farm owner from Jędrzejów, between Kraków and Kielce in Świętokrzyskie Province. He was tall, wellbuilt and strong, which explained his selection in Treblinka as a Kapo. For a short time deputized for the Camp Elder (Lagerälteste) Galewski, when he contracted typhus. According to Abraham Bomba, Rakowski's brother escaped from the death camp, and he was questioned about it by SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Franz. Rakowski was brought into the prisoners Organizing Committee preparing for the revolt, but following a postponement of an actual date, Kapok Rakowski decided to organize an escape from the camp for about 15 fifteen prisoners, including his girlfriend Tchechia Mendel in late April or early May 1943. Rich-

291

ard Glazar wrote in his book Trap with a Green Fence that Rakowski ‘is the biggest speculator in the entire camp, a glutton, a boozer, a belly-acher and he is not looking out for anyone but himself; everything he does is for his own benefit.’585 This is in sharp contrast with Samuel Willenberg's opinion of Rakowski. Willenberg saw in him a man preparing the others for a revolt, who planned the escape with the help of two Ukrainian guards, whom he bribed with large sums of money. The escape was planned through the tailors' workshop, but before it could take place, SS-Scharführer August Miete found money, gold and valuables hidden in the walls. He had Rakowski arrested. Despite claiming his innocence and that the money and valuables belonged to Dr. Chorążycki, with whom he lived in the same room before his death, Rakowski was taken to the ‘Lazarett’ and shot. RAZANOWICZ. From Warsaw. Participated in the construction of the new gas chambers. Shot in the ‘Lazarett’. Dr. REISLIK. A doctor witnessed by Samuel Willenberg trying to give an injection to the prisoner Kongorecki. Dr. REIZMAN. Along with Dr. P Bąk from Warsaw, Dr. Reizman from Tomaszów Mazowiecki in Łódź Province, was added to the medical staff at the infirmary in the Lower Camp. RETSTEIN, Matel, née Kohn, was born in Ćmiłów, a village just south of Lublin in south-east Poland. Murdered in Treblinka at the age of 22. Rabbi ROGOWY, Avraham Mordechai. Born in 1898 in Łódź (Litzmannstadt). He moved to Warsaw and in the ghetto lived at Nowolipie Street 58, apartment 8. He was one of the leading members of Agudat Yisrael, (Union of Israel), a party that formed an umbrella for all observant Jews who were opposed to Zionism in prewar Palestine. In the Warsaw ghetto he ran religious schools and engaged in social work. He headed a Chevra Kadisha

585

292

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., p. 99.

(Holy Society/Burial Society) which attended to the preparation of deceased Jews for burial according to Jewish tradition. Deported to Treblinka with his wife and nine children on August 1, 1942. They were all murdered on arrival. ROSENBLATT, Max. Born in 1939 in Radom, between Warsaw and Lublin in Mazowiecki Province, Poland. Deported from the Radom ghetto to Treblinka where he was murdered aged only three. ROSENZWEIG, Gadelia. Sorting Brigade in the Lower Camp. ROSZMAN, Avrum. ROTBART, Zelig. A lawyer from Częstochowa in southern Poland and a member of the Jewish Council (Judenrat) in the Częstochowa ghetto. Deported to Treblinka on 4 October 1942. ROTSZTEJN, Jecheskel. Born in 1919 in Działoszyce, Świętokrzyski Province, north-east of Kraków. He was married and lived in Warsaw. Deported from Warsaw to Treblinka in 1942. ROZENBLUM, Słamek. Lived in Warsaw and worked with Kalman Teigman at the Okęcie airfield on the southern outskirts of the city. In Treblinka he worked in the Upper Camp and assisted with the gassing of the victims. The precise meaning of what Kalman meant by assisting with gassing is unclear. 586 ROZENSZTAT, Bolesław. Born on October 28, 1887. A barrister, lived at Prosta Street 12 in Warsaw, only a few meters west of the western wall of the ‘small ghetto’. After moving into the ghetto, he became a member of the Jewish Council (Judenrat). Deported to Treblinka in January 1943. RUBINOWICZ, Dawid. Born on July 27, 1927. From Kielce, capital of Świętokrzyski Province in central Poland between Warsaw and Kraków. Deported to Treblinka in 1942. He was 15-years-old. 586

Correspondence from Kalman Teigman to Chris Webb, dated June 24, 2003.

293

RUBINSZTAJN (RUBENSTEIN) Abraham. A well-known beggar in the Warsaw ghetto, and self-appointed ‘Ghetto Jester’. He ran wildly through the ghetto streets accosting people and shouting out ditties he had made up; the best known was: ‘Look lively, Jews, you've lost all shame! Rich and poor are all the same!’ He accosted passers-by and blackmailed them into giving him small change or he would start screaming. Everyone knew that if Abraham did not get his coins, he would shout: ‘Down with the Führer! Down with Hitler!’ At which any passing German patrol would open fire indiscriminately in the street. The ‘Jester’ was eventually deported to Treblinka. Even at the Umschlagplatz he still continued to clown and fool around. ‘Rudek’. Driver/mechanic from Płock, a town on the river Vistula in Mazowiecki Province. Employed in the SS garage in the Lower Camp. Responsible for blowing up the fuel dump in the SS garage on the day of the revolt. Killed during the revolt. Dr. RYBAK, According to Richard Glazar, Rybak came from Warsaw and at one time had been student at the University of Prague. In Treblinka, he was assigned as the sick bay doctor in the Lower Camp. Oskar Strawczyński also recalled Dr. Rybak: He was elegantly dressed, always in a good mood, and worked fast and with zest. He participated in all the receptions and entertainments, and even managed to fall in love with a young woman dentist from Białystok. Following the example of Kapo Yurek and informer Chaskiel, he went so far as to celebrate a wedding with great ceremony, music and dancing—naturally with the help and approval of the Germans.587

RZONDINSKI, Welwel. Born in 1903 in Kałuszyn, a small town east of Warsaw. He lived in Warsaw, married to Henryka (‘Henia’). Deported from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka, date unknown. SADOWSKI, (Vorarbeiter—Foreman). According to Kalman Teigman, Sadowski was a businessman from Warsaw. 587

294

YVA, Jerusalem, 0-3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months in Treblinka.

SAJET, Rozali. From Grodno in north-eastern Poland. Salwe. Richard Glazar remembered that Salwe had been an opera singer in Warsaw. SALZBERG, Władek. A furrier from Kielce in Świętokrzyski Province, between Warsaw and Kraków. In Treblinka, he was the head of the tailors' workshop and a member of the Organizing Committee that planned the revolt during which he was in charge of the ‘ghetto’ area in the Lower Camp. SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel recalled Salzberg and the premature start of the revolt on August 2, 1943: He had two sons. Both boys were cleaners in our barracks. Father Salzberg was a storekeeper in the tailors' shop, therefore under me. He was very intelligent and worried about the boys. He told me his wife had died in Kielce before he came to Treblinka. Salzberg was on the so-called Committee, and it was upon his urging that the revolt began an hour earlier than planned, and thus insufficiently prepared. The reason why Salzberg insisted on this maybe because his older boy, two days before the revolt, had done something—I don't know what—that annoyed Küttner (SS-Oberscharführer Fritz Küttner). I had pleaded with Kurt Franz for the boy's life and it seemed all right, but Salzberg was afraid that Küttner would take him. That boy was 15—that's what his father told me—the younger one was 12 and his name was Heinrich. He was a nice boy. The older one I didn't know because he worked in the other barrack.588

Oskar Strawczyński recalled one of Salzberg's sons was called Heniek (Henryk), aged about 13, who polished boots in the German barracks and Welwel, about 17, who worked in the Jewish laundry. Władek did not survive the revolt.589 SALZBERG, Welwel. The eldest of the two sons of Władek Salzberg. Aged between 15–17, he worked in the Jewish laundry. He was killed during the revolt on 2 August 1943.

588 589

Sereny, Into that Darkness …, op. cit., p. 240. YVA, Jerusalem 0-3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months in Treblinka.

295

SAMBORSKI, Wiktor. In Treblinka, a member of the ‘Blue’ Brigade at the Ramp in the Lower Camp. SAUER, Salo. A Czech member of the ‘Goldjuden’ (‘Gold Jews’). SCHERMANN. Richard Glazar recalled that there were two redhaired siblings who were part of the camp orchestra.590 Oskar Strawczyński, however, claimed there were three Schermann brothers from Warsaw who were musicians. SCHIFFNER. A Sudeten-German Jew. SCHLAUMEIER. Richard Glazar recalled a man called Schlaumeier who worked with him in the Camouflage Brigade.591 SCHMOLKA, Miloš. Born on August 26, 1919. Deported from Kolín on the Elbe River in central Bohemia, about 55 km east of Prague, to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on June 13, 1942. From there deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942. He was murdered on arrival. SCHNITZER. One of the musicians in the small band that had been organized in the camp from the beginning, together the three Schermann brothers from Warsaw. Preceded the camp orchestra under Artur Gold. SCHONBRON, Renée. Born in Warsaw, an artist by profession, she was deported from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka in 1942. SCHREIBMAN, Ilia. Prewar swimming champion and gymnastics coach. SCHUTZER. Musician and cello player. Member of the Artur Gold camp orchestra in Treblinka. SIDOWICZ, (‘Simcha’). According to Richard Glazar, Sidowicz was employed as a carpenter in the Lower Camp. 592

590 591 592

296

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., p. 117. Ibid., p. 132 Sereny, Into that Darkness …, op. cit., p. 246.

SILVERBERG. According to Oskar Strawczyński in his book Ten Months in Treblinka, Silverberg hailed from Częstochowa and tried to evade deportation by building a hideout in the ghetto. He was betrayed by Samuel Miska, a member of the Jewish ghetto police (Ordnungsdienst—OD). Deported to Treblinka and assigned to a work brigade. He fell ill and was shot in the ‘Lazarett’. SINGER. On arrival in Treblinka, appointed Oberkapo in the Upper Camp by Commandant Franz Stangl. Singer was killed during the revolt on 2 August 1943. SŁAPAKOWA, Cecylia. A native of the Vilna region in Lithuania, she was married to a successful engineer. She and her family lived at Elektoralna Street 1 in the Warsaw ghetto, an address the Germans forced them to leave. She was a member of Oneg Shabbat (‘Joy of Sabbath’), an underground group in the ghetto led by Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, dedicated to collecting documentary evidence of religious and social life in the ghetto, for which she interviewed Jewish women in the ghetto. Deported with her daughter to Treblinka during the mass deportation in the summer of 1942, both were murdered in the death camp. ŚLIWNIAK, Józef. A well-known painter before the war and member of the group of artists known as the ‘Group of Seven’. In the Warsaw ghetto he worked first with other artists at Orla Street 6 and later in a workshop on Myna Street, side streets on either side of Leszno Street, where he made stained-glass windows for the Jewish Council (Judenrat) building on Grzybowska Street. Deported to Treblinka during the big deportation operation that began on July 22, 1942. SOLNICKI, Dorka. Brought up and educated in the Janusz Korczak orphanage on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw and stayed in the orphanage as a counselor. She continued her work after the orphanage was re-located to the ghetto. Deported to Treblinka on August 6, 1942, with Korczak and the rest of the children.

297

SPIEGEL. A professional actor and singer who had performed in Prague. In Treblinka, according to Jerzy Rajgrodzki, Spiegel was involved in plays and concerts in the Upper Camp, and sang the chorus of Lager Zwei is unzer Leben, ay, ay, ay (‘Camp II is our life, ay, ay, ay’).593 SPIGEL, Natan. SPIRO, Stefa. Dr. STEIN, Józef. Medical doctor and pathologist. Of Catholic-Jewish origin, he worked in the Infant Jesus Hospital (Szpital Dzieciątka Jezus) on William Lindley Street close to the city center in Warsaw. From December 1939 he was director of the ‘Czyste’ Jewish Hospital on Dwórska Street in the Wola district of western Warsaw. After the establishment of the ghetto, the hospital was split up into several sections at different addresses.594 In the ghetto hospital he continued to lecture on numerous subjects, especially on the effects of starvation. The hospital was destroyed by the Nazis in April 1943 during the ghetto uprising. Dr. Stein was deported to Treblinka the following month. STEINOWITZ, Guba. A cousin of Kalman Teigman from Warsaw. Together with his father he served in the Upper Camp.595 STERN. From Warsaw. In Treblinka, one of the ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’) in the Upper Camp. Oskar Strawczyński recalls the fate of Stern, ‘a strong young man’, at the hands of ‘Lalka’, SSUntersturmführer Kurt Franz: He was accused of ‘speculating’ with the Ukrainians and giving them money. Unceremoniously, Lalka took him out in the morning, fixed him up as only he could do, and set him squatting with his hands over his head at the entrance to the ‘Ghetto,’ so that all passers-by 593 594

595

298

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 235. The main departments of the Jewish hospital in the ghetto were on Leszno (main section), Niska, Stawki and Tłomackie Streets. Kalman Teigman to Chris Webb, letter dated June 24, 2003.

could see him. On his orders, the block elder, Kuba the informer, hovered over him to prevent him from changing his position. Lalka would come back every few minutes, throw the victim to the ground and kick and whip him. Nothing was left of the man but a swollen mess of bloody flesh, which Lalka would again put in a squatting position, and this went on until the evening. It is impossible to understand how the man lived through a day like that. At the evening roll call he was treated to another 50 lashes and finally sent to the ‘Lazarett’.596

STERNBERG, Petr. Born on December 17, 1923. An Austrian Jew and a refugee with Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Registration No. 41267. He lived at Celetna Street 2 in Prague, and was deported from there to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto on July 2, 1942. From there he was deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942. STERNLICHT, Ervin. From Czechoslovakia. STERNLICHT, Otto. From Czechoslovakia. STRAWCZYŃSKI, Abus; STRAWCZYŃSKI, Guta. Son and daughter of Oskar and Anka Strawczyński. Deported from Częstochowa and murdered in Treblinka on October 5, 1942. STROMAN, Minia. Born in 1912 in Mława, northern Mazowsza district, north of Warsaw. Married to Zaanwel. Deported from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka in 1942. SUDOWICZ, Israel. Born in 1903 in Praszka, Opole Province in south-west Poland. An agronomist, he was married to Rakhel (née Rozenblum) and lived in Warsaw. In the Warsaw ghetto his profession of agronomist was invaluable to Toporol, the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture Among Jews (Towarzystwo Popieranica Rolnictwa wsród Żydów), founded in 1933 to train Jews in agricultural work in Poland. In the ghettos of Warsaw and Łódź, Toporol strived to produce more food for the ghetto inhabitants

596

YVA, Jerusalem, 0.3/3131: O. Strawczyński, Ten Months in Treblinka.

299

by utilizing every piece of arable earth. This required the cooperation of the Jews themselves and at least the tolerance of the Nazi administrators of the ghettos. Sudowicz was deported to Treblinka where his expertise was utilized in the vegetable garden in the north-east corner of the camp. He was also a member of the Organizing Committee that planned the revolt and in which he himself played a significant role on August 2, 1943. He told SSNCO Müller that there was a problem with the ‘potato brigade’, and together they went to the vegetable garden to deal with it. During Müller's absence, the ‘putzers’ broke into the armory and stole weapons for the insurgents. Israel Sudowicz was killed during the revolt. SZPAJZMAN, Moishe. SZPEKTOR, Wigda. Photographed in the Wisznice ghetto, Lublin District, on April 1, 1943. Deported to Treblinka in 1943. SZTERN, Israel. Born in 1894 into a deeply religious family in Ostrołęka, Mazowiecka Province, in north-east Poland between Warsaw and Białystok. An eminent poet and essayist. All his life he lived in self-imposed poverty and near starvation, to such an extent that he was often ill and referred to hospital as his second home’. In the Warsaw ghetto he lived in a basement on the corner of Smocza and Pawia Streets until his friends moved him into the office of a refugee center at Leszno Street 14. Throughout his confinement in the ghetto he continued to write. Emmanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw ghetto historian and archivist, referred to Sztern as ‘a quiet, modest man, a just man among the just’. Before his deportation to Treblinka in September 1942, Sztern was employed in the Hoffman workshop, one of many workshops in the ghetto. Ringelblum wrote that ‘his manuscripts died with him.’ TEIGMAN, Tema. Born in 1903, the mother of Kalman Teigman. Deported together with her son from the Astra-Werke firm at Wildstraße 30 (Zamenhofa Street 30) in the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka, where they arrived on September 5, 1942. Tema Teigman was murdered on arrival while her son was selected to work. 300

TIK, Chaim. In Treblinka worked in the blacksmith workshop. He was excluded from the Organizing Committee planning the prisoner revolt because of his and conservative and reluctant attitude. TOLPEL, Moritz. A small man with a bald head and crooked legs, selected in Treblinka to be the ‘Shit Master’ (Scheißmeister) in charge of the latrines. Richard Glazar recalls Tolpel's selection by the SS for the bizarre job: Lalka looks around for Tolpel, (...) he is standing there cringing at attention, his pants hanging rumpled over his crooked legs. Lalka takes his measure, ‘Yes you're the one.’ A Ukrainian guard manages to dig up an old robe from one of the transports. The SS-men, one after the other, add to the costume. Topping-off the black robe, which reaches all the way down to his ankles, is a tall rabbi's hat. The hat is decorated with a shiny half moon, and the small hand, which has probably never been made into a fist, is now wielding a heavy whip. A sign will be put on each of the latrines: ‘Two minutes is the limit for shitting here. Take any longer and you're out on your ear.’597

TRACHTER, Symcha. VEINIES-CHAJKIN, Marie. Born in Warsaw in 1903, an artist, deported from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka in 1942. VOGEL, Hanuš (‘Honza’). Born on January 24, 1909. Deported on September 21, 1942, from Mährisch Ostrau (Moravská Ostrava) in north-eastern Moravia, Czechoslovakia, to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto. Deported to Treblinka on Transport ‘Bu’ on October 8, 1942. WAISMAN, Yosef. WAKSMAN, Dawid. Born in Ostrowiec in Świętokrzyskie Province, Poland. A merchant, married to Adela. Deported from Ostrowiec to Treblinka in 1942. Killed in the revolt.

597

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., p. 119.

301

WALLABAŃCZYK/WOŁOWAŃCZYK. A young man from Warsaw. In Treblinka, a member of the Underground. On the day of the revolt he was sent to shoot SS-Oberscharführer Küttner who, after apprehending a prisoner with a large sum of money on him, was about to discover that a revolt was imminent. Wallabańczyk drew his pistol and fired at SS-Oberscharführer Küttner, but only wounded him. This shot was mistaken for start of the revolt which began at 4.00 p.m. instead of an hour later. WASERMAN, Jankiel. Photographed in the Wisznice ghetto in Lublin District on April 1, 1943. Deported to Treblinka the same year. WEINKRANZ, Bencian. WEINTRAUB, Ilik. Ilik Weintraub worked in the Upper Camp. Shot by SS-Scharführer Arthur Matthes while transferring bodies from the gas chambers to the burial pits because he stopped at a well to drink water. WEINTREUB, Władysław. A Jewish artist born in 1891 in Łowicz, a town between Łódź and Warsaw. Murdered in Treblinka in 1942. WILCZYŃSKA, Stefania. Born in 1886 in Warsaw to a rich and assimilated Jewish family. Trained as a teacher and completed her education at Liége University in Belgium. On returning to Warsaw, she was employed in a Jewish orphanage, first as a voluntary worker and then as director. In 1912 she met Dr. Janusz Korczak and went to work with him in his Jewish orphanage (Dom Sierota) at Krochmalna Street 92. In 1934 and 1937 she visited Palestine. After the re-location of Korczak's orphanage to the ghetto, she continued to cooperate with him until the Kinder-Aktion (Children's Operation) on August 6, 1942. On that day, all the Jewish orphanages were ‘cleared out’ and the children and staff deported to Treblinka. WILLENBERG, Itta and Tamara. Samuel Willenberg's younger sisters. Deported to Treblinka from Częstochowa.

302

WILLINGER. From Częstochowa. Worked in the Lower Camp with Richard Glazar at sorting the clothes and valuables of the victims. WINAWER, Bruno. Writer. WINTERNITZ, Pauline. Born on May 3, 1864 in Vienna. A sister of the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Deported from Vienna to the Theresienstadt fortress ghetto, and from there to Treblinka. WŁOŚ, Itka. Born in 1917 in Sokołów Podlaski, not far from Treblinka. Raised in a religious, Yiddish–speaking family. Completing her schooling in Sokołów at the age of 14, and began to work. Itka and her family were deported to Treblinka on September 22, 1942. ZALCWASSER, Zygmunt. Born 1898 in Warsaw. A renowned Jewish mathematician, Prof. at Warsaw University and active member of the Polish School of Mathematics which flourished in the inter-war years. He worked on the Fourier Series and developed the Zalcwasser Rank which, in mathematical terms ‘measures how close the Fourier Series of f is to being a uniformly convergent series; it is a rank that measures the uniform convergence of sequences of continuous functions on the unit interval.’ Zalcwasser was killed in Treblinka in 1943. ZAMENHOF, Lidia. Born 1904 in Warsaw. Youngest daughter of Ludwig Zamenhof, the creator of the international auxiliary language Esperanto. In 1925, Lidia became a member of the Bahá'i Faith, a monotheistic religion that emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. In 1937, she travelled to the USA to teach the religion as well as Esperanto. She returned to Poland at the end of 1938 and continued to teach and translate many Bahá'i writings. She was deported to Treblinka in the autumn of 1942. ZEIDMAN, Yitzchak. From Częstochowa in southern Poland. On arrival in Treblinka, he was saved from the gas chambers by Aron Gelberd and other members of the Sorting Brigade in the Lower Camp. 303

ZEISLER, Gertrude. Born in 1888. Deported on February 19, 1941, on Transport ‘2’ from Vienna to the ghetto in Kielce, Świętokrzyskie Province, between Kraków and Warsaw. Deported to Treblinka at the end of August 1942.598 ZELICHOWER. Remembered by Abraham Krzepicki as coming from his hometown, the Baltic port of Danzig (today, Gdańsk in Poland). In Treblinka, Zelichower worked in the Camouflage Brigade.599 Dr. ZIMMERMANN. Kapo of the ‘dentists’ in the Upper Camp. ZONSZAJN, Jakob. Lived in the Siedlce ghetto, a few kilometers south of Sokołów Podlaski, with his wife Cypora and young daughter Rachela. Jakob was deported to Treblinka in 1942. Cypora committed suicide before the November Aktion. Only their daughter Rachela survived the war by being hidden by Poles.600

598

599

304

In 1981, a selection of Gerda Zeisler's letters written in the Kielce ghetto to relatives in Switzerland were published in the USA in a 27-page booklet: G. Zeisler, (ed. G. Hoffer), I did not survive: Letters from the Kielce Ghetto, Gefen Publishing, Jerusalem/Anaheim (Calif.) 1981. A. Krzepicki, ‘Eighteen Days in Treblinka’, in: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 117.

CHAPTER 18 The Perpetrators

Almost all the personnel who staffed the Aktion Reinhardt death camps came from the lower middle class: their fathers were factory workers, craftsmen, salesmen or shop workers. Most of them had completed elementary education, having left school at the age of 14; a few had gone on to complete two-year vocational courses. Those who in the late 1920s and early 1930s had become psychiatric nurses (male and female) in mental institutions chose that profession simply in order to guarantee a regular wage during the time of the Depression. They too came from all walks of life and being a member of the Nazi certainly helped in securing a job in an institution. Later, Party membership was the main criterion by which they were selected at the end of December 1939 for duty within the Aktion T4 euthanasia program. Their average age was between 30–40 at the time they served in the death camps, many of them were married, had children, and most had no criminal record. They were absolutely ordinary people. When first recruited to the ‘T4’ euthanasia program they were given the choice of participating or withdrawing. Very few withdrew and none of them suffered any consequences. After several years' service in the mental institutions they were in complete agreement with euthanasia. Although most of them denied being overtly anti-Semitic, the six years of unrelenting anti-Semitic propaganda must have had some effect, no matter how slight: anti-Semitism was an accepted phenomenon among large segments of German society. Others, the die-hard Nazis, whole-heartedly believed the Party doctrine and zealously carried out their orders in the camps. On being transferred from Aktion T4 in Germany to Aktion Reinhardt in Poland, all the civilian staff had to wear the uniform of the Waffen-SS, but without actually belonging to any SS unit. They were 305

easily identified by the absence of the SS-runes on the right collar patch. In the death camps they were known disparagingly to the serving SS-NCOs as ‘civilians in uniform’. The members of the prewar SS and police were a different matter. They were commandeered with no possibility to refuse. Although by whom and why these particular men were selected for duty, they were assigned to their roles not only because of their fanaticism, but in the case of the SS-NCOs, also for more pragmatic reasons—they had particular skills that were useful in the death camps: SS-drivers and mechanics, cooks and accountants from the concentration camp administration, or because in civilian life they had been bricklayers, chauffeurs, or other useful occupations. They, too, had joined the concentration camp service to ensure a guaranteed job with a regular wage. There was also the element of wearing a smart uniform which instilled respect (and fear) from the public. A necessary attribute was hardness of character, a quality instilled in the prewar concentration camp service, when all sense of morality and pity was driven out of them. For this reason they performed the more gruesome tasks in the euthanasia institutions: removing the bodies from the gas chambers and cremating them, which earned them the name of ‘disinfectors and burners’. The police officers also had no choice. They, too, were commandeered with no possibility of refusing. But in these cases they were selected primarily because they were too old for frontline duty, but were still very capable officers who were able to act on their own initiative. Most had also joined the SS before the war in order to further their careers within the police; a few were obliged to join shortly after the outbreak of war. All of them were entitled to wear SS-uniform with the rank equal to their police rank. In Treblinka and the other Aktion Reinhardt death camps they found themselves in an impossible situation. Under the hate-filled regime of SS-Obersturmführer Christian Wirth who ruled through sheer terror, they had no choice but to obey his orders, no matter how inhuman. In the ‘T4’ duty at the euthanasia institutions they

306

had already seen how he had miscreants on the staff sent to concentration camps. Although he constantly continued to use the threat of concentration camp and summary shooting for disobeying his orders, most of them believed him capable of carrying out such threats. Although the majority bowed under duress to Wirth's every whim, a few emulated his sadistic behavior and even competed with one another in ‘improving’ or inventing novel ways of killing their victims. In time, even the least inclined among them to commit brutal and sadistic acts against the Jews succumbed on occasions. The unquestioning, self-serving conformity largely achieved among the SS-garrison in Treblinka made evil entities out of even those who at first were apparently relatively harmless individuals. Information about the personal feelings about the tasks that they undertook and their relationship with the victims is almost non-existent. The reason for this is simply that during their pre-trial interrogations the police interrogators, prosecutors and examining magistrates were more interested in obtaining admissions to specific crimes, and the accused further incriminating their co-defendants. The judicial officials were not concerned with the psychology of the defendants, their remorse or lack thereof. It was their task to produce sufficient evidence to present to the courts to gain convictions. A further hindrance was that the survivors often did not know the names of their SS tormentors, or could only offer a phonetic version; in the camps they invented nicknames for the SS and Ukrainian guards which suited the character, physical attributes, looks, or function in the camp; the nicknames were also used as a code among the Jews to give warning of the approach of a certain SS-man. In the death camps, anyway, it could be fatal to look directly into the face of an SS-man. The SS-garrison at Treblinka comprised of about 20–30 men stationed in the camp at any given time, and it was likely that at any given time only a half were on duty. It also happened that some SSNCOs were transferred from one death camp to another, either because their expertise was needed, or as a punishment. A small minority served in Treblinka only for a brief time. A complete list of all 307

those who served at the Treblinka death camp is therefore not possible. By the end of 1943, after the liquidation of three Aktion Reinhardt camps, most of the personnel had been posted to Trieste on the Adriatic coast of northern Italy. Operating under the code designation Einsatz R (Operation R), they were divided into three special units, designated as R-I (based in Trieste), R-II (based in Fiume) and R-III (based in Udine). R-III was commanded by former Treblinka Commandant Franz Stangl.601 The main task of Einsatz R personnel, still under the supervision of Christian Wirth (by this time promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer), was the arrest and detention of the remaining Italian Jews who hitherto had been protected by Benito Mussolini, and the confiscation of Jewish property and valuables. Einsatz R was simply a scaled-down version of Aktion Reinhardt. The main base of the SS-Sonderkommandos of Einsatz R was in the buildings of a big rice husking mill in the Trieste suburb of San Sabba, which became a holding center for the Jews until their deportation by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. San Sabba also became an interrogation and holding center for captured Italian and Yugoslav partisans. The prisoners were killed by shooting, hanging, in a gassing van, or simply beating to death with a mallet. In February 1944, a crematorium furnace was installed by Erwin Lambert who in Poland had supervised the construction of the new gas chambers at Treblinka and Sobibór. By the spring of 1944, SS-Gruppenführer Globocnik, the Higher SS and Police Leader for the Adriatic Coastal Region, based in Trieste, forbade Wirth to carry out the killing of any more Jews in San Sabba. Wirth had not been authorized to kill Italian Jews, only to deport them. Globocnik was well aware of the fact that the war was all but lost and he already had the mass murder of at least 1.5 million Jews during Aktion Reinhardt on his conscience.

601

308

Another unit, R-IV, existed in the Venice suburb of Mestre between mid-1944–November 1944 (Außenstelle Venedig), also commanded briefly by Franz Stangl.

Instead, the three Einsatz R units were switched to anti-partisan duty on the Istrian peninsula. As the war drew to a close, the leaders and organizers of Aktion T4, Aktion Reinhardt and Einsatz R realized that the staff and their commanders were ‘the keepers of secrets’ who could incriminate their superiors. Consequently, they were sent to the most dangerous areas where the partisans killed immediately any German in SS-uniform. Consequently, their rate of casualties was significantly high, inflicted also as a result Allied action (air-raids). Three of the principal perpetrators were ambushed and assassinated by Yugoslav or Italian partisans: Christian Wirth, Franz Reichleitner, who replaced Franz Stangl as commandant at Sobibór, and Gottfried Schwarz, deputy commandant at Bełżec. Stangl stated after the war that: ‘We were an embarrassment to the brass. They wanted to find ways to incinerate us.’ Altogether, apart from Wirth, Reichleitner and Schwarz, 11 other men who had served in both Aktion Reinhardt and Einsatz R were killed in action in northern Italy.602 Richard Thomalla Construction supervisor Born on October 23, 1903, in Sabine-bei-Annahof (today, Sowin in Polish Silesia) in the Falkenberg Distict of Upper Silesia. A builder by profession, he was bi-lingual in German and Polish, and joined the SS on July 1, 1932, and the Nazi Party a month later. On October 5, 1935, Thomalla married Margarete Bruckner. He served his draft in Falkenberg and Oppeln and service in the SS in Wohlau (Wołów)

602

All of them were originally buried in the German Military Cemetery at Opicina, a small town up on the Karst above Trieste. In the late 1950s— early 1960s, all German war dead were exhumed from their burial places all over Italy and reinterred in a big German Military Cemetery at Costermano, on the south-eastern shore of Lake Garda in Verona Province, northern Italy.

309

and Breslau (Wrocław) in the present-day south-eastern part of Polish Lower Silesia. On September 6, 1940, Thomalla was transferred from Breslau to the Generalgouvernement where he was a member of the SSHilfspolizei (auxiliary police) in the cities Częstochowa and Radom. On August 22, 1940, he was transferred by Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger, the Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer Ost, based in Kraków, to serve under SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik, the SS and Police Leader of the Lublin District. From August–October 1940, Thomalla was a Section Leader of the SS-Border Defense Construction Service (SS-Grenzschutz Baudienst) in Bełżec, on the demarcation line between the Generalgouvernement and Soviet-occupied Galicia (Western Ukraine). His first was the establishment of a construction depot of the Waffen-SS and Police in Zamość, about 40 kilometers north of Bełżec. After the invasion of Russia, Thomalla was also in charge of constructing SS-Strongpoints (SS-Stützpunkte) in the Ukraine with branch offices in Zwiahel and Kiev. He was recalled to Lublin at the beginning of 1942 to take over supervision of construction of the first Aktion Reinhardt death camp at Bełżec. Thereafter, he also oversaw construction of the other Aktion Reinhardt camps at Sobibór and Treblinka; as such, he was the senior SS-officer at each site until the camps became operational. In 1943, he headed Waffen-SS construction offices in Riga, the capital of Nazi-occupied Latvia, and Mogilev in White Russia. Later, during 1943–1944, Thomalla also played a role in the ‘pacification’ operations of the SS and police in Zamość district. He was last seen in Zamość in June 1944, a few weeks before the entry of the Red Army into the town the following month. He was arrested by the Russians near Jičín, on the Czechoslovakian side of the Czech-Polish border. He was held in a special prison nearby for members of the SS and Nazi Party officials at Karthaus—Walditz (Kartouzy—Vladice). On 12 May 1945, Thomalla was ‘ordered out of

310

his cell, with all his belongings’. This was a typical order by the Soviet NKVD immediately before the prisoner was executed.603 Dr. Irmfried Georg Rolf Eberl Commandant: July–August 1942 Born on September 8, 1910, in Bregenz, Vorarlberg district, on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in Lower Austria. He was the youngest of three brothers, the offspring of Josef Franz, an engineer, and his wife Josefine. Eberl attended four years of elementary school and the Bregenz Gymnasium (Secondary School) where aged 17 he took his Abitur (final exams on leaving school) on June 15, 1928. He was the youngest in his class. At first, he wanted to study law but later decided on medicine and began his medical studies in 1929. On December 8, 1931, he joined the Nazi Party (Membership No. 687,095) and became the Nazi representative of the students' union. At the same time, he also joined Motorsturm 1 and SA-Sturm 14. In February 1935, aged 24, Eberl received his license to practice medicine, and from February 20–May 27, 1935, he was employed in the 2nd Medical Section of the Rudolf Foundation Hospital (Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung) in Vienna, and then from May 28, 1935–March 8, 1936, at Sanatorium for Lung Diseases (Lungenheilanstalt) in Grimmenstein, Lower Austria. After the assassination of Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss by Nazis in 1934, the Nazi Party and all its organizations were banned in Austria, and Eberl's illegal Nazi activities resulted in 1936 in the withdrawal of his medical license. Now unemployed and without a future in Austria, and crossed the border into Germany as political refugee No. 13,943. For a month in April 1936, he was employed at the renowned Institute of German Hygiene (Deutsches Hygiene Institut) in Dresden.

603

In 1957, at the request of Thomalla's mother, he was officially declared dead by a magistrate's court in Neu-Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, as she had heard nothing from him since 1944.

311

The following month, he was the head of the Office for Social Welfare (Amt für Volkswohlfahrt) in Dessau near Magdeburg. He subsequently served at the Main Health Office (Hauptgesundheitsamt) in Berlin. In January 1940, he was recruited by the Charitable Foundation for Institutional Care (Gemeinnützige Stiftung für Anstaltspflege), the cover name of the organization and ran the Nazi euthanasia operation under the code designation ‘T4’. He was among the group of Nazi dignitaries and doctors who witnessed the first gassing experiment in mid-January 1940 at an abandoned prison in Brandenburgan-der-Havel, 30 km west of Berlin. The dignitaries included Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler, head of the Führer's Chancellery, and Dr. Karl Brandt, Hitler's escorting physician (Begleitarzt). SS-Obersturmführer Christian Wirth was also included in the group. From February 1940, Eberl was appointed medical director of the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution in Brandenburg prison, and when that institution ceased functioning at the end of 1940, he became medical director of the ‘T4’ gassing center established in a part of the mental asylum in Bernburg-an-der-Saale, near Dessau. From January 1942, Eberl spent several weeks on the Eastern Front with other ‘T4’ personnel, ostensibly ferrying wounded troops from the frontline in the Minsk area to reserve military hospitals in the rear. This duty was carried out in the uniform of the Organisation Todt (OT), the Nazi construction brigades led by Fritz Todt.604 Upon his return Germany in the spring of 1942, Eberl was sent briefly to the Sobibór death camp which was then under construc-

604

312

It only came to light during the trials of euthanasia personnel in West Germany in the 1960s that some ‘T4’ personnel on the Russian Front had administered euthanasia to severely wounded German troops. At least one ‘T4’ unit had served right at the frontline where they administered lethal injections to troops who were brain damaged, mutilated or blinded, and ‘not worth evacuating to the rear’. This explains why they undertook this duty in the uniform of the Organisation Todt instead of under the protection of the German Red Cross.

tion. Towards the end of June, he was appointed the first Commandant of Treblinka death camp, but within a little over a month it became obvious that he was not equal to the task. In the euthanasia institutions he had dealt with the gassing of around 100 patients a day; in Treblinka he was confronted with the gassing of at least 5,000 people a day. Chaos ensued and he was soon relieved of his post by SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik and SS-Obersturmführer Wirth sometime towards the end of August 1942. Eberl's wife Ruth, also a medical practitioner, knew on August 24 that her husband's tenure at Treblinka had come to an end. Her letter dated the same day began with the words: ‘With this, finally the end of your work in Treblinka.’ (Hiermit, endlich das Ende Deiner Arbeit in Treblinka). He was replaced by Franz Stangl who was transferred from Sobibór which was temporarily out of action because repair work on the single-track main railroad rendered the delivery of transports impossible. Eberl returned to the Bernburg institution for a short time before being drafted into the army. At the beginning of April 1945, he was taken prisoner by American troops and interned in Luxemburg before being transferred to a POW camp in Dietersheim on the river Rhine, close to the French border with Germany. After working in the TB department in the camp, he was released in July 1945. After the end of the war he settled in Blaubeuren near Ulm, in the Alb-Donau district of Württemberg. He was arrested again in 1947 and held in the remand prison in Ulm while an investigation was carried out into his activities in Aktion T4. At that time, his tenure as commandant at Treblinka were not known. In February 1948, Dr. Irmfried Eberl committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell. Christian Wirth Inspector of the Aktion Reinhardt SS-Sonderkommandos Born on November 24, 1885, in Oberbalzheim, a small village in the Upper Swabian part of Württemberg in south-west Germany. After completing elementary education at the age of 14, he was employed 313

as an apprentice carpenter with the Bühler brother's timber firm in Oberbalzheim. From 1905–1907 he served his two years draft with Grenadier Regiment 123 in Ulm, and after a short break, re-enlisted for another two years as an army instructor. After honorable discharge from the army in 1910, Wirth joined the Württemberg State Police as a uniformed constable in Heilbronn, and the same year married Maria Bantel with whom he had two sons. In 1913, Wirth transferred to the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), the plain clothes detective squads at their headquarters on Büchsenstraße near the city center in Stuttgart. In October 1914, two months after the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered to serve in the army of Kaiser Wilhelm II and saw action on the Western Front in Flanders and northern France in the ranks of Reserve Infantry Regiment 246. He received a field promotion to acting officer (Offiziersstellvertreter) and awarded several medals and decorations for bravery, including the Iron Cross I and II Class and the Gold Württemberg Military Service Medal. At the end of 1917, Wirth was transferred back to Stuttgart as an officer in the Military Police (Militärpolizei) guarding a supply depot for Reserve Infantry Regiment 119. During this duty he won high praise for defending the depot against the Spartakists, the forerunners of the German Communist Party, who attempted to raid the depot for weapons and ammunition. Wirth rejoined the Kripo in 1919 and by 1923 was the head of Precinct II (Dienststelle II) on Büchsenstraße in Stuttgart. He earned a reputation for solving difficult crimes that had defeated other officers, often by using brutal methods of interrogation. His ‘dedication and zealous methods finally led to questions being asked about him in the Württemberg Regional Parliament (Landtag). In 1937, Wirth was the head or deputy head of all police and Party organizations, not only in Stuttgart, but the whole of Württemberg, which resulted in his recruitment by Reinhard Heydrich's Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst—SD) as a ‘V-Mann’ (Vertrauensmann), a confidential agent spying and informing on his Party and police comrades 314

By 1939, Wirth had reached the rank of Kriminalinspektor, in charge of Kommissariat 5, a special detective squad for investigating serious crimes, including murder. Wirth then carried out special police duties in Vienna and in Olmütz (Olomouc), Czechoslovakia. In the spring of 1939, a special remark was inserted into his personal file: ‘At the disposal of the Führer’ (‘z. V. Führer’). He had been earmarked for future ‘special tasks’. In the autumn 1939, Wirth began the first ‘special task’ as founder member of the euthanasia planning team in Hitler's private Chancellery. His well-known reputation for ‘meticulous administration and organization’ was put to use in setting up the bureaucracy. In mid-January he was among a group of high-ranking Nazi officials who witnessed the first test gassing of psychiatric patients in the abandoned prison in Brandenburg-an-der-Havel. Among this group were Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler, head of Hitler's private Chancellery, Dr. Karl Brandt, Hitler's escorting physician (Begleitarzt), Dr. Leonardo Conti, Secretary of State for Health, and SS-Standartenführer Viktor Brack, chief of Head Office II (Hauptamt II) in Hitler's private Chancellery. Brack was soon to be in charge of the daily running of the euthanasia operation under the code designation ‘T4’, named after its headquarters in a villa at Tiergartenstraße 4 in Berlin-Charlottenburg. At the beginning of February 1940, Wirth arrived at the first ‘T4’ euthanasia institution established in Grafeneck castle in the Swabian Alb, 60 km south of Stuttgart, in charge of administration and security. In May 1940, Wirth was appointed ‘roving inspector’ of the euthanasia institutions to tighten-up discipline among the staff which had deteriorated alarmingly, improve security, and streamline the killing process and ensuing paperwork. He spent much of his time in the euthanasia institution in Hartheim castle, near Linz in Upper Austria. It was here that he encountered the police officer Franz Stangl, the future commandant of the Aktion Reinhardt death camps at Sobibór and Treblinka. At Hartheim castle, Stangl was in charge

315

of administration and security, and his first meeting with Wirth made a profound impression on him: Wirth was a gross and florid man. My heart sank when I met him. He stayed at Hartheim for several days that time and often came back. Whenever he was there he addressed us daily at lunch. And here it was again this awful verbal crudity: when he spoke about the necessity for this euthanasia operation, he was not speaking in humane or scientific terms (...) he laughed. He spoke of ‘doing away with useless mouths and that sentimental slobber about such people made him puke.605

Just before Christmas 1941, Wirth arrived in Bełżec where the first Aktion Reinhardt death camp was under construction, and in the New Year returned to the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution at Bernburg to select the first group of 15 men to staff the camp. Between mid-January and the beginning of March, he experimented with different methods of gassing, including in the early days using the exhaust fumes from a Post Office parcel delivery van converted into a mobile gas chamber. He also tried pumping the exhaust fumes from army trucks into three primitive gas chambers, before trying Zyklon B, a pesticide issued to all German military units in the field, and bottled carbon monoxide (CO) gas. This was method used in the ‘T4’ euthanasia institutions. He finally decided that CO gas produced from engines was the most efficient and had a Russian tank engine brought from a depot of captured Russian vehicles in Lemberg (today, L'viv in the Ukraine). This method was then applied in the other two Aktion Reinhardt death camps Sobibór and Treblinka. In time, he also perfected the ‘conveyor-belt’ method of mass murder, in which the Jews themselves carried out most of the tasks in the extermination process, working permanently at specific points to ensure its smooth continuity. This method, too, was also adopted at Sobibór and Treblinka. Wirth ran the Bełżec death camp with a rod of iron, feared not only by the Jews, but also by his own staff, Germans and Ukrainians alike. 605

316

Sereny, Into That Darkness …, op. cit., p. 54.

After ensuring that Bełżec was operating efficiently, on the August 1, 1942, SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik appointed Wirth to the post of Inspector of the three SS-Sonderkommandos operating at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka (‘Inspekteur der SS-Sonderkommando Aktion Reinhardt’), with his office at first in the ‘Julius Schreck Barracks’, the headquarters of Aktion Reinhardt in Lublin. At the end of the year, Wirth's Inspectorate was moved to a building on the Old Airfield just outside Lublin and close to Lublin concentration camp (Majdanek). From mid-August 1942, Wirth played a leading role in the re-organization of Treblinka, including the construction of the new gas chambers, and thereafter visited the camp frequently. On 20 September 1943, Globocnik, Wirth, Stangl and several Ukrainian guards from the Aktion Reinhardt death camps, were transferred to Trieste in northern Italy where Globocnik had been appointed the Higher SS and Police Leader for the Adriatic Coastal Region. Wirth was given command of three special units formed from former Aktion Reinhardt personnel, including many of the Ukrainian guards, most of whom had arrived in Trieste by the end of the year. Based in the buildings of an old rice husking factory in the San Sabba suburb of Trieste, their task was rounding-up and deporting the remaining Italian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and confiscating their property. Under the code designation ‘Einsatz R’ (Operation ‘R’) these tasks were merely an extension of Aktion Reinhardt, albeit on a far smaller scale. Wirth, however, turned the San Sabba factory into an interrogation center and mini-death camp for Jews and captured Italian and Yugoslav partisans. Executions were carried out by shooting, hanging or beating to death with a mallet. For a time, a gassing van was also used. Erwin Lambert, who had constructed the gas chambers at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institutions, and supervised construction of the new and bigger gas chambers at Treblinka and Sobibór, converted a

317

basement heating furnace into a crematorium to dispose of the bodies of the victims. The charred and burnt human bones and ashes were dumped into the Adriatic from a boat or a jetty in the harbor. By the spring of 1944, Globocnik was aware that Germany could lose the war and became concerned about the mass murders in Poland and Italy, for which he was ultimately responsible. He therefore forbade Wirth to carry out any more killing of prisoners in San Sabba. Wirth's special units were switched instead to anti-partisan duty on the Istrian peninsula where they committed atrocities against the Yugoslav and Italian population under the guise of ‘pacification operations’. Christian Wirth was ambushed and killed by Yugoslav partisans of the First Battalion of the ‘Istrska’ (Istrian) Division on May 26, 1944, near Kozina, just outside Trieste. He was on his way by car to inspect one of his SS-units in Fiume (today, Rijeka in Croatia) on the other side of the peninsula. Wirth was buried with full military honors in the German Military Cemetery in the small village of Opicina, up on the Karst above Trieste. During the late 1950s–early 1960s, the remains of all German war dead in Italy were exhumed from their widely-scattered graves and reinterred in a new and big German Military Cemetery at Costermano, on the south-eastern shore of Lake Garda, near Verona in northern Italy. For many years, the presence of Wirth's grave at Costermano has been a matter of bitter dispute, although his SS-rank has been erased from his gravestone and his name removed from the Roll of Honor in the Propyleum.

Franz Paul Stangl Commandant: August 1942–August 1943 Born on March 26, 1908, in Altmünster, a market town on the western shore of the Traunsee, near Gmunden in Upper Austria. Although his father was already advanced in years and his mother was still a young woman, they had one other child, a daughter. In 1916, 318

when Franz was eight years old, his father died of malnutrition. A year later, his mother married a widower and Franz gained two stepbrothers. After leaving school aged 15, Franz became an apprentice in the weaving trade and three years later qualified as a master weaver, the youngest in Austria. Five years later, in 1931, he realized his job held no further prospects and he applied to join the Federal Austrian Police. After acceptance and a year's training at the police school in Linz and a probationary period, he served in the Traffic Division and then with the Riot Squad. He recalled his tough training with some bitterness and that his colleagues were ‘a sadistic lot, who were indoctrinated with the feeling that everyone was against them, that all men were rotten’.606 In 1935, he was transferred to the political division of the criminal investigation department in Wels, the biggest city in Upper Austria, not far from Linz. A year later he joined the Nazi Party which had been banned in Austria since the assassination of Chancellor Dolfuss by Nazis in 1934. After the Nazi annexation of Austria in March 1938, Stangl's department was absorbed into the Gestapo, and the Wels police department transferred to Linz. Stangl was promoted to the rank of Kriminal-Oberassistent, under the supervision of Georg Prohaska, a Bavarian police officer. The two officers took an immediate dislike to one another. Stangl also held the equivalent rank of Polizei-Oberleutnant in the uniformed police, the Schutzpolizei (Schupo) and, like Wirth, he was also a member of Heydrich's Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst—SD). On November 3, 1940, Stangl was recruited into the ‘T4’ euthanasia program and posted to Schloss Hartheim near Linz as deputy head of administration and in charge of security. Later, he carried out the same task at the Bernburg euthanasia institution where Dr. Eberl was the medical director.

606

Ibid., p. 28.

319

In the early spring of 1942, Stangl was ordered to report to SSBrigadeführer Odilo Globocnik in Lublin who appointed him the first commandant of the new Aktion Reinhardt camp at Sobibór on the River Bug in eastern Poland. The camp began its mass murder operations a few weeks later, in May 1942, although a few transports are known to have arrived at the end of April whose occupants were used to test the gas chambers. In Sobibór, Stangl made use of his skill as a weaver to sew himself the famous white linen uniform which later gave him the nickname ‘White Death’. Sobibór was surrounded by swamps and in the heat of summer the area was plagued by all kinds of insects, especially mosquitoes, and Stangl claimed that because of this he preferred to wear this uniform. Sometime between mid-August 1942 and the end of the month, Stangl was transferred from Sobibór to Treblinka to take over command of the death camp from Dr. Eberl who had created chaos in the camp. In Treblinka, Stangl had very little contact with the victims he sent to their deaths, or the Jewish prisoners employed in the camp. He was seen only on rare occasions, in summer wearing the distinctive white tunic. Through Stangl's flair for organization and his dedication in running the death camp, he earned an official commendation as the ‘best camp commandant in Poland’. Soon after the camp revolt on August 2, 1943, Stangl was expecting to be summoned to face a court martial because of the revolt. Instead, he was posted to Trieste in northern Italy where he spent a short time at San Sabba. He did not face a court martial because no SS-men had been killed during the revolt and he was therefore not obliged to submit a report to Berlin. In Italy, Stangl was appointed commander of special SS and Police units in Fiume (today, Rijeka in Croatia) and Udine, with the task of rounding-up Jews, confiscating their property and shipping them back to San Sabba. Later, he was engaged in construction projects, defending the Po Valley against the Allied advance from the south.

320

At the end of the war, Stangl fled over the border to Austria where he was interned by US forces because of his SS membership. From the late summer of 1947 he was imprisoned in Linz, accused of having participated in the gassing of mentally ill patients at Hartheim. In May 1948, he escaped and made his way to Rome where he received help from the Austrian Bishop Alois Hudal, who arranged for a Red Cross passport and money for Stangl to flee to Syria. In Damascus, he found employment in a textile factory; his wife and family joined him soon afterwards. He was later employed by the Imperial Knitting Company, and in 1951, he emigrated with his family to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he worked in the Volkswagen factory. It was not until the mid-1960's that the Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal in Vienna learned of Stangl's whereabouts. For a total of $7,000—one cent for every Jew killed—an informer agreed to divulge Stangl's address. He was arrested by the Brazilian authorities, and in 1967 extradited to West Germany. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1970 by a court in Düsseldorf. He died a year later in prison.

Kurt Hubert Franz Deputy Commandant: August 1942–August 1943 Commandant August–November 1943 Born on January 17, 1914, in Düsseldorf where he attended elementary school from 1920–1928. After leaving school he trained first as a master butcher and then as a restaurant chef in the Hirschquelle restaurant, and then in the Wittelsbacher Hofhotel in Düsseldorf. He did not take the final qualifying examination. From 1935–1937, Franz served his draft, and upon honorable discharge in October 1937 he joined the Waffen-SS, serving for two years in the 6th Battalion of SS-Totenkopfstandarte (SS-Death's Head Regiment) ‘Thüringen’, based at Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar.

321

In November 1939, Franz and a group of 10 other SS-NCOs from the Death's Head Division were summoned to the Führer's Chancellery on Voßstraße in Berlin. They were seconded to the ‘Charitable Foundation for Institutional Care, the camouflage organization that managed the ‘T4’ euthanasia program in the Reich. Franz was assigned as cook in four or the six the euthanasia institutions, at Grafeneck, Brandenburg, Hartheim and Sonnenstein. In March 1942, Franz was ordered to report to SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik in Lublin, and was then posted to the Bełżec death camp. In Bełżec, Franz was initially employed as the garrison cook, but within a short time commandant Wirth assigned him to training the Ukrainian guard unit. On April 20, 1942, on the occasion of the Führer's 53rd birthday, Franz was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberscharführer. Between August 19–21, Wirth ordered Franz to the Treblinka death camp as deputy camp commandant,607 where once again he supervised a company of Ukrainian guards. Franz's physical appearance—tall, handsome, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a round, almost baby-face—led to him being nicknamed by the prisoners ‘Lalka’, the Polish word for ‘doll’. However, beneath the good looks there lurked an evil personality and his constant sadistic treatment of the Jews in Treblinka quickly made him feared as the murderous and cruelest of all the SS in the camp. On his daily rounds, Franz was accompanied by Barry, a Saint Bernhard cross, trained by Franz to attack and maim prisoners on his master's command. Barry came to Treblinka from the Sobibór death camp and it is possible that Stangl brought him with him when he was transferred to Treblinka. Kurt Franz and Barry are

607

322

During his trial before a Düsseldorf court, Franz claimed that he did not arrive in Treblinka until October 31, thereby attempting to absolve himself from any liability for events in the camp during the nine-week period between August and the end of October, the period of chaos caused by commandant Eberl and reorganization of the camp as a more efficient killing center.

mentioned frequently in statements by Treblinka survivors, and both were feared for their proclivity to inflict pain and injury. During the spring of 1943, Franz was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer. After the revolt on August 2, 1943, Franz was made responsible for the liquidation of the death camp which lasted from August 27– November 1943.608 After the final demolition of Treblinka, Franz was in Sobibór for a short time, and then assigned to Trieste and Goriza in northern Italy, where he was head the of a Home Guard (Landesschutz) school. In May 1945, Franz was arrested in Austria by the Americans, but escaped to Germany, where he was re-arrested, again by the Americans, but later released. His duty in the ‘T4’ euthanasia program and Aktion Reinhardt were not known at the time. He returned to Düsseldorf where he was employed as a construction worker before returning to his prewar profession as a restaurant chef. He was arrested In his home in December 1959 on suspicion of being involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity at Treblinka. The main defendant at the First Treblinka Trial in Düsseldorf during 1964–1965, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 3, 1965, for ‘participation in at least 900,000 murders’. He was released through ill health in 1993, after having served 28 years of his sentence. Kurt Franz died in an old people's home in Wuppertal, a few kilometers east of Düsseldorf in Northrhine-Westphalia, on 4 July 1998. He was 84 years old.

608

During this liquidation period Franz made the mistake of signing a document on which he stated he was the commandant. This played an important part of the prosecution case against him. Franz, however, admitted during his trial in Düsseldorf that this was an ‘error’ on his part, he merely wanted to make himself look more important than he really was.

323

Members of the SS-garrison ARNDT, Kurt. Belonged to a police detachment. Served at the ‘T4’ Hadamar euthanasia institution. According to Kurt Franz, in Treblinka, Arndt's main duties were in the Upper Camp. BAER, Rudolf. Born on March 28, 1906. Employed as a carpenter in Halle-an-der-Saale in Saxony-Anhalt, then served in ‘T4’ as a cook at the euthanasia center in Bernburg-an-der-Saale. In Treblinka, employed for a few weeks as a book–keeper in the camp administration office until replaced by Willi Mätzig when Stangl became commandant. In May 1945, interned in a POW camp near Kirchbach in Kärnten (Carinthia), Austria. He escaped and has never been traced. BIELA, Max. Born on August 5, 1905, in Leschen, Calau district in southern Brandenburg Province. A farm laborer in civilian life, he joined the SS and served with the SS-Totenkopfverband (SSDeath's Head) ‘Brandenburg’ Regiment in Sachsenhausen concentration camp from January 27, 1940, with the rank of SS-Rottenführer. Commandeered to ‘T4’ as guard at the euthanasia institutions in Brandenburg and Bernburg, he was posted to the Treblinka death camp in the summer of 1942 as deputy to Commandant Irmfried Eberl. Fatally injured in the camp on 11 September 1942 when attacked and stabbed by the Jewish prisoner Meier Berliner. Biela died of his wounds in the Reserve Military hospital in Ostrów Mazowiecka. The Ukrainian barracks in the Lower Camp were named the ‘Max Biela Kaserne’ in his honor. BÖLITZ, Willi. Willi Bölitz belonged to a police detachment and after recruitment to ‘T4’ served in the laundry room at the euthanasia institutions in Grafeneck and Hadamar. In Treblinka, he served mainly in the Upper Camp. Together with Adolf Gentz he supervised part of the ‘Blue’ work brigade that received transports on the Ramp, and then checked the wagons to ensure that no one remained inside. Treblinka survivor Richard Glazar described Bölitz in his book Trap with a Green Fence:

324

Bölitz is quite another type, made of more solid stuff. He is a strong, lean, young man. It's not just that his hair is cut short, shaved high in the back (in the Prussian military style), but gave the impression that the sun has bleached the eyebrows and lashes blond, on his oval, rosy pink face.609

After the liquidation of Treblinka, Bölitz served in Italy. Disappeared after the war. BOOTZ, Helmuth. Born on June 25, 1907, in Stettin, on the Baltic coast of Pomerania.610 After attending elementary school he was employed as a security guard for the General Electricity Company (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft—AEG). A member of the Nazi Party and SS since 1933, Bootz was recruited to ‘T4’ in the autumn of 1939. Employed first at the Grafeneck euthanasia institution as a guard, and then in the post room at Bernburg from late October until the spring of 1942, when he was ordered to Treblinka. He was released from his duties In the camp by SSObersturmführer Christian Wirth due to chronic ill health. His subsequent fate is unknown BOROWSKI, Werner. Born on October 23, 1913, in Sprottau (Sprottischdorf) in the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia.611 Served at the Bernburg euthanasia center as head of the economics office. Posted to the Bełżec death camp in early 1942, and then to Treblinka death camp. Because he fell victim to the typhus epidemic in the camp, after recovering he was sent back to Bernburg. He joined the Luftwaffe and was reported ‘missing in action, presumed killed’.

609 610

611

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., pp. 51–52. After the war, Stettin reverted to its Polish name, Szczecin, and incorporated into the Polish West Pomeranian Province. Today, Szprotowa in Żagan county, Lubuskie Province in south-western Poland.

325

BREDOW, Paul. Born on October 31, 1903, in Güttland, a village within the county of Danzig.612 A male psychiatric nurse, he was recruited by ‘T4’ and served at the Grafeneck and Hartheim euthanasia institutions. In the spring of 1942, he was posted to the Sobibór death camp with Stangl and others. In charge of the ‘Lazarett’, the execution pit for those unable to proceed through the extermination process unaided, he behaved there with particular cruelty. Transferred in the spring of 1943 to Treblinka, where he was in charge of Sorting Barracks ‘A’, the clothing barracks. After the liquidation of Treblinka, he was transferred to Trieste in northern Italy. From the end of the war until November 1945, Bredow worked as a carpenter in Giessen, Hesse, together with Karl Frenzel, an ‘old comrade’ from Sobibór. In December 1945, he was killed in an accident in Göttingen, Lower Saxony. BREE, Max. Born in Lubben/Spreewald district of Lower Lusatia in the Province of Brandenburg. Due to his relatively late arrival in Treblinka, little is known about him, other than he supervised the Ukrainian guards as well as the Jewish workers in the sorting barracks. Transferred from Treblinka to Sobibór at the beginning of June 1943, he was killed during the revolt on October 14 the same year. He was buried with full military honors in the German Military Cemetery in Chełm. EISOLD, Johannes. Born on November 13, 1907. Served at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution in Pirna–Sonnenstein. He later worked for the Wollenweber construction firm in Berlin, which hired out one of its excavators to Treblinka, where Eisold was the driver in the Upper Camp. After the liquidation of Treblinka he was posted to Trieste, Italy. Nothing known about his post-war fate. FELFE, Hermann. Born on January 4, 1902. A bricklayer by profession and a member of the Nazi Party. Recruited by ‘T4’, he was

612

326

After 1944, Güttland came within the Polish Western Pomeranian Province and renamed Kożliny.

employed as a male nurse at the Grafeneck and Pirna-Sonnenstein euthanasia institutions. In Treblinka, Felfe constructed the first water tower in the Lower Camp. According to his SS comrades Mentz and Matthes, Felfe was a guard but only during the initial stages of the camp's existence. He was arrested in 1945 by the NKVD, Stalin's secret police, and sentenced to death in the Dresden Doctors' Trial against Prof. Hermann Nitsche, one of the leading figures in ‘T4’, and others. Felfe was sentenced to death on July 7, 1947, but committed suicide in the remand prison on October 15. FLORIAN. According to the testimony of his SS comrades Matthes and Rum, Florian was only at Treblinka for a short while, during the initial phase of the camp's existence. Described as being about 40-years-old, hefty build, heavy-faced and blond. What became of him is not known. FLOSS, Erich Herbert. Born on August 25, 1912, in Reinholdshain, a small town in the Osterzgebirge Mountains of Saxon Switzerland (Saxony). He attended extended elementary school, after which he trained in textile dyeing, but was unsuccessful in finding permanent employment in the trade. He consequently worked in several other jobs. From 1 April 1935 he served in the 2 Totenkopfsturmbann ‘Elbe’ at Lichtenburg concentration camp near Torgau in Saxony-Anhalt, one of the first concentration camps established by the Nazis. From 1937, the SS unit ‘Elbe’ was transferred to Dachau as a part of the SS-Death's Head Regiment ‘Oberbayern’. Commandeered by ‘T4’, Floss served at the Bernburg euthanasia institution. He was to make a name for himself as the Aktion Reinhardt cremation expert at the Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka death camps during 1942–1943. At Treblinka, the Jews nicknamed him ‘Tadellos’, a German word that can be translated as ‘perfect’, ‘excellent’, ‘splendid’, etc., because it was his favorite word when surveying his handiwork at the cremation pyres. Jankiel Wiernik wrote about him:

327

Then, one day, an Oberscharführer wearing an SS-badge arrived at the camp and introduced a veritable inferno. He was about 45-yearsold, of medium height, with a perpetual smile on his face. (...) His face looked kind and did not show the depraved soul behind it. He got pure pleasure watching the corpses burn; the sight of the flames licking at the bodies was precious to him, and he would literally caress the scene with his eyes.613

A week after the revolt on 2 August 1943, Floss escorted a group of Ukrainian guards by train back to the Trawniki training camp. During a stop at Zawadówka railway station, near Chełm, he was overpowered by the guards and shot with his own sub-machine gun. FORKER, Alfred. Born on July 31, 1904. Employed as a male nurse at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein. In Treblinka, he was a guard in the sorting yard and in the Upper Camp. Described in the testimony of his colleague, SS-Unterscharführer Otto Horn, as being ‘small, with a tapering peaky face and dark blond hair’. Forker also served at Sobibór death camp, and when Sobibór was liquidated he was posted to Italy. His subsequent fate is not known. FUCHS, Erich. Born on April 9, 1902, in Berlin. After elementary education he trained to become a skilled motor mechanic and foreman responsible for vehicle repair and maintenance in a vehicle repair workshop in Berlin. He was later employed as a profession chauffeur by the directors of the Jewish-owned Ullstein Press on Berlin's Kochstraße. When the publishing firm was ‘Aryanized’ by the Nazis, it new owners forced him to join the SA and Nazi Party. He was drafted into ‘T4’ and worked as Dr. Eberl's driver in the euthanasia institutions at Brandenburg and Bernburg. On one occasion, he watched the gassing of 50 mental patients as ‘an interested spectator’. At the beginning of January 1942, Fuchs was

613

328

J. Wiernik, ‘A Year in Treblinka’, in: Donat, The Death Camp …, op. cit., p. 170.

among the group of Bernburg personnel selected by SS-Obersturmführer Christian Wirth to staff the Bełżec death camp. At the camp, Fuchs installed the shower heads on the ceiling of the gas chambers to disguise them as shower rooms. He was then employed as a truck driver in the SS-garage, transporting building material to the death camp site. In April 1942, he collected a Russian water-cooled petrol engine from Lemberg (today L'vov in the Ukraine) which was to produce the lethal gas for exterminating the Jews at Sobibór. Together with Erich Bauer, he installed the engine and tested it during a trial gassing of Jews. Erich Fuchs was then posted to Treblinka to assist with the installation of an engine in the gas chamber building as a generator for the camp: Subsequently I went to Treblinka. In this extermination camp I installed a generator which supplied electric light for the barracks. The work in Treblinka took me about three to four busy months. During my stay there transports of Jews who were gassed were coming in daily.614

In December 1942 Fuchs managed to arrange his release from ‘T4’ and from early 1943 worked for a German oil company, the ‘Ostland’ Oil Distribution Company (Ostland—Öl-Vertriebsgesellschaft) in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which since 1941 had been under German occupation. In February 1945, he was conscripted into the Waffen-SS, where he served in a tank transport unit. In March 1945, he was wounded during a bombing raid and taken prisoner first by the Russians, and then by the Americans in Western Germany. After his release, he was employed by the British Army as a driver/mechanic in the former SS-barracks of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, until his release in 1946. Fuchs worked at a number of jobs, as an assistant laborer, locksmith and finally as truck inspector in the Technical Inspection Association (Technischer Überwachungsverein—TÜV), in Koblenz, until his arrest on 8 April 1963. On 20 December 1966, the 614

Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka ..., op. cit., p. 43.

329

Assize Court in Hagen, Northrhine-Westphalia, sentenced him to four years imprisonment for being an accessory in the murder of at least 79,000 people. He died in Koblenz on 25 July 1980, aged 78. GENTZ, Adolf. Worked on the Ramp at Treblinka. Richard Glazar recalled about him: If I imagine Gentz without the SS-uniform, he could be a nice bright young man. I imagine him tossing his school bag into some corner and putting the field cap on his straight, bright red hair, buttoning his uniform jacket, grinning at the reflection in the mirror of the youthful freckled face with the strawberry blond eyebrows, and thinking, ‘This is gonna be fun.’ And when he got to Treblinka, and everyone around him eyed him with awe, then he told himself, ‘Well, whadda ya know, this is fun.’615

After the liquidation of Treblinka, Gentz was posted to the Sobibór death camp and assisted with the liquidation of that death camp in the autumn of 1943. GROSMANN, Willy. Born on January 26, 1901, in Lichtenberg, Saxony. A member of the Nazi Party, he was employed as a male nurse in the institution in Hubertusburg, a former palace in the village of Wermsdorf, Saxony, which since 1911 had been used as a psychiatric hospital. In the summer of 1940 he was drafted into the police in Dresden, and subsequently sent to the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein as a member of the police guard unit. He also served at the ‘T4’ institution at Hadamar in Hesse. In the winter of 1941–1942, Grossmann and other members of ‘T4’ served in the Smolensk area of the Russian Front ferrying wounded troops to reserve military hospitals in the rear. This duty was performed in the uniform of the Organisation Todt, the Nazi construction brigades. In the spring of 1942, this duty ended and the ‘T4’ personnel returned to Germany. Grossmann returned to Pirna-Sonnenstein for a brief time. From there he was posted to the Trawniki SS training camp and then to Treblinka 615

330

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., p. 51.

where he stayed until the camp was liquidated in autumn 1943. According to Kurt Franz, Grossmann was employed in both the Upper and Lower Camps and also on the Ramp. After Treblinka was dismantled he was sent back to Berlin and in December 1943 posted to Trieste in northern Italy. He also served in Tolmezzo, Udine Province, Italy, guarding an ammunition dump. Grossmann was never brought to trial because of ill health. HACKENHOLT, Lorenz Maria. Born on June 25, 1914, in the coal mining area of Gelsenkirchen, Northrhine-Westphalia, in the northern part of the Ruhr. After attending the local elementary school until the age of 14, he became an apprentice bricklayer and on passing the trade examinations worked on various building sites. In 1934 he joined the 2 Totenkopfstandarte (Death's Head Regiment) ‘Brandenburg’ stationed at Oranienburg, north of Berlin. In March 1938, he was transferred to the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he was employed in the motor pool and as a driver for the camp Kommandantur and personnel. In November 1939, he was one of a group of 10 SS-NCOs summoned to the Führer's Chancellery on Voßstraße in Berlin.616 During a meeting with SS-Standartenführer/Oberdienstleiter Viktor Brack, the head of Main Office II (Hauptamt II) of the Führer's Chancellery, they were informed of the euthanasia program and their roles within its ranks, mainly as bus drivers conveying the patients and as corpse incinerators. This duty was to be performed in civilian clothes. After the SS-NCO's were sworn to secrecy, civilian clothes were bought for them and Hackenholt drove them in a bus to Grafeneck castle in the Swabian mountains, south of Stuttgart. From the beginning of 1940 when Grafeneck became operational until the summer of 1941 when the gassings were temporarily halted on Hitler's orders, Lorenz

616

The other SS-NCOs were Josef Oberhauser, Siegfried Graetschus and Werner Dubois, also from Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Kurt Franz, Fritz Jirmann and Erich Hubert Floss from Buchenwald, and Johann Niemann and Gottfried Schwarz from Dachau.

331

Hackenholt served in all six ‘T4’ euthanasia institutions, both as a bus driver and as a so-called ‘disinfector/burner,’ unloading the corpses from the gas chambers and incinerating them. After the temporary halt in the ‘T4’ gassings, Hackenholt, together with a small group of SS-NCO's from ‘T4’, was transferred in the autumn of 1941 to serve under SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik, the SS- and Police Leader of the Lublin District in the Generalgouvernement. Hackenholt was assigned to Bełżec, a remote village in the far south-eastern corner of the Lublin District, on the main road and railroad between Lublin and Lemberg (L'vov). Here, on the outskirts of the village, the first Aktion Reinhardt death camp was under construction. When the camp became operational on 17 March 1942, Hackenholt became the supervising mechanic who started the Russian tank engine which pumped its lethal exhaust fumes into three primitive gas chambers in a wooden shed He rapidly became the gassing expert of Aktion Reinhardt, and a few months later designed and supervised the construction of a new and bigger gassing building with six chambers. It was named the ‘Hackenholt Foundation’ (‘Stiftung Hackenholt’) in his honor. In August 1942, Hackenholt was ordered to Treblinka by Christian Wirth, by then Inspector of the three Aktion Reinhardt SS-Sonderkommandos operating at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka, to replace the original three gas chambers with a new and bigger building containing 10 gas chambers. He was assisted in this task by Erwin Lambert, the ‘T4’ construction expert. On completion of this task both men were sent by Wirth to Sobibór death camp to construct new and bigger gassing facilities there. Hackenholt then returned to Bełżec where in the late autumn of 1942, he became involved in the exhumation and cremation of the hundreds of thousands of corpses buried in the mass graves. In the spring of 1943, Hackenholt returned to Treblinka on orders from Wirth to assist with the exhumation/cremation operation as one of the excavator drivers. Following the liquidation of Bełżec in May 1943, Hackenholt was transferred to the Old Airfield camp just outside 332

Lublin, which was the main sorting, cleaning and storage depot for the vast amounts of belongings and valuables seized from the Jews murdered in the Aktion Reinhardt death camps. Valuable furs were disinfected with Zyklon B in four specially constructed chambers. After Hackenholt arrived at the airfield, he used the chambers for killing prisoners who were unfit for work instead of sending them to the gas chambers in the nearby Lublin concentration camp (Majdanek). In autumn 1943, Hackenholt was transferred to Trieste in northern Italy, where he served in the RI Sonderkommando of Einsatz R at San Sabba. In 1944, he was awarded the Iron Cross II Class for his dedicated service to Aktion Reinhardt. Shortly after Easter 1945, he was arrested and interned in San Sabba awaiting execution for selling arms to the partisans. However, Dieter Allers, the head of Aktion T4 and Aktion Reinhardt who had replaced Wirth after his assassination, realized that the war was all but over and released Hackenholt, who promptly disappeared. He was next seen driving a bus for a Trieste motor company. After that, he disappeared until during the retreat of the Einsatz R troops into Austria, the convoy passed him on the road to Kirchbach. He was driving a horse-drawn milk float (!) In the summer of 1945, his wife, Ilse, received news of him in Berlin from Rudolf (‘Rudi’) Kamm, a former SS-comrade from the Bełżec death camp. He wanted to collect Hackenholt's civilian clothing. In 1946, two former SS-comrades from Sobibór, Erich Bauer and Wenzel Rehwald, claim to have met him near Ingolstadt in Bavaria where he was living under an assumed name and employed in a motor accessories shop. A year later, Hackenholt's brother believed he passed him driving a delivery van near their hometown of Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr. After that, nothing more was heard of him. However, after a fruitless four-year hunt by the West German police (‘Sonderfahndung Hackenhold’ 1959–1963), and intensive and repeated interrogations of his wife and family, it seemed likely that Hackenhold could have been living under a false name in the area of Memmingen, in the Allgäu region of southern Germany. His wife, Ilse, 333

lived in the same area. The Allgäu region was close to the border with Austria, a country that had no extradition treaty with West Germany. Lorenz Hackenholt, wanted for participation in the mass murder of at least 1.5 million people, has never been found.617 HENGST, August. Born on April 25, 1905, in Bonn. By profession a chef and pastry cook. Recruited by ‘T4’ on 4 January 1940, he was assigned to the Brandenburg euthanasia institution where he assisted with the installation of the kitchen. When Brandenburg closed down he was sent to the Bernburg euthanasia institution, also as a cook, until early 1942. He was posted to Treblinka, together with Erwin Lambert, while the camp was still under construction, where he was employed as camp cook for a short time, and then as a relief cook. After the liquidation of Treblinka, Hengst was transferred to Italy, first to Udine then Castel Nuovo (today Podgrad in Croatia). After a bout of illness, he was sent to San Sabba, Trieste, where he served as a cook until the end of the war. After the war he worked in Stadthagen, near Hannover. In 1949, he opened a bakery in a nearby village but in 1954 had to close the business, due to ill health. Later, another former ‘T4’ colleague arranged for him to work as a courier at the Deutsche Werft shipyard in Hamburg. HILLER, Richard. Born in 1899. At Treblinka, he worked in the administration office in the Lower Camp. No further details known. HIRTREITER Josef (‘Sepp’).Born on February 1, 1909, in Bruchsal, 20 km north-east of Karlsruhe. After attending extended elementary school, he trained as a locksmith but failed the final examination. He worked as an unskilled construction worker and bricklayer and on 1 August 1932 joined the Nazi Party and SA. In October 617

334

M. Tregenza, The Disappearance of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt. A Report on the 1959–1963 West German Police Search for Lorenz Hackenholt, The Gas Chamber Expert of the Aktion Reinhardt Death Camps. (See: http://www.holocaust-history-org/Tregenza/Tre genza00.shtmt).

1940, he was ordered to the Hadamar euthanasia institution where he was employed in the kitchen and office. In the summer of 1942, he was drafted briefly into the Wehrmacht before returning to Hadamar. In Berlin in early 1942, he was transferred by SSObsturmführer Christian Wirth to Treblinka death camp, via Lublin. Hirtreiter was stationed at Treblinka from 20 August 1942– October 1943, At Treblinka he became much feared by the Jewish prisoners who knew him as ‘Sepp’, the diminutive of his first name, Josef. In October 1943, he was transferred to Sobibór to assist with the dismantling of the camp, after which he was transferred to northern Italy where he joined an anti-partisan police unit. In July 1946, he was arrested and accused of having served at the Hadamar euthanasia institution, and was the first of the Treblinka war criminals to be brought to trial. On March 3, 1951, the Assize Court in Frankfurt-am-Main sentenced Hirtreiter to life imprisonment. Among other crimes, he was found guilty of killing many 1–2-year-old infants by seizing them by their feet and bashing their heads against the railroad cars on the Ramp. He was released from prison in 1977 due to ill-health. Josef Hirtreiter spent the last six months of his life in an old people's home in Frankfurt-am-Main, where he died on November 27, 1978. He was 69 years old. HORN, Otto Richard. Born on December 14, 1903, in Obergrauschwitz, a hamlet in Oschatz distinct near Leipzig in Saxony. He attended extended elementary school until the age of 14, after which he worked for four years on a farm and at the age of 18 he became a miner in Borte before being employed in a factory. Like many others during the Depression, he opted for a job with a steady salary and became a probationary mental nurse in the psychiatric institution at Arnsdorf, near Dresden in Saxony. After passing the final examinations, he served for two years at the Leipzig-Dösen psychiatric institution before returning to Arnsdorf. In 1939, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, attached to a medical unit based in Dresden. He also served as a medical

335

orderly during the Polish Campaign in September 1939. In November that year he was stationed at Geldern, near Düsseldorf, before transfer to France in 1940. In August 1941, Horn was discharged from the Wehrmacht and assigned by ‘T4’ to the PirnaSonnenstein euthanasia institution as a male nurse. In September 1942, he was sent to Trawniki for two weeks basic military training, and then assigned in October to the Treblinka death camp in uniform of an SS-Unterscharführer. In Treblinka, he was employed in the Upper Camp, supervising the burial of corpses in mass graves, and then the cremation of the exhumed corpses. Horn had the reputation of being ‘a decent man who never hurt anyone’; although Abraham Goldfarb has testified that he once witnessed Horn shoot a prisoner. In September 1943, a month after the revolt, Horn left Treblinka and went on extended leave to the Arnsdorf institution with a simulated illness. He was then posted in January 1944 to Trieste in northern Italy, but he refused to work there and was sent back to the Arnsdorf psychiatric institution. Two weeks later, however, in December 1944, he was ordered to a Home Guard Battalion (Landesschützen-Bataillon) in Plauen, Saxony, possibly as a punitive measure.618 At the end of the war he was in Czechoslovakia where he was captured by the Russians. At the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.) in Düsseldorf 1964–1965, Otto Horn was acquitted. KAINA, Erwin. Born March 24, 1910, in Berlin. Male psychiatric nurse. In 1940, ordered to ‘T4’, together with his colleague Heinrich Unverhau, and posted to Grafeneck euthanasia institution. Kaina was later employed in the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution in Hadamar, Hesse. He disagreed with what was happening in the euthanasia institutions and several times requested a transfer. He was arrested and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp for six weeks on the orders of SS-Obersturmführer Christian

618

336

The Landesschützen-Bataillonen were territorial defense formations, usually consisting of older men (Horn was 39 in 1944) who served primarily as guards at various installations and military garrisons.

Wirth for ‘blabbling’ in a bar about his work at Hadamar: his job was removing the brains from selected corpses for research purposes. He was later placed on probation and sent to the extermination camp at Treblinka. During the chaotic first phase in the camp, Wirth assigned Kaina to form a work-brigade and supervise the gruesome task of removing a pile of rotting corpses from in front of the gas chambers. He was unable to force anyone to help him, not the SS, the Ukrainian guards or the Jews. The Jewish prisoners preferred to commit suicide. Fearing Wirth's wrath and threat of being sent back to Sachsenhausen, Kaina attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself. He bungled it, and died later in the Reserve Military Hospital in Ostrów Mazowiecka on 31 October 1942. KLAHN, Johannes. Born on September 26, 1908. Psychiatric nurse and member of the Nazi Party. Employed at the Pirna-Sonnenstein euthanasia institution as a male nurse. According to Kurt Franz, in Treblinka Klahn was assigned to duties in the Lower Camp. KÜTTNER, Fritz. Born on July 15, 1907. A Polizeimeister der Schupo from near Chemnitz in Saxony, described as being about 38years-old, 1.74 meters tall, oval sharp-featured face with a somewhat protruding forehead, fair hair parted on left, blue eyes. In Treblinka, Küttner had the rank of SS-Oberscharführer and was in charge of the Lower Camp. Generally hated and feared, he wanted to know exactly what was going on in his part of the camp, and established a network of Jewish informers. He followed Jews, stopped them, and searched them for hidden money, photos, or any family mementos. If anyone was caught, he beat them cruelly before sending them to the ‘Lazarett’ for execution. In the camp he was given the nickname ‘Kiwe’ by the Jewish inmates. He was wounded during the revolt on August 2, 1943. Later assigned to Einsatz R based in San Sabba in Trieste, northern Italy. In July or August 1944, a small police unit that included SS-Hauptsturmführer Franz Stangl, Kurt Küttner, Philipp Post and Hubert Gomerski, was sent from Trieste to Milan to clear out 337

the remaining Jews and deport them to camps in Germany. Stangl left soon after, but the other three, together with a Jewish informer from Trieste, known by the pseudonym ‘Dr. Manzoni’, installed themselves in an office on the Corso del Littorio. Now designated as the ‘Kommando Küttner’, the police unit arrested Jews denounced by ‘Dr. Manzoni’. The Kommando returned to Trieste in mid-March 1945. Kurt Küttner was arrested after the war but never brought to trial. He died on December 31, 1950, aged only 43. LAMBERT, Erwin Hermann. Born on December 7, 1909, in Schildow, Niederbarnim District, north of Berlin. A mason and construction engineer by profession and a member of the Nazi Party since 1933. In January 1940, he was recruited to ‘T4’ to renovate the villa at Tiergartenstraße 4, the headquarters of the euthanasia program from which originated the code designation ‘T4’. He converted rooms in the euthanasia institutions at Hartheim, Pirna-Sonnenstein, Bernburg and Hadamar to serve as gas chambers, lined with bathroom tiles. He also undertook other construction work for ‘T4’, such as the Haus Schoberstein hotel on the Attersee in Austria, used as a rest home for ‘T4’, and later also for Aktion Reinhardt personnel. Through all this work at different locations he became known as the ‘flying architect of ‘T4’. In the spring of 1942, he was ordered to Lublin, kitted out in the uniform of an SS-Unterscharführer, and assigned to the Treblinka death camp, together with August Hengst. Under the supervision of SS-Hauptsturmführer Richard Thomalla, Lambert was responsible for constructing the first gas chambers and other buildings in the camp. In August 1942, he supervised the demolition of an abandoned glass factory chimney in Małkinia (photographed by Kurt Franz). The bricks were used in the construction of the new and bigger gas chambers, which he supervised. There is only an isolated case of Lambert killing a Jew because he had misaligned a brick during the construction of the new gas chambers. Together with Lorenz Hackenholt from the Bełżec death camp,

338

Lambert also was involved later in the construction of larger gassing facilities at Sobibór, as well as the construction of buildings in the Jewish labor camps at Dorohucza and Poniatowa in the Lublin District. In autumn 1943, he was transferred to the San Sabba camp in Trieste, northern Italy, where he converted a basement heating furnace for use as a crematorium. After the war, Lambert owned a bathroom accessories shop specializing in ceramic tiles in Stuttgart. On March 28, 1962, he was arrested and appeared as a defendant at the First Treblinka Trial held before the Assize Court in Düsseldorf during 1964–1965. Lambert was found guilty of participation in mass murder and sentenced to four years imprisonment. He died in Stuttgart on October 15, 1976, aged 67. LINDENMÜLLER, Alfons. Born in Trossingen, Württemberg. In Treblinka, he was in charge of the so-called ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’). According to Richard Glazar: SS-Hauptscharführer Lindenmüller comes to Barracks ‘A’ before Christmas with something other than shopping on his mind. He stops in the office, which is right at the main entrance, and once he is alone with Zelo he begins speaking to him as if making a report: ‘Come from a military family, am a convinced National Socialist, but I cannot reconcile what is happening here with my sense of military honor, will go on Christmas leave beginning tomorrow and will never come back here, have volunteered for the front, would like one of you to know, and I chose you.’619

Alfons Lindenmüller died on July 27, 1946, in a prisoner-of-war camp in Ksawera-Koszelew, a suburb of the city of Będzin in Upper Silesia. LÖFFLER, Alfred. Born on September 15, 1904. Arrived in Treblinka on August 20, 1942, and assigned to the Upper Camp II. According to Jankiel Wiernik, just before the revolt on August 2, 1943, Löffler was transferred to the Lublin concentration camp (Majdanek), and promised to take Wiernik with him which, of course, 619

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op cit., pp. 52–53.

339

never happened. From Lublin, Löffler was posted to northern Italy, where he was killed in action on April 30, 1944. He was buried first in the German Military Cemetery in the village of Opicina, near Trieste, exhumed and reburied in the late 1950s in the big German Military Cemetery at Costermano, near Verona in northern Italy. LUDWIG, Karl Emil. Born on 23 May 1906. A driver by profession he was the chauffeur of Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, head of the Party Chancellery. Later, also a driver for the staff at the ‘T4’ headquarters. April 1942–January 1943, assigned to the Sobibór death camp where he served in Camp III, the extermination area. In January 1943, he was transferred to Treblinka, where he was employed in the Upper Camp, also the extermination area. Joe Siedlecki recalled that Karl Ludwig was ‘a good, good man. The number of times he brought me things, the number of times he helped me, the number of people he probably saved, I can hardly tell you.’620 After Treblinka death camp was dismantled he served in Italy, and survived the war. Postwar fate unknown. MATTHES, Heinrich Arthur. Born on January 11, 1902, in Wermsdorf in the Wermsdorf Forest of northern Saxony. He attended extended elementary school and became a tailor. In 1924 he served an apprenticeship as a psychiatric nurse and educator, and took his examinations at the Pirna-Sonnenstein psychiatric institution near Dresden in Saxony. Employed at the Arnsdorf psychiatric institution, also near Dresden, he was employed as a male nurse and educator. In 1930, he was employed as an educator and welfare worker at an institution in Braunsdorf, Freiburg district, in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony. In October 1933, he returned to the Arnsdorf institution. Matthes became a member of the SA in 1934, and in 1939 was drafted into the Wehrmacht, where he served in Poland and France until his honorable discharge in September 1941 with the rank of Obergefreiter (Senior Lance Corporal). He was ordered to the Führer's Chancellery on Voßstraße 620

340

Sereny, Into that Darkness …, op. cit., p. 188.

in Berlin and assigned to ‘T4’. He spent a short time in the photographic section at Tiergartenstraße 4. In the winter of 1941–42 he served on the Russian Front in the uniform of the Organisation Todt where, as a male nurse he ferried wounded troops from the Minsk and Smolensk areas to Reserve Military Hospitals in the rear. In February or March 1942, Matthes returned from Russia and worked in the same photographic section at T4. In August 1942, he was ordered to Lublin and drafted into the SS with the rank of SS-Scharführer, and assigned to the Treblinka death camp, where he arrived on 20 August 1942. At Treblinka, SSObersturmführer Christian Wirth placed him in charge of the Upper Camp. In September 1943, he was transferred to the Sobibór death camp where he stayed until the camp was liquidated in the autumn of 1943, and then returned to Berlin. In early 1944 he was sent to Trieste in northern Italy with the rank of Polizei Oberwachtmeister (Schupo). In Trieste, he fought in an anti-partisan unit, took part in military construction work, and served as a guard until the end of the war. In 1945, he was captured by US forces, but released the same year. In Nuremberg, Bavaria, he worked as a medical orderly and as a laborer removing rubble, before finally returned to his old profession of male psychiatric nurse. He was employed in the institutions at Ansbach and Bayreuth in Franconia, northern Bavaria, and at the Andernach institution in the Mayen-Koblenz district of the Rhine Palatinate. At the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.) held in 1964–1965 before the Assize Court in Düsseldorf, Heinrich Matthes was sentenced to life imprisonment. MÄTZIG, Willy. Born on August 6, 1910, in Berg, Oberlausitz in eastern Saxony. After leaving school, learned the trade of glasscutter. In October 1933, he became a member of the Allgemeine-SS with the rank of SS-Unterscharführer. In July 1939, he was posted to an

341

infantry unit in Freistadt, a town in Moravian-Silesia with a confusing history.621 In early January 1940, he was posted to an SS infantry unit in Linz, Upper Austria. Mätzig fell ill with septic bone marrow and as a result was suspended from duty on medical grounds and ordered to Berlin. In February or March 1940 he was employed as a guard at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution in the old prison in Brandenburg-an-der-Havel. When the Brandenburg institution closed down at the end of 1940, he was posted to the Bernburg-an-der-Saale euthanasia institution, where he was employed again as a guard and an administration assistant until August 1942. In August 1942 he was assigned to the Treblinka death camp where he was employed as a book-keeper and on general administrative duties. Together with Otto Stadie, Mätzig was one of commandant Stangl's two senior administrative assistants in the Kommandantur. Mätzig also supervised the ‘Blue’ work brigade which received the incoming transports at the Ramp. After the Jews disembarked, Stadie or Mätzig would say a few words to the Jews to reassure them that they were a resettlement transport, would be given a bath and receive new clothes. They also ordered the Jews to maintain quiet and discipline, and that they would continue their journey the following day. After the liquidation of Treblinka, Mätzig was in Sobibór for a short while, and then served in Einsatz R in Trieste, northern Italy until the end of the war. MEIDKUR, Kurt. SS-Unterscharführer. No details known. MENTZ, Willy. Born on April 30, 1904, in Schönhagen, a village in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) district in Pomerania.622 After school he found employment as an unskilled worker in a saw mill and then 621

622

342

Freistadt/Fryštát: 1920–1938 a part of the Czechoslovakia. In October 1938, it was annexed to Poland and during World War II became a part of Germany. After the war, the town once again became incorporated into the Czechoslovakia. Schönhagen: since 1944 incorporated into Polish Western Pomerania and renamed Osina.

trained as a master dairyman and passed the trade examination. In 1940, he took care of cows and pigs on the estate of the euthanasia institution at Grafeneck castle in Württemberg. Early 1941– early summer 1942, he worked in the gardens at the euthanasia institution. From June–July 1942, assigned to Treblinka death camp with the SS rank of Unterscharführer, and employed at first in the Upper Camp II, and then in the Lower Camp I as chief of the Agricultural Brigade (Landwirtschaftskommando). Also assigned by SS-Obersturmführer Wirth to supervise the ‘Lazarett’. Metz had been a dairyman with no military training or knowledge of weapons; Wirth therefore demonstrated first how to shoot the Jews in the back of the neck (Genickschuss). After that, Mentz became an expert executioner, much feared by the Jewish prisoners. Because he resembled the monster in Frankenstein films, ‘with big ears, and a mouth like a monkey’, he was nicknamed ‘Frankenstein’ by the prisoners. After the liquidation of Treblinka, he was employed for a short time at Sobibór death camp, and from there transferred to Einsatz R in Trieste, engaged in the round-up of Italian Jews, and later on anti-partisan duty. After the war, he returned to his old job as a master dairyman. At the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.), held at the Assize Court in Düsseldorf during 1964–1965, Willy Mentz was sentenced to life imprisonment. He died on July 25, 1978, aged 74. MICHEL, Hermann. Employed by ‘T4’ in the euthanasia institutions at Grafeneck caste in Württemberg, and Hartheim castle in Upper Austria. In April 1942, he assigned to the Sobibór death camp where he befriended camp Commandant Franz Stangl. Michel welcomed the new arrivals in Camp II in Sobibór with a short speech, reassuring them that they had arrived in a labor camp and, for reasons of hygiene, had to be disinfected and bathed. Transferred to Treblinka in November 1942. After the war, believed to have fled to Egypt. MIETE, August Wilhelm. Born on November 1, 1908, in Westerkappeln, Tecklenburg district in Northrhine-Westphalia. Until May 1940, he worked with his brother on their parent's mill and farm. 343

Miete was a very late comer to the Nazi Party which he did not join until 1940 at the age of 38. The same year, his local Chamber of Agriculture in Münster informed him that there was a job opportunity as chief dairyman on the estate of Grafeneck castle in Württemberg; he applied and was accepted. He therefore inadvertently became a member of ‘T4’. Transferred to the euthanasia institution at Hadamar, but instead of being assigned to the institution's farm at Schneppfenhausen, he was employed at extracting dental gold from the mouths of corpses of the victims before cremation. He also worked as a stoker in the crematorium until the summer of 1942, when he was transferred to Lublin. In June 1942, with the rank of SS-Unterscharführer, Miete was posted to the Treblinka death camp at the time the camp was still under construction. In Treblinka, he was one of the most cruel SS-men in the camp, nicknamed by the prisoners ‘Malakh Ha-Moves’—Yiddish for the ‘Angel of Death’ (after the war he could not explain to the court how he received this nickname!) He was also known as ‘Krimme Kepel’ (Crooked Head). He was assigned to the Lower Camp where he worked on the Ramp, and at the Undressing Yard. SS-Obersturmführer Wirth then placed Miete in charge of the ‘Lazarett’ where he carried out most of the executions of the old, frail, sick and small children. He also deliberately sought out his victims, walk around the camp and checking the prisoners. Those whom he thought looked sick or too weak to work would be taken straight to the ‘Lazarett’ and dispatched with a bullet in the head. It was Miete who killed the prisoner Meier Berliner who had stabbed SS-man Max Biela. After the liquidation of Treblinka, Miete was transferred to Trieste in northern Italy, and from there transferred to Udine. In the autumn of 1944, he was employed in a demolition unit. After the war, Miete returned to the family farm and mill where he worked until 1950, when he became the manager of a savings bank (Sparkasse) in Lotte, Steinfurt district in Northrhine-Westphalia. On 27 May 1960 he was arrested and held in Düsseldorf-Derendorf prison, accused of participation in the mass murder of at least 344

300,000 people. At the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.) held before the Assize Court in Düsseldorf in 1964–1965, Miete was sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison. MÖLLER, Max. From Hamburg, by profession a male nurse. In Treblinka, he was assigned to the Lower Camp and also served as an ordinance officer. The prisoners nicknamed ‘Amerikaner’ (‘The American’) apparently because of his build, according to Kalman Teigman. MÜLLER (MILLER), Adolf, Camp Administrator. Lured away from the armory by Israel Sudowicz on the day of the revolt. MÜNZBERGER, Gustav. Born in Weißkirchlitz, Teplitz-Schönau District in the Sudetenland. He attended extended elementary school, then a public school in Turn, Schönau district for two years. After school, he worked until 1923 as a carpenter for his father's firm, and afterwards for a few months in the Weißkirchlitz Paper Factory. Served 18 months military draft in a Railroad Regiment (Eisenbahn-Regiment) in the industrial town of Pardubice, 95 km east of Prague. From the autumn of 1925 he returned to work in the paper factory in Weißkirchlitz and 1931 took over the management of his father's firm for the next nine years. In August 1940, he was ordered to the euthanasia institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein, where he was employed as a carpenter and assistant cook. Together with about 15 other men, he was sent in August 1942 to Lublin, and then to the SS-training camp at Trawniki for basic military training. In late September 1942, he was assigned to Treblinka with the rank of SS-Rottenführer and employed in the Upper Camp as assistant to Heinrich Matthes at the gassing installation; he was responsible for chasing people into the gas chambers, and also supervised the Corpse Transport Brigade (Leichentransportkommando). On June 21, 1943, Münzberger was promoted to SS-Unterscharführer. At the time of the camp revolt on August 2, 1943, he was at home on leave. After the liquidation of Treblinka in November 1943, he was transferred to Einsatz R in Trieste, northern Italy. Arrested on 13 July 1963, and 345

at the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.) before the Assize Court in Düsseldorf 1964–1965 he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. In July 1971, he was released from prison after serving only seven years, ‘due to good behavior’. PLIKAT, Karl Heinz. Born on May 14, 1907, in Berlin. He was short in stature, with sparse blond hair. At Treblinka he was assigned to the Lower Camp. One of his SS-comrades, Albert Rum, testified that Plikat was known as an ‘SA-rascal.’ After Treblinka he served in Einsatz R in Trieste, northern Italy. POST, Philipp. From the Frankfurt-am-Main area. Aged about 29 in 1942, about 1.73 meters tall, well-built with brown hair and a rather red face. Arrived in Treblinka on August 20, 1942, and served in the Lower Camp guarding the armory. After the liquidation of Treblinka he served with an Einsatz R unit in northern Italy on anti-partisan duty. PÖTZINGER, Karl. Born in 1908, probably in Leipzig, Saxony. Recruited to ‘T4’ he worked in the crematoria at the Brandenburg and Bernburg euthanasia institutions. In Treblinka, he was employed in the Upper Camp, at first supervising the burial of the bodies in mass graves, and then the cremation of the exhumed corpses. When Treblinka was closed he spent a short time in the Sobibór death camp before being transferred to Einsatz R in northern Italy. On 22 December 1944, Pötzinger was killed by shrapnel during an Allied air-raid. He was buried first in the German Military Cemetery in Opicina village near Trieste, exhumed in the late 1950s and reinterred in the big German Military Cemetery at Costermano on Lake Garda, Verona Province, northern, Italy. REUTER. On the day of the Treblinka revolt, August 2, 1943, a very hot day, SS-Scharführer Reuter took a group of SS and Ukrainian

346

guards to swim in the nearby River Bug.623 Nothing more is known about this SS-NCO. RICHTER, Kurt. Born in 1914, a butcher by profession. Recruited into ‘T4’ and employed in the euthanasia institutions at PirnaSonnenstein in Saxony and Hartheim castle in Upper Austria. Posted ‘to the East’, he first went to the Treblinka death camp as a cook. Transferred to Sobibór death camp in December 1942, where he took the sick, old and frail from the Ramp to the ‘Lazarett’. He also supervised the barbers' barracks and on one occasion participated in the execution of members of the Forest Brigade (Waldkommando). After the liquidation of Sobibór, Richter was transferred to Einsatz R in northern Italy. He was killed near Trieste on 13 August 1944 in a skirmish with partisans. SS-Oberscharführer Erich Bauer, the former ‘Gasmeister’, at Sobibór testified that he transported Richter's body in a lorry to the German Military Cemetery at Opicina near Trieste. Exhumed in the late 1950s and reinterred in the big German Military Cemetery at Costermano, Verona Province in northern Italy. POST, Paul. Born on June 12, 1904, in Deutschenbora, a village near Meissen in Saxony. After attending extended elementary school he trained to become a butcher. In 1925 he joined the Schutzpolizei, the uniformed police, in Dresden. Joined the Nazi Party in 1937. On May 21, 1940, he was commandeered to the PirnaSonnenstein euthanasia institution where he commanded the police unit in charge of security and transportation. He also served at the Hartheim euthanasia institution in Upper Austria. In March 1942, Rost was transferred to the Sobibór death camp, initially as deputy Commandant, but was succeeded by Johann Niemann and Herbert Floss respectively. He supervised the sorting of Jewish property in Lager II, and also secretly spied on the 623

Stanisaw Kon (Kohn) in his account of the Treblinka revolt, published in the Yiddish newspaper Dos Naje Lebn (The New Life). Original in: ŻIH, Warsaw, 301/481 (Testimonies): Statements by Rescued Jews, Warsaw 1945.

347

other SS staff. He was transferred to Treblinka in May 1943, and in December the same year, transferred to Einsatz R in Trieste, northern Italy. Awarded the War Service Cross (Kriegsverdienstkreuz) II Class on August 13, 1944, the highest decoration that could be awarded to non-military personnel, and on 9 November 1944 promoted to Polizeileutnant in the Schupo. After the war, he was interned in an American POW camp but was released and in 1946 returned to his family in Dresden. Arrested almost immediately, imprisoned and interrogated at length by the Soviet NKVD, he was released a year later without being charged with having committed any war crime. In the early 1960s the German judiciary wanted him to appear as a witness in the Aktion Reinhardt trials, but the East German authorities refused him an exit visa to visit West Germany. When the Ministry of Justice in Bonn insisted that he appear, the ‘Stasi’, the East German secret police, ‘could not find him’ (!) It can be assumed that since his release in 1946 he had been an informer first for the NKVD and then the ‘Stasi’. He lived and worked in Dresden until his death on March 21, 1984, aged 80. RUM, Franz Albert. Born on June 8, 1890, in Berlin and a waiter by profession. Fluent in English and French, he worked in hotels in London and Paris. After returning to Germany and joining the Nazi Party in 1933, he was employed as a waiter at the ‘Inseln’ night club in Berlin which was frequented by Nazi officials. In late 1939, he was recruited in the night club by Hans Hefelmann, an employee in the Führer's Chancellery, and began working in the ‘T4’ photocopying section. In December 1942, he was transferred to the Treblinka death camp with the rank of SS-Unterscharführer where he supervised the Corpse Transport Brigade (Leichentransportkommando) in the Upper Camp. He also chased the Jews into the gas chambers with a whip in hand. His other duties included supervision of Sorting Barracks ‘B’ in the Sorting Yard. He took part in the final liquidation of Treblinka and was in the truck with Kurt Franz that went to the Sobibór death camp in November 1943. Rum was then transferred to 348

Einsatz R in Trieste, northern Italy. At the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.) before the Assize Court in Düsseldorf during 1964–1965, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. He died in 1970, aged 80. SCHARFE, Herbert. Born on February 13, 1913, in Königstein, in the Osterzgebirge Mountains of Saxon-Switzerland (Sächsische Schweiz), near Pirna in Saxony. Recruited to ‘T4’, he worked in the accounts department of the euthanasia institution at PirnaSonnenstein. Transferred to the Treblinka death camp, he was in charge of the Camouflage Brigade (Tarnungskommando), where he had the nickname ‘Mishke’ (‘Little Mouse’). He was later transferred to Sobibór death camp. After that, no further information available. SCHEMMEL, Ernst. Born on September 11, 1883, in Kirchhain, north Saxony. A career police officer he was a member of the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), the plain clothes detective squads. Commandeered to ‘T4’, he was employed as head of administration at the Pirna-Sonnenstein and Hartheim euthanasia institutions. Transferred in early 1942 to the Bełżec death camp in the administration office and then for a short time, late September–early October, as acting commandant at Treblinka. He died in Dresden on December 10, 1943, while home on leave, aged 60. SCHIFFNER, Karl. Born on July 4, 1901, in the Weißkirchlitz, Schönau district in the Sudetenland, under the name of Křesadlo (lit. ‘Tinderbox’ in Czech). He attended extended elementary and public school in Weißkirchlitz. After a three-year apprenticeship as a carpenter at a trade school, he served his two-year's draft (1921–1923) in the Czech army. He married in 1928 and in 1935 joined the Sudeten-German Party (Sudetendeutsche Partei) of Konrad Henlein. In 1938, after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Křesadlo joined the SA, but transferred to the SS ‘because the black uniforms looked better’. He received the Honor Chevron for Old Fighters (Ehrenwinkel der Alter Kämpfer) because of his membership of the SA and SS. It was not until 1941 that he 349

changed his name from Křesadlo to Schiffner. Recruited to ‘T4’, he served in the euthanasia institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein until early summer 1942 when he was sent to Treblinka where he was in charge of the camp joinery and construction team. During the summer of 1943, after the liquidation of the Bełżec death camp, Schiffner and a group of 12 Ukrainian guards under his command constructed a farmhouse on the former camp site, which was to be occupied by a Ukrainian and his family to prevent looting for Jewish valuables at the site. Transferred afterwards to Sobibór death camp and from there to Trieste in northern Italy where he served in a police unit on anti-partisan duty. With the rest of the ‘T4’ personnel in northern Italy, he retreated over the border to Kirchbach in Carinthia (Kärnten), Austria, where he was captured by the British, and interned in a prisonerof-war camp at Usbach. Released in October 1945, he made his way to Salzburg in Austria and disappeared. Nothing more was ever heard of him. SCHMIDT, Fritz. Born on November 29, 1906, in Eibau, Görlitz district in eastern Saxony. A motor mechanic by trade, he was employed in the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein in 1940 as a guard and driver, and in 1941 transferred to the Bernburg euthanasia institution. In the summer of 1942, he was posted to the Treblinka death camp to supervise the maintenance and running of the gassing engines in the Upper Camp. He was also in charge of the SS-garage and supervised the metalwork shop. After Treblinka, he was on duty with Einsatz R in Trieste, northern Italy. Captured by the Americans at the end of the war, but released and returned to Germany. He was arrested in Saxony by the Soviet military authorities, placed on trial, and on December 14, 1949, sentenced to nine years imprisonment. He escaped and fled to West Germany, where he died on February 4, 1982, aged 76. SCHUH, Richard. Believed to be from Frankfurt-am-Main. Arrived in Treblinka on August 20, 1942, with the rank of SS-Rottenführer, together with SS-NCOs Suchomel, Matthes, Löffler, Post and 350

Sydow. Promoted on March 20, 1943, to SS-Unterscharführer. Further career unknown. SCHULTZ, Erich. Born on September 3, 1902. Employed from 1940 at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institutions at Grafeneck, Hadamar and Pirna-Sonnenstein as a ‘burner’ of corpses in the crematoria. Transferred to Treblinka where he was employed as an platoon leader (SS-Zugführer). After Treblinka, he served in Einsatz R in northern Italy. Nothing known of his whereabouts after the war. SEIDEL, Kurt. Born on March 20, 1910, probably in Berlin. Male psychiatric nurse employed at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein as a male nurse and in the administration office. Transferred to the Treblinka death camp where the main road in the camp, a single-lane street that ran north-south from the main entrance to the SS-garage, was named ‘Kurt-SeidelStraße’ in his honor. Richard Glazar recalls that Seidel was a ‘good citizen, a civilian in a uniform, and supposedly the oldest among the SS here. He always addresses us impersonally, a straightforward face and polite demeanor.’624 After the liquidation of Treblinka, Seidel was transferred to Einsatz R in northern Italy, after which all trace of him was lost. STADIE, Otto. Born on March 10, 1897, in Berlin. After leaving school, worked as a courier and later in a clinic where he became interested in nursing. During World War I he trained as a medical orderly and attained the rank of sergeant. After the war he went to live in Breslau, Silesia, where he married. Thereafter, unemployed for several years until in 1927 he obtained a post as a male psychiatric nurse. In 1933, he joined the Nazi Party and the SA with the rank of Rottenführer. 1939–1940, took part in the Polish and French Campaigns as a medical orderly, again with the rank of Sergeant (Feldwebel). After discharge from the army, Stadie was sent to the ‘T4’ euthanasia institution at Bernburg where he transported patients from the mental asylums at Halle, 624

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence …, op. cit., p. 50.

351

Neu-Ruppin and Eberswalde to Bernburg for gassing. During the winter of 1941–42 he served with other ‘T4’ personnel on the Russian Front in Organisation Todt uniform, ferrying wounded troops to Reserve Military Hospitals in the rear. Transferred to Treblinka in July 1942 where he was assigned head of camp administration. He also served as Company Staff Sergeant (Stabsscharführer)625of the Ukrainian guard units in the camp, and supervised the arrival of transports at the Ramp. In Treblinka, the prisoners nicknamed him ‘Fesele’, Yiddish for ‘Barrel’, because of his sturdy build. Due to a disciplinary case, Stadie was transferred to the Old Airfield Camp just outside Lublin, where he was placed in charge of the guard unit. He later served in Einsatz R in San Sabba, Trieste, in northern Italy, where he organized the deportation of Italian Jews to concentration camps in the Reich. Also took part in security duties along the main roads on the Istrian peninsula. Taken prisoner by American troops at the end of the, he was released from the Weilheim POW camp in Weilheim-Schöngau district in southern Bavaria. He settled in the spa town of Nordenau in Meschede district, NorthrhineWestphalia. Stadie was employed as a private nurse until 1962 when he retired. He was arrested on 15 July 1963 and arraigned before the Assize Court in Düsseldorf during the 1964–1965 First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.). Sentenced to seven years imprisonment for participation in the mass murder of at least 300,000 people, he was released two years later due to ill-health. He lived another 12 years and died on July 28, 1977, aged 80. STENGELIN, Erwin. Born on August 10, 1911, in Tüttlingen, in the Swabian Alb (‘Rauhe Alb’) region of Württemberg. He was employed at the ‘T4’ euthanasia institute in Hadamar, Hesse. ‘Transferred to the East’, he was employed in the Lower Camp at Treblinka. In September 1943, he was transferred to Sobibór death

625

352

The SS rank of Stabsscharführer is approximately equivalent to Company Staff Sergeant in the British Army and Staff Sergeant in the US Army.

camp where he was killed during the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943. STREBELOW. According to Kurt Franz, he was assigned to the Lower Camp as a platoon leader (SS-Zugführer). No further details known. SUCHOMEL, Franz. Born on December 3, 1907, in Krumau (Český Krumlov), in Bohemian Sudetenland, (Today in the Czech Republic). By profession he was a tailor. 1940–1942, he was employed at the Hadamar euthanasia institution and in the ‘T4’ headquarters at Tiergartenstraße 4 in Berlin and. Suchomel, together with Hirtreiter, Post, Löffler, Sydow, Matthes and two men from Frankfurt-am-Main, arrived in Treblinka on 20 August 1942. Initially, Suchomel was employed at the Ramp in the uniform of an SS-Unterscharführer, then as a supervisor in the women's undressing barracks, leading the victims to the ‘Tube.’ Later, he was in charge of the ‘Gold Jews’ (‘Goldjuden’), and the tailors' workshop. When Adolf Eichmann and Odilo Globocnik visited Treblinka, Suchomel reported to them about the work of the ‘Gold Jews’. In late October 1943, he was ordered to the Sobibór death camp. After the closure of Sobibór he was transferred to Trieste, Italy. At the end of the war he was captured by US forces and held in a POW camp and released in August 1945. From 1949 he lived in Altötting, Bavaria, where he was arrested on July 11, 1963. At the First Treblinka Trial (Kurt Franz et al.) held in Düsseldorf 1964–65 he was sentenced to six years in imprisonment, but was released in 1969. He died in Altötting on December 18, 1979, aged 72. SYDOW, Hermann. Before the Second World War employed as a docker in Hamburg. In Treblinka he was in charge of the Camouflage Brigade (‘Tarnungskommando’). Richard Glazar recalled

353

that Sydow was: ‘a short little guy, but very tough, with an unbelievable appetite for alcohol.’626 After the liquidation of Treblinka, he was posted to the Sobibór death camp, and then joined Einsatz R in northern Italy. ZÄNKER, Hans. Born on 8 September 1905. Employed as a chief of the kitchen at Pirna-Sonnenstein. He was employed at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka death camps, as a deputy cook. He was transferred to San Sabba, Trieste. Support staff—Reichsbahn/Ostbahn EMMERICH, Rudolf, KLINZMANN, Willi. Little is known about these two prewar Reichsbahn employees, except that Klinzmann came from Wuppertal in Northrhine-Westphalia, east of Düsseldorf. On their transfer to Treblinka station, they became employees of the Ostbahn, the expropriated Polish State Railway (Polskie Koleje Państwowe—PKP) which became the eastern branch of the Reichsbahn. Both Emmerich and Klinzmann lived in an apartment in the station building in Treblinka village, and supervised daily the shunting of the Jewish transport trains from the station into the Treblinka death camp. Franciszek Ząbecki, the Polish supervisor at Treblinka station, once witnessed Klinzmann murder a pregnant Jewish woman in the station, building. Neither Emmerich nor Klinzmann were arrested after the war and accused of participation in mass murder. It was deemed that they were merely carrying out their duties as railway supervisors and dealt not only with Jewish transports, but also military, civilian and goods traffic.

626

354

Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence ..., op. cit., p. 127.

POSTSCRIPTUM Lublin concentration camp (Majdanek) A part of Aktion Reinhardt?

During a visit to Lublin on July 20, 1941, Reichsführer-SS Himmler ordered SS-Brigadeführer Odilo Globocnik to construct a POW camp, initially for Soviet prisoners, who built the camp which later became known as Majdanek.627 A point of much debate by Holocaust historians is whether or not it was a part of Aktion Reinhardt. Shortly after the construction of the camp, it was subordinated to the Inspectorate for Concentration Camps in Oranienburg, and officially became an integral part of the German concentration camp system supervised by two central organizations: the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt—RSHA) and from March 1942 the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office (SSWirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt—SS-WVHA).628 The Aktion Reinhardt camps at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka, however, were firmly under the control of Globocnik, although he also appeared to have informal supervision of the Lublin concentration camp, initially it was not considered to be an integral part of Aktion Reinhardt. In addition, Lublin concentration camp was primarily a forced labor camp which also provided manpower for the numerous forced labor camps in the Lublin District which also came under Globocnik's control. It was never designed as a camp solely intended for mass murder. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle, Globocnik's chief-of-staff and deputy for Aktion Reinhardt, in a report to SS-Obersturmbannführer Franz Heim in the 627

628

T. Kranz, Extermination of Jews at the Majdanek Concentration Camp, Państwowe Muzeum na Majdanku, Lublin 2007, p. 10. Ibid., p. 10.

355

office of the Commander of the Security Police and Security Service (Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des Sicherheitsdienstes) in Kraków, included the death toll for Lublin concentration camp in a 14-day and end-of-year report for 1942 concerning the number of victims of Aktion Reinhardt.629 In the summer of 1941, Globocnik ordered the establishment of an SS-Clothing Factory (SS-Bekleidungswerke) in Lublin as a branch of the main SS clothing depot at Dachau concentration camp. The factory occupied the premises of the prewar Plage and Łaskiewicz aircraft factory on Chełmska Street, on the south-eastern outskirts of Lublin and not far from Lublin concentration camp. In addition to utilizing the former buildings of the aircraft factory, and a branch railroad track that into the area from the main Warsaw—Lemberg (L'viv) track, a large number of barracks were constructed on the expanse of the airfield. Several thousand Jewish men and women were employed at unloading, sorting and cleaning the clothing and footwear brought by train from the Aktion Reinhardt death camps, as well as from the ghettos. After disinfection and sorting, the plundered property was distributed by rail throughout the Reich.630 However, since December 1942, SS-Obersturmführer Christian Wirth, Inspector of the Aktion Reinhardt Sonderkommandos, established his Inspectorate in a building at the Old Airfield Camp, and employed several SS-NCOs from the Aktion Reinhardt death camps. He was additionally responsible for inspecting the forced labor camps in the Lublin District. According to a note in the Lublin concentration camp Kommandantur, dated June 5, 1943, the Old Airfield camp and the other forced labor camps came completely under Wirth's control from that date. On October 22, 1943, by order of the head of the SS-Economic and Administration Head Office, SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald

629

630

356

NA Kew (London), HW16/32: decoded secret German police message, dated 11 January 1943 Kranz, Extermination of Jews …, op. cit, p. 33.

Pohl, the SS-Clothing Factory on the Old Lublin Airfield was to become a sub-camp of Lublin concentration camp. By this time, however, Wirth was already in Trieste, northern Italy. Barely three weeks after the issue of Pohl's order, it was rendered ineffective by the ‘Harvest Festival’ (‘Erntefest’) massacre in the Lublin concentration camp of 18,000 Jewish prisoners, including the 2,000 from the Old Airfield Camp.631 The currency, gold and other valuables seized from the victims of Aktion Reinhardt and from the ghettos were sent first to the SSGarrison Administration (SS-Standortverwaltung) in Lublin under Globocnik's old crony, SS-Sturmbannführer Georg Wippern. There it was sorted and valued by a team of banking specialists sent from Berlin, all with the rank of SS-Oberscharführer, and the precious metals smelted into ingots by Jewish jewelers. The cash and ingots were delivered to Berlin by train and lorry, the lorry convoys escorted as far as the Reich border by an armored car. SS-Brigadeführer Globocnik also paid much of the cash into two secret accounts at the Reichsbank branch in Lublin under the designations ‘G’ and ‘R’. The quality clothing, footwear and household goods were stored in a main depot in an expropriated building of Catholic Action at Chopin Straße 27 in Lublin. Other Jewish plunder was also stored in a depot in the city of Chełm, 60 km east of Lublin. SS-Obersturmführer Friedrich Wilhelm Ruppert, head of the Technical Department in Lublin concentration camp, has confirmed the dispatch of currency, gold and other valuables confiscated from the Jews incarcerated in the camp to the Aktion Reinhardt warehouses in Lublin, as well as to the Inspector of the Concentration Camps in Oranienburg. Ruppert also knew that SS-Sturmbannführer Höfle on several occasions personally supervised the transport by rail of these articles to Oranienburg. Ruppert also confirmed that 631

‘Erntefest’ was the biggest single mass murder of the Holocaust with over 42,000 Jews from Lublin concentration camp, the Old Airfield camp and the labor camps at Poniatowa, Trawniki and Dorohucza in the Lublin District shot in a 2–day operation.

357

the Globocnik's office in Lublin also received some these articles, especially cash, including Polish banknotes which were not exchangeable.632 It may therefore be concluded that Lublin concentration camp was included on the periphery of Aktion Reinhardt, but primarily only after December 1942. Spelling of Aktion Reinhardt Although some historians claim that Aktion/Einsatz Reinhardt was named after Fritz Reinhardt, State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Finance, and not in honor of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, it seems unlikely that the SS would name their mass murder program after an ‘outsider’, even if he was a government minister. Moreover, Gerald Reitlinger in his book The Final Solution stated that ‘the staff of Brigadeführer Globocnik dedicated themselves henceforward to Heydrich's manes under the name of Einsatz Reinhard.’633 On July 18, 1961, in Jerusalem, Adolf Eichmann, responsible for the deportation of six million Jews to the death camps, stated categorically that Einsatz Reinhardt was named after Heydrich. It can therefore be accepted that Eichmann, the SS-officer who knew the most about the details of the extermination of European Jewry, was right. For many years there has also been much confusion over the spelling of the code designation for the extermination primarily of Polish Jewry—Einsatz Reinhardt or Einsatz Reinhard—with or without the ‘t’. There are many documents showing both variations. The official Oath of Secrecy signed in Lublin by all participants in the extermination operation clearly states that they were assigned to Einsatz Reinhardt.634 632 633 634

358

Kranz, Extermination of Jews ..., op. cit., pp. 35–36. Reitlinger, The Final Solution …, op. cit., pp. 105–106. An original Aktion Reinhardt Oath of Secrecy, dated July 18, 1942, is preserved in the archive of the State Museum at Majdanek.

When Globocnik wrote to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler from Trieste on November 4, 1943, he stated that on October 19 he had terminated Aktion Reinhardt, and throughout his correspondence with Himmler, Globocnik constantly used the spelling ‘Reinhardt’.635 On November 30, 1943, Himmler, in his reply to Globocnik thanking him for his services to the German people, also used the term Reinhardt.636 Considering that the term Reinhardt was frequently used in correspondence and at the beginning and end of the mass murder program by the two leading SS-officers involved, it may be readily accepted that Reinhardt is the correct spelling. As a matter of interest, Reinhard Heydrich was christened Reinhardt, but later changed the spelling to Reinhard, when he achieved the rank of SS Major.

635

636

BA Koblenz, Auß. Berlin-Lichterfelde, SS File Globocnik, letter to Himmler, dated November 4, 1943. Ibid.

359

Supplementary documents

Correspondence between Dr. Eberl and his wife Ruth637 Letter from Eberl to his wife, July 30, 1942 SS-Untersturmführer Dr. med. Irmfried Eberl SS-Sonderkommando Treblinka B/Małkinia, Gen. Gouv. Treblinka, July 30, 42 My dear Ruth ! A warm thank you and a kiss for your lovely letter. The letter, however, arrived too late. I waited for it for days. I am not sure if there is still a possibility to get some high boots. Therefore, I beg you in this letter to send me some as soon as possible in order to avoid losing some unrepeatable opportunity. What is more, I have not had any confirmation of receipt of the package. There is a big package and one smaller one—both addressed to you. I just hope that you have received everything now. It is really all I could send you, because we are living very frugally here.638 I know that I have not written much to you lately, but I could not change that, since the last Warsaw weeks have been accompanied by an agitation that was unimaginable; likewise, here in Treblinka we have established a pace that is downright breathtaking. Even if I was in four parts and each day was 100 hours long, then this

637

638

Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, 631a, 1631 (III/683/6, 149– 150). This proves that deportees from Warsaw to Treblinka were not bringing much luggage with them. According to another letter, Eberl sent the items he mentions from Białystok on July 17, 1942, five days before the mass deportation of Warsaw Jews commenced.

361

would probably also not be enough (...) By employing myself ruthlessly, I have nevertheless managed in the last days with only a half of the personnel to supervise my tasks. Of course, I have above all used my men ruthlessly whenever necessary, and my men have pulled valiantly with me. And I am happy and proud of this achievement. (...) As you represent the beautiful side of my life, you should not know about everything. However you can be sure that I think about you very often, but there is no time saved for writing. When I was—during the last weeks—standing on my feet from the dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn, sleeping at nights perhaps 3–4 hours, then I am collecting the rest of sleeping hours during the day and the bit of sleeping hours I have is in addition filled with the suffering brought by greenflies, fleas etc. which are sucking me. You can really believe me, that some more minutes which would serve for recovery would be welcomed. When I am with you—my best comrade—keeping these talks, then I think with you, feel with you and we are bound together, never covering you with dirt and mud. My nerves became made out of steel on those days. The possibility of failing my nerves seems to be unlikely and my physical breaking down is more unlikely. On the last days I was able to manage my tasks only with half of the personnel setting in my person untimely. Of course that I have also my unit settled in the untimely way to the places where needed and my unit received it with bravery.

362

And I am proud and happy about this job. I just need some understanding also from your side. You cannot think that I perhaps not often and without a pleasure think about you. While the fleas are sucking me during the nights, then I often think about my nice homeland in Berlin. And when I daily make my throat warm by yelling, then I think about the silence and freedom of home. But the tasks, which are given to me, will be filled up absolutely and this is the most important thing. And my lovely darling, do not be angry at me when I am little silent because I think about you very often, but I just cannot always write the letters. You should know that you represent the pleasant side of my life. Warm greetings and many, many kisses Letter from Eberl to his wife Ruth, August 3, 1942639 Treblinka, August 3, 1942 My dear, my darling! I have luckily received your second letter. I was very pleased to hear from you again. The fact that the 2 packages have still not been delivered makes me very upset. They were sent on July 17, 42, from Białystok. I have the confirmation for shipping these packages.640 Here, everything goes its own way. There was a big visit here on Saturday (August 1, 1942) which filled me with pride. I was highly complimented on this occasion and I am very happy about it.641 You not need worry about my state of mind, which is, as always, good. When I write a little less often, or not at all, then the reason is too much work here, which is not giving me the necessary time, and 639

640

641

Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, 631a, 1631 (III/683/7, 152– 152). See Eberl's previous letter to his wife, dated July 30, 1942. The subject of parcels was one of the main topics in their correspondence. This sentence proves that at the beginning of August 1942 the camp was not yet in the state of chaos witnessed by Wirth and Oberhauser when they visited the camp on August 19, 1942.

363

duty calls. But it is sure that nevertheless I like to think about you very often. At present, it is sunny and hot again after a single day of rain. And now, my lovely darling, I greet you warmly and kiss you. Your Friedel Letter to Eberl from his wife Ruth, August 24, 1942642 Mrs Ruth Eberl, née Rehm Department Leader, Women's Office of the DAF643 Berlin-Schönberg, Innsbruck Straße 34. I. entrance, II. floor right Service address: Women office of the DAF, Berlin W 35, Potsdamer Straße. 180 Phone: 270012 Extension 564. Secr. Heidemann Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Westfälische Straße 1–3, Phone: 867381, extension 257 Management: Party Member Breuer.

-----------------------Berlin-Schöneberg, August 24, 1942. Dear Friedel! Well, with the end of your activity in Treblinka, you have finally received a nice official letter headed letter from your wife, since I am now an educated person (see your letter heading with SS-Untersturmführer Dr. med. Irmfried Eberl, etc., etc.), and which gives you 642 643

364

Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, 631a, 1631,(III/683/8, 153). DAF: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, the German Labor Front under Dr. Robert Ley, the Nazi trade union organization. With 25 million members it was the biggest organization in Nazi Germany.

an exact address with personal data, so you can finally see what your wife does. You see, the drops keep falling on the stone and eternally correct letter headings make the libidinous woman educated (?) I am looking forward to your arrival. I send you warm greetings and kisses.

365

APPENDIX 1

Table of equivalent ranks SS Reichsführer-SS Oberstgruppenführer Obergruppenführer Gruppenführer Brigadeführer Oberführer Standartenführer Obersturmbannführer Sturmbannführer Hauptsturmführer Obersturmführer Untersturmführer Sturmscharführer Stabsscharführer Hauptscharführer Oberscharführer

Scharführer Unterscharführer Rottenführer Oberschütze Sturmmann SS-Mann

366

Sicherheitspolizei (Gestapo/Kripo)

Ordnungspolizei Schutzpolizei

British Army Field Marshal General

Generalleutnant

Lieutenant General Major General

Generalmajor

Brigadier

Oberst Oberstleutnant Major

Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Major

Hauptmann

Captain

Kriminalinspektor Untersturmführer

Oberleutnant Leutnant

Lieutenant 2nd Lieutenant

Kriminalsekretär

Meister

Kriminaloberassistent Kriminalassistent

Hauptwachtmeister

Regimental Sgt. Maj. Company Staff Sergeant Sergeant Major

Reichskriminaldirektor Kriminaldirigent Oberregierungsrat u. Kriminaldirektor Kriminaldirektor Oberregierungsrat u. Kriminaldirektor Regierungsrat u. Kriminalrat Kriminalkommissar

Fahnder

Oberwachtmeister (Revierwachtmeister) Wachtmeister

Fahnder

Q'master Sergeant Staff Sergeant Sergeant Corporal Lance Corporal Senior Private Private

APPENDIX 2

Glossary of Nazi terms Abteilung: A branch, section or sub-section of a main department or office (Hauptamt, Amtsgruppe or Amt, q.v.). Also a military or paramilitary unit of up to battalion strength, i.e. approx. 700 men. Allgemeine-SS: General body of the SS consisting of full-time, parttime and inactive or honorary members, as distinct from the Waffen-SS (q.v.). Amt (pl. Ämter): A directorate or an office of a ministry. Amtsgruppe: A branch of a Hauptamt (q.v.). Anschluss: Annexation of Austria to the German Reich in March 1938. Außenstelle/Außendienststelle: Out-station of an office, agency or ministry. Gau: One of 42 main territorial divisions of the Nazi Party. Gauleiter: The highest ranking Party official in a Gau, responsible for all political and economic activity, mobilization of labor and civil defense. Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo): Secret State Police which became Amt IV of the RSHA (q.v.) in September 1939. Headed by SS-Obergruppenführer Heinrich Müller. Generalgouvernement: German–occupied Poland after its division with the Soviet Union on September 17, 1941. Hauptamt: A main or central office. Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer: Higher SS and Police Leader. Himmler's personal representative in each Wehrkreis (q.v.). 367

Reich and liaison officer with the military and senior regional authorities. Also established in the occupied territories. Nominally the commander of all SS and police units in his area. Kapo: A prisoner–functionary in the Nazi camps who was assigned by the SS-guards to supervise labor brigades, maintain discipline, of fulfil administrative tasks. ‘Kinder-Aktion’ (lit. ‘Children's Operation’): The deportation operation of children from Jewish Orphanages in Warsaw to Treblinka that began on August 6, 1942. Kommando: A brigade, squad or detail. Kommissariat: A Regional HQ of the police; also a political administration in the occupied eastern territories (e.g. Reichskommissariat Ukraine). Kreishauptmann: The principal district official in the Generalgouvernement Kriminalpolizei (Kripo): Criminal Police, the plainclothes detective squads which together with the Gestapo formed the Sicherheitspolizei (q.v.). In 1939, the Kripo became Amt V of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) (q.v.). Headed by Reichskriminaldirektor/SS-Gruppenführer Arthur Nebe. Lagerälteste: Camp Elder, the senior prisoner in a Nazi camp. Leitstelle: A Regional HQ of the Gestapo or Kripo established at the HQ of a Wehrkreis (q.v.) or capital of a Land. Oberkapo: Senior Kapo in a Nazi camp. Ordnungspolizei (Orpo): Lit. ‘Order Police’. The regular uniformed police, comprising the Schutzpolizei (Schupo), Gendarmerie (rural constabulary), and Feuerschutzpolizei (Fire Fighting Police), together with certain technical and auxiliary services. Organisation Todt: A para-military government organization used ma/inly for the construction of strategic highways and military installations. 368

Reichsgau: One of 11 regions formed from territories annexed to the Reich. Referat: A sub-section within a Gruppe. Referent: The official in charge of a Referat. Reichsführer-SS: Reich Leader of the SS. Himmler's SS-title from June 1936. Reichskriminalpolizeiamt (RKPA): Berlin HQ of the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) which in September 1939 became Amt V of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA). Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA): Reich Security Main Office, formed in September 1939 and combined the Sicherheitspolizei (Kripo and Gestapo) and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). It was both an SS-Hauptamt and a branch of the Reich Ministry of the Interior. Schutzpolizei (Schupo): Lit. ‘Protection Police’. The regular uniformed municipal constabulary forming the bulk of the Ordnungspolizei. Selbstschutz: A self-defense militia recruited from the German minority in Poland. Sicherheitsdienst (SD): Security Service. The intelligence branch of the SS, headed by SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo): Security Police, comprising the Kripo and Gestapo, headed by SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Sonderkommando: A special unit of the SS employed for police and political tasks in occupied territories. (Also used to denote the special brigades of prisoners in the death camps who dealt with the corpses). SS-Leibstandarte ‘Adolf Hitler’: Hitler's bodyguard regiment. The oldest of the SS-militarized formations, formed in 1933. Commanded by SS-Obergruppenführer Joseph ‘Sepp’ Dietrich. 369

SS- und Polizeiführer: SS and Police Leader. In command of a District in the eastern occupied territories, subordinate to a Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer (q.v.). Standarte: SS or SA formation approx. equivalent to a regiment, i.e. approx. 3,000 men. Sturmabteilung (SA): Lit. ‘Storm Detachment’, also called the ‘Brown Shirts’. The original Nazi para-military organization founded in 1921. Sturmbann: An SS or SA unit approx. equivalent to a battalion, i.e. 750–1,000 men. Volksdeutsche: Ethnic Germans. SS-Totenkopfverbände: SS-“Death's Head” units which guarded the concentration camps. In 1939 they formed the nucleus of the SS-‘Totenkopf’ Division, one of the first field formations of the Waffen-SS (q.v.). SS-Verfügungstruppen: The pre-war militarized formations of the SS, renamed the Waffen-SS in 1939. Vorarbeiter: Foreman of a team of workers. Volksdeutsche: ‘Racial Germans’—German minorities in foreign countries. Waffen-SS: Fully militarized SS formations. Initially composed of the SS-Verfügungstruppen and the SS-‘Totenkopf’ units. During World War II it comprised 40 Divisions, including non-German units. Wehrkreis: Military Region, usually indicated on maps by a Roman numeral. Wehrmacht: The German Armed Forces comprised of the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy) and Luftwaffe (Air Force). Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt (WVHA): Administration and Economic Main Office of the SS, formed from the SS370

Hauptamt Haushalt- und Bauten in 1940. Headed by SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl, the WVHA supervised the SS economic enterprises and administered the concentration camps.

371

APPENDIX 3

Alphabetical List of Ukrainian Guards―Treblinka Chief of the Ukrainian Guards ROGOZA, Boris Ukrainian Guards ANDREYEV BONDARENKO, Mikolaj BONDAVE, Peter BORODIN, Dimitry CHERNIAVSKY, Volodymir DIMITRENKO, Piotr DUSHENKO, Fyodor FEDORENKO, Fedor GONCHAROV, Pyotr GONZURAL, Mikolay GRIGORCHUK, Pavel JELENSCHUK, Wasil KOROTKIKH, Dimitry Nikolayevich

KUZMINSKY, Ananiy Grigoryevich LEBEDENKO, Nikolay LELEKO, Pavel LEVCHISHIN, Filip MAKODA, Nikolay MALAGON, Nikolay MANCHUK MARCHENKO, Ivan MARTOSZENKO, Moisei MELNIK, Theodozy NIDOSRELOW, Mikolaj ONOPRIJENKO, Daniel OSYCZANSKI, Mikolaj

KOSTENKO

PARASCHENKO, Alexander

KULAK, Nikolay

PARFINYUK, Yevdokim

KURINNOY, Ivan

PAYEVSCHHIK, Nikolay

372

PILMAN

TSCHERNIEWSKY, Wladimir

POLAKOW, Leon

VASIYLENKO, Sergey

PRITS, Samuel

VOLOSHENKO, Alexander

RITTICH, Alexander

WASILENKO, Iwan

ROBERTUS

WOLOSZYN, Wasil

RUBEZ, Grigory

WORONKOW, Vasily

RUDENKO, Wasil

YEGER, Alexander

RYABEKA, Fyodor

YELENCHUK, Vasily

RYABTSEV, Prokofiy

ZAVIDENKO, Trofim

SCHEFFLER, Mikolay SCHISCHAJEW, Wasil SCHMIDKIN, Iwan SCHULTZ, Alexander SCHULTZ, Emanuel Genrikhov SENIK, Nikolay SENYKOW, Mikolay SHALAYEV, Nikolay SHEVCHENKO, Ivan SHVIDKOY, Ivan SKAKODUB, Nikolay SKYDAN, Grigoriy STREBEL, Oswald TEREKHOV, Ivan TKACHUK, Ivan 373

IIustrations and Sources

Unless otherwise stated, all photos are from the Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Außenstelle Ludwigsburg (formerly the Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen, Ludwigsburg), or the Kurt Franz photo album Schöne Zeiten (Landgericht Düsseldorf).

Fig. 1.

374

Ukrainian barracks and zoo in 1943.

Fig. 2.

Armory and Kurt-Seidel-Straße. 375

Fig. 3.

Bakery, zoo, Ukrainian barracks and stables 1943.

Fig. 4.

Bakery under construction in 1943.

376

Fig. 5.

SS-men in Treblinka. Left to right: Bredow, Mentz, Möller, Hirtreiter.

Fig. 6.

Treblinka zoo in 1943.

377

Fig. 7.

Franz Stangl and Kurt Franz outside the Kommandantur.

Fig. 8.

Barry, Kurt Franz's dog, outside the SS-living quarters.

378

Fig. 9.

Barry at the zoo.

Fig. 10.

Fritz Schmidt and Ukrainian guards. 379

Fig. 11.

SS-NCO exercising inside the camp.

Fig. 12.

Kurt Franz in Treblinka.

380

Fig. 13.

SS-men climb into an excavator.

Fig. 14.

Excavator in use.

381

Fig. 15.

Two excavators at work.

Fig. 16.

Excavator at work in the Upper Camp.

382

Fig. 17.

Excavator in the Upper Camp.

Fig. 18.

Three SS-men riding on the excavator scoop.

383

Fig. 19.

Close-up of SS-men riding on the scoop.

Fig. 20. Excavator in the Upper Camp. 384

Fig. 21.

Zoo and Ukrainian barracks.

Fig. 22. Stangl with visitor; main gate in the background. 385

Fig. 23.

Mass grave, 1943.

Fig, 24. Ruins of the bakery and Stables, 1944 (Novosti).

386

Fig. 25. Erwin Lambert, demolition of factory chimney in Małkinia. The bricks were used in the construction of the new gas chambers.

Fig. 26. Treblinka ablaze, August 2, 1943 (IPN, Warsaw). 387

Fig. 27. Treblinka village station.

Fig. 28. Małkinia railway station (Chris Webb Private Archive).

388

Fig. 29. Railway officials at Małkinia railway station (Chris Webb Private Archive).

Fig. 30. Treblinka road sign, 1944 (ŻIH, Warsaw). 389

Fig. 31.

Ostrów Mazowiecka Military Reserve Hospital (Chris Webb Private Archive).

Fig. 32.

Odilo Globocnik in Vienna (Chris Webb Private Archive).

390

Fig. 33. Christian Wirth (Center).

Fig. 34. Irmfried Eberl in Russia in Organisation Todt uniform.

Fig. 35. Max Biela (Bundesarchiv).

Fig. 36. Johannes Eisold (Bundesarchiv) 391

Fig. 37. Hermann Felfe (Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Dresden).

Fig. 38. Erich Herbert Floss.

Fig. 39. Alfred Forker Fig. 40. Willy Grosmann (Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Dresden). 392

Fig. 41. Lorenz Hackenholt, 1942.

Fig, 42. August Hengst, Karl Pötzinger, Pilman, Lebedenko.

393

Fig. 43. Fritz Küttner in San Sabba, Trieste.

Fig. 44. Alfred Löffler and Kurt Seidel in Italy. 394

Fig. 45. Karl Ludwig in Italy.

Fig. 46. Heinrich Matthes (Gedenkstätte Pirna-Sonnenstein). 395

Fig. 47. Willy Mätzig.

Fig. 48. August Wilhem Miete.

Fig. 49. Adolf Müller.

Fig. 50. Gustav Münzberger.

396

Fig. 51. Philipp Post (Ludwigsburg).

Fig. 52. Ernst Schemmel.

Fig. 53. Otto Stadie.

Fig. 54. Franz Suchomel.

397

Fig. 55.

398

SS outside Haus Schoberstein, Lake Attersee, Austria.

Fig. 56. Treblinka SS with their wives and girlfriends, Lake Attersee, Austria.

Fig. 57. SS group photo, including Mentz and Miete, Lake Attersee, Austria. 399

Fig. 58. Heinrich Himmler visiting the SS training camp at Trawniki (USHMM, Washington, DC, USA).

400

Fig. 59. Jewish Transport bound for Treblinka at Siedlce (Hubert Pfoch private photograph).

401

Fig. 60. Aircraft hangers at the Aktion Reinhardt clothing depot, Old Lublin Airfield (Chris Webb Private Archive).

Fig. 61.

402

Palais Brühl, Warsaw (Chris Webb Private Archive).

Fig. 62. Lorenz Hackenholt awarded the Iron Cross, Trieste 1944. Left to right: Lambert, unknown, Schiffner, unknown, unknown, Hackenholt, Dubois, Bredow, Schneider.

Fig. 63. Richard Thomalla, Aktion Reinhardt construction expert (BA Koblenz, Außen. Berlin-Lichterfelde). 403

Fig. 64. SS in San Sabba, Trieste, Otto Stadie (first left).

Fig. 65. Ivan Marchenko and Ivan Tkachuk in Treblinka death camp. 404

Michal Chocholatý Interviews

Fig. 66. Nigdy Więcej Treblinki (Never Again Treblinka), sign at Treblinka railway station, May 13, 2000.

Fig. 67. Samuel Willenberg in Warsaw, near where he fought in the August 1944 Uprising. 405

Fig. 68. Michal Chocholatý and Samuel Willenberg, Warsaw.

Fig. 69. Pinchas Epstein and Michal Chocholatý. Epstein's House in Israel. 406

Fig. 70. Jiří Strnad, Kalman Teigman, Michal Chocholatý in Bat Yam, Israel.

Fig. 71. Michal Chocholatý with Edi Weinstein in Prague. All photographs courtesy of Michal Chocholatý. 407

Maps, Documents and Drawings The following section contains a large number of documents concerning the Treblinka death camp, documents from the personal files of some of the SS-men who served at the camp, transport lists, railroad waybills, and plans of the death camp itself, including unique drawings sent to Chris Webb by survivors, some of which are published for the first time.

408

Doc. 1.

Treblinka penal labor camp, poster (BA Koblenz).

409

Doc. 2.

410

Theodor van Eupen. Extract from Personnel File (YVA Jerusalem).

Doc 3.

Plan of Treblinka death camp used at the trial of Franz Stangl, Düsseldorf 1970 (LG Düsseldorf). 411

Doc. 4.

412

Deportations to Treblinka August 1942–January 1943 (Sir Martin Gilbert, London). Reprinted with kind permission.

Doc. 5.

Fahrplanordnung 565 (YVA Jerusalem).

413

Doc. 6. Fahrplanordnung 567 (YVA Jerusalem).

414

Doc. 7.

Fahrplanordnung 587 (VVA Jerusalem).

415

Doc. 8. Extract from a Transport List. Richard Goldschmid/Glazar/(Národní archiv Praha/National Archives Prague/, OVS/Occupation Detention Files/, Transports— Transport Bu 8 October 1942). 416

Doc. 9. Letter from Dr. Eberl to Heinz Auerswald, June 26, 1942 (YVA Jerusalem).

417

(Docs. 10–12, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, Dept. 631a, N°1631).

Doc. 10. Letter from Eberl to Heinz Auerswald, July 7, 1942.

418

Doc. 11. Letter from Eberl to his wife Ruth, July 30, 1942.

419

Doc. 12. Letter from Eberl to his wife Ruth, August 3, 1942.

420

Doc. 13. Letter from Ganzenmüller, State Secretary for Transport, to Karl Wolf (BA Koblenz).

421

Doc. 14. Note for Meierhofer in Lublin re: Bedding for Treblinka (State Museum at Majdanek, Lublin).

422

Doc. 15. Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) War Diary, entry for 24 October 1942 (BA Koblenz).

423

(Docs. 16–19, YVA, Jerusalem).

Doc. 16. Waybill dated August 22, 1942. 424

Doc. 17. Waybill dated September 9, 1942.

425

Doc. 18. Waybill dated September 13, 1942. 426

Doc. 19. Waybill dated October 20, 1943.

427

Doc. 20. Wagenladung dated July 20 1943. (State Museum at Majdanek, Lublin).

428

Doc. 21. Franz Stangl's application for service in the colonies (BA Koblenz, Außen. Ludwigsburg).

429

Doc 22. Christian Wirth's Race and Settlement Head Office Rasseund Siedlungshauptamt—RuSHA) questionnaire (BA Koblenz, Außen. Berlin-Lichterfelde).

430

Doc. 23. Kurt Franz marriage application (BA Koblenz, Auß. BerlinLichterfelde).

Doc. 24. Max Biela Death Notice (NARA Washington DC). 431

Doc. 25. Paul Bredow's Index Card Stammkarte (NARA Washington DC).

Doc. 26. Otto Horn NSDAP Antrag (YVA Jerusalem) 432

Doc. 27. Willy Mentz Extract from Personnel file (YVA Jerusalem). Doc. 28. Franz Rum Extract from Personnel File (YVA Jerusalem).

433

Doc. 29. Aktion Reinhard promotion list, 1943 (BA Koblenz, Auß. Berlin-Lichterfelde).

434

Doc. 30. List of Treblinka personnel drawn up by Kurt Franz while on remand (LG Düsseldorf). 435

Drawings by Treblinka Survivors

Doc. 31. Drawing of Treblinka death camp (Samuel Willenberg).

Doc. 32. Treblinka Ramp (Kalman Teigman).

436

Doc. 33. Treblinka Ramp buffer and wooden gate (Kalman Teigman).

Doc. 34. Old gas chambers in the Upper Camp (Eliahu Rosenberg).

437

Doc. 35. Treblinka Trial press cutting 1965 (Weiner Library, London). (Doc. 32–34, Courtesy of Chris Webb Private Archive)

438

Selected Bibliography

ADLER Stanislaw: In The Warsaw Ghetto 1940–1943—The Memoirs of Stanislaw Adler, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 1982. ARAD Yitzhak: Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka—The Aktion Reinhard Death Camps, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis 1987. ----------: Belzec, Sobibor. Treblinka: vyhlazovací tábory akce Reinhard, BB/art, Prague 2006 (transl. Luděk Vacín). BAEDEKER Karl: Das General Gouvernement Reisehandbuch, Karl Baedeker Verlag, Leipzig 1943. BLACK Peter: ‘Foot Soldiers of the Final Solution’, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987. BLATT Thomas (Toivi): Sobibor—The Forgotten Revolt, H.E.P Issaquah 1998. ----------: Sobibór—Zapomniane powstanie, Muzeum Pojezerza Łęczyńsko-Włodawskiego we Włodawie, Włodawa 2010. BÖHM Dr. Boris: Nationalsozialistische Euthanasiaverbrechen in Sachsen, Kuratorium Gedenkstätte Sonnenstein, Dresden/Pirna 1996. ----------: Sonnenstein, Kuratorium Gedenkstätte Sonnenstein, Booklet No. 3, Pirna 2001. BURBA Dr. Manfred: Treblinka: Ein NS—Vernichtungslager im Rahmen der ‘Aktion Reinhard’, Pachnike, Göttingen 2000. CHROSTOWSKI Witold: Extermination Camp Treblinka, Vallentine, Mitchell, London 2004. COWDERY Ray, VODENKA Peter: Reinhard Heydrich Assassination, USM Inc., Lakeville 1994. 439

CYMLICH Israel, STRAWCZYŃSKI Oskar: Escaping Hell in Treblinka, The Holocaust Survivors’ Memoirs Project, New York/Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 2007. CZARKOWSKI Ryszard: Cieniom Treblinki, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warsaw 1989. CZECH Danuta: Auschwitz Chronicle 1939–1945, Henry Holt, New York 1997. DONAT Alexander: The Death Camp Treblinka—A Documentary, Holocaust Library, New York 1979. EDELMAN Marek: The Ghetto Fights—Warsaw 1941–1943, Bookmarks, London 1990. ENGELKING Barbara, LEOCIAK Jacek: The Warsaw Ghetto—A Guide to the Perished City, Yale University Press, New Haven/London 2009. FREIBERG, Dov: To Survive Sobibor, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem and New York 2007. FRIEDLANDER Henry: The Origins of Nazi Genocide—From Euthanasia to the Final Soloution, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London 1995. FRIEDLER Eric, SIEBERT Barbara, KILIAN Andreas: Svědkové z továrny na smrt: historie a svědectví židovského sonderkommanda v Osvětimi, Rybka Publishers, Prague 2007. GILBERT Martin: The Holocaust—The Jewish Tragedy, William Collins, London 1987. GLAZAR Richard: Die Falle mit dem grünen Zaun—Überleben in Treblinka, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 1992. ----------: Trap with a Green Fence—Surviving Treblinka, Northwestern University Press, Evanston 1999. ----------: Treblinka, slovo jak z dětské říkanky, G plus G, Prague 2007. 440

GRABHER Michael: Irmfried Eberl, ‘Euthanasie’-Arzt und Kommandant von Treblinka, Peter Lang, Frankfurt-am-Main 2006. GROSSMAN, Vasily: The Treblinka Hell—Photographic Album of Martyrs, Heroes and Executioners, Gerhon Aharoni, Jerusalem 1984. GULCZYŃSKI, Janusz: Obóz śmierci w Chełmnie nad Nerem, Wojewódski Ośrodek Kultury, Konin 1991. GUMKOWSKI, J: Treblinka, Council for the Protection of Combat and Martyrdom Monuments, Warsaw 1961. (Dual-language English and German edition). GUTMAN, Jisrael: The Jews of Warsaw 1939–1943, The Harvester Press, Brighton 1982. HILBERG, Raul: Die Vernichtung der europäischen Juden, vol. 2, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 1990. HILBERG, Raul, STARON, Stanislaw, KERMISZ, Josef, The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czeniakow, Elephant Paperbacks, 1999. HOFFMANN, Dr. Ute; SCHULZE, Dietmar: Gedenkstätte Bernburg, Dessau 1997. JORGENSEN, Torben: Stiftelsen—Bolerne fra Aktion Reinhardt, Gyldendals Bogklubber, Gylling, Denmark 2003. KASSOW, Samuel D: Who Will Write Our History? Rediscovering a Hidden Archive from the Warsaw Ghetto, Vintage Books, New York 2009. KERMISH, Joseph: To Live With Honour and To Die With Honour! Selected Documents from the Warsaw Ghetto Underground ‘O. S.’ (Oneg Shabbath), Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 1986. KLEE, Ernst: Was sie taten—Was sie wurden: Ärzte, Juristen und andere Beteiligte am Kranken- oder Judenmord, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 1986.

441

----------: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich, S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 2007. KLEE, Ernst, DRESSEN, Willi, RIESS, Volker (eds.): ‘Schöne Zeiten’—Judenmord aus der Sicht der Täter und Gaffer, S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 1988. ----------: The Good Old Days—The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders, Hamish Hamilton, London 1991. KOGON, Eugen: Der SS-Staat: Das System der deutschen Konzentrationslager, Verlag Karl Alber, Munich 1946. ----------: The Theory and Practice of Hell—The German Concentration Camps and the System Behind Them, Secker & Warburg, London 1950. KOGON, Eugen, LANGBEIN, Hermann, RÜCKERL, Adalbert: Nationalsozialistische Massentötungen durch Giftgas—Eine Dokumentation, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main 1995. ----------: Nazi Mass Murder—A Documentary History of the Use of Poison Gas, Yale University Press, New Haven 1993. KOPÓWKA, Edward: Treblinka—Nigdy więcej! Muzeum Walki i Meczęństwa w Treblince, Siedlce 2002. KRANZ, Tomasz: Extermination of Jews at the Majdanek Concentration Camp, Państwowe Muzeum na Majdanku, Lublin 2007. KUPERHAND, Miriam, KUPERHAND, Saul: Shadows of Treblinka, University of Illinois Press, Champaign 1996. LAMPER Ivan; ŠMÍDOVÁ Jana: Jsem dnes jediný na světě, in: Respekt, vol. 7/1995. LANZMANN, Claude: Shoah—An Oral History of the Holocaust, Pantheon Books, New York 1986. LEWIN, Abraham: A Cup of Tears—A Diary of the Warsaw Ghetto, Fontana/Collins, London 1990. 442

LONGERICH, Peter: The Unwritten Order, Tempus, Stroud 2001. LUBLING, Yoram: Twice Dead—The Ethics of Memory and the Treblinka Revolt, Peter Lang, New York 2007. POPRZECZNY, Joseph: Hitler's Man in the East—Odilo Globocnik, McFarland, 2004. RAJCHMAN, Chil: Treblinka—A Survivors Memory, Maclehose Press, London 2011. ----------: The Last Jew of Treblinka—A Memoir, Pegasus, Cambridge 2011. RASHKE, Richard: Escape from Sobibor, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago 1995. REITLINGER, Gerald: The Final Solution, Vallentine, Mitchell, London 1953. RHODES, Richard: Masters of Death—The Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust, Vintage Books, New York 2003. RUSINIAK—Karwat, Martyna: Obóz zagłady Treblinka II w pamięci społecznej 1943–89, Neriton, Warsaw 2008. SCHÄFER, J. Kurt Gerstein—Zeuge des Holocaust: Ein Leben zwischen Bibelkreisen und SS. Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld 1999. SCHELVIS, Jules: Sobibor—A History of a Nazi Death Camp, Berg, Oxford and New York 2007. SCHILTER, Thomas: Unmenschliches Ermessen—Die nationalsozialistische ‘Euthanasie’-Tötungsanstalt Pirna-Sonnenstein 1940/1941, Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, Leipzig 1999. SCHÖENBERNER, Gerhard: The Yellow Star, Corgi Books, London 1978. SERENY, Gitta: Into That Darkness—From Mercy Killing to Mass Murder, André Deutsch, London 1974.

443

SMITH, Lyn: Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust—True Stories of Survival from Men, Women and Children Who Were There, Ebury Press, London 2006. SMITH, Mark S: Treblinka Survivor—The Life and Death of Hershl Sperling, The History Press, Stroud 2010. STROOP, Jürgen: The Stroop Report: The Jewish Quarter In Warsaw Is No More! Pantheon Books, New York 1979. TEICHOLZ, Tom: The Trial of Ivan the Terrible, Saint Martin's Press, New York 1990. TRĘBICKI, W.: Treblinka 1996, Muzeum Walki i Męczeństwa w Treblince/Oddział Muzeum Regionalnego w Siedlcach 1996. (Polish, English and German edn.). TREGENZA Michael: ‘Christian Wirth: Inspekteur der SS-Sonderkommandos Aktion Reinhard’, in: Zeszyty Majdanka, vol. XXVI, Lublin 1992. WEINSTEIN, Edi: Quenched Steel—The Story of an Escape from Treblinka (ed. N. Lasman), Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 2002. ----------: 17 Days in Treblinka—Daring to Resist and Refusing to Die (ed. N. Lasman), Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 2008. WILLENBERG, Samuel: Surviving Treblinka, Basil Blackwell, Oxford 1989. ------------: Revolt in Treblinka, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw 1992. ------------: Treblinka: Lager—Revolte—Flucht—Warschauer Aufstand, Unrast Verlag, Münster 2009. WISTRICH Robert: Who's Who in Nazi Germany, Routledge, London 1995. ZĄBECKI Franciszek: Wspomnienia dawne i nowe, PAX, Warsaw 1977.

444

Archival sources Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Außenstelle Ludwigsburg (formerly the Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen, Ludwigsburg). Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Außenstelle Berlin-Lichterfelde (formerly the Berlin Document Center). Chris Webb Archive, Heathfield, UK. Ghetto Fighters House, Israel. Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, Germany. Holocaust Historical Society, UK. Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH), Warsaw, Poland. Landgericht Düsseldorf, Germany. Landgericht Hamburg, Germany. Michal Chocholatý, Pilsen, Czech Republic. Mike Tregenza Archive, Lublin, Poland. National Archives Kew (London), UK. National Archives, Prague, Czech Republic. National Archives, Washington, DC, USA. Regional Museum, Siedlce, Poland. Schloss Kalkum Archiv, Düsseldorf, Germany. Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Chemnitz, Germany. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Washington, DC, USA. Volksbund Deutsche Kreigsgräberfürsorge, Kassel, Germany. Wiener Library, London, UK. Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel.

445

Websites www.deathcamps.org (ARC) www.holocaustresearchproject.org (H.E.A.R.T.) The Nizkor Project (Complete Eichmann Trial Transcripts) www.ghetto.pl (Warsaw Ghetto Database) Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims Names

446

Acknowledgements

ABDO, Alexander (Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, Germany); ARORA, Surinder; BEIER, Undine (Bundesarchiv, BerlinLichterfelde, Germany); BLATT, Thomas; BÖHM, Dr. Boris (Sonnenstein Memorial, Pirna); BORGERT, Dr. Heinz Ludger (Hauptstaatsarchiv Ludwigsburg, Germany); BOSEM, Neta; BOSEM (née ROSENBERG, Rivka); CONSTANDY, Michal (Westmoreland Research, - ? -); EPSTEIN, Pinchas; FELDMAN, Dr. Matthew; FERRERO, Shaul (Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel); FRÖHLICH, Pavla; GILBERT, Sir Martin; GRABHER, Michael; GROSMAN, Judy (Ghetto Fighters House, Israel); HOFFMANN, Dr. Ute (Gedenkstätte Bernburg, Germany); HOJAN, Artur (T4 Team, Poznań, Poland); JAROS, Marek (Wiener Library, London, UK); KATZ, Lilli-Mai; KOPÓWKA, Edward (Muzeum Walki i Męczeństwa w Treblince, Poland); KUWAŁEK, Robert; LAPONDER, Peter; LAWSON, Prof. Tom; LISCIOTTO, Carmelo; MÜLLER, Dr. Jörg (Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Dresden, Germany); MUNRO, Cameron; O'NEIL, Dr. Robin; OREN, Zvika; PETERS, Michael; POULSEN, John Ulrich; RACHMILEVITCH, Noam (Ghetto Fighters House, Israel); RAVELOVÁ, Irena; ROBSON, Gaynor; ROSENBERG, Eliahu; RUTHERFORD, Billy; SCHULZE, Dietmar (Gedenkstätte Bernburg, Germany); SCHWARZ, Dr. Ursula (DÖW, Vienna, Austria); SPYRAKIS, Clare; SPYRAKIS, Mark; TAIGMAN, Yaniv; TEIGMAN, Kalman; TREGENZA, Michael; WEBB, Heather; WEBB, Shirley; WEINSTEIN, Edi; WILLENBERG, Ada; WILLENBERG, Samuel; WITTE, Peter; ZIEMER, Daniel; ZVIKA, Oren (Ghetto Fighters House, Israel).

447

Index of Names

Awroblański, Chaim, 258

A Abramowicz, Reizl, 256 Adlerfligel, Abram, 256 Adolf (owner of a chocolate factory), 256 Ainbinder, Chaim, 257 Ajzenberg, Chana, 257 Ajzenboim, Ester, 257 Ajzenwasser, Henia, 257 Altenloh, Wilhelm, 199 Altman, Sara, 257 Altschul, Robert, 257 Andreyev, 372 Anisfelt, Dr. Wolf, 257 Ankier (boxing trainer), 257 Apelbojm, Chajm, 257 Arad, Yitzhak, 5, 6, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 30, 34, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48, 53, 57, 58, 62, 74, 77, 80, 81, 86, 87, 90, 91, 99, 104, 105, 109, 112, 171, 172, 173, 181, 188, 190, 192, 211, 217, 243, 298, 329 Arndt, Ernst, 258 Arndt, Kurt, 324 Arnsztajnowa, Franciszka, 258 Auerbach, Rachel, 38, 240 Auerswald, Dr. Heinz, 31, 417, 418 Aufrichtig, Biene, 258 Aufrichtig, Fanny, 258 Aufrichtig, Regina, 258 Augustyniak, Czesław, 232

B Baal Shem Tov (a mystic rabbi), 262 Bachner, Lilly, 258 Back, Eugen, 258 Baedeker, Karl, 11 Baer, Rudolf, 324 Bak, Dr. P., 258, 292 Barak, Ehud, 270 Bari (Barry dog), 116 Barry (St. Bernard dog), 116, 149, 150, 157, 225, 322, 378, 379 Bart, Tadeusz, 259 Bauer, Erich, 27, 149, 333 Beckerle, Adolf, 199, 200 Beker, Chana, 259 Berger, Oskar, 37, 232 Bergman, Moisze, 259 Berkowicz, Yechiel, 232, 234 Berliner, Aaron, 259 Berliner, Meier, 62, 259, 324, 344 Bernstein, Siegfried, 259 Bertmann, Njomka, 259 Bewerunge, Lothar, 25, 55, 58, 63, 81, 88, 93, 94, 116 Biela, Max, 62, 63, 110, 141, 142, 156, 203, 259, 324, 344, 391, 431 Birenbaum, Ludwika, 259 Birnbaum, Petr, 259 Biskubicz, Jakub, 149 Black, Peter, 210 Blanket, Moshe, 259

449

Blatt, Thomas (Toivi), 27, 125, 150, 196 Blau, Adele, 259 Blau, Alexander, 260 Blau, Karl, 118, 260 Blaufuks, Aharon, 260 Blobel, Paul, 80 Bloch, Želo (Želomír), 99, 100, 104, 110, 111, 257, 260, 267 Bodnik, Efraam, 261 Boehm (Böhm), Alfred, 261 Bolender, Kurt, 149, 150 Bölitz, Willi, 50, 156, 324, 325 Bomba, Abraham, 26, 88, 232, 234, 247, 291 Bomba, Berl, 232 Bomba, Reizl, 232 Bondarenko, Mikolaj, 372 Bondave, Peter, 372 Bonsztein, Tadeusz, 262 Boorstein, Moshe, 233, 241 Bootz, Helmut, 325 Borak, Pinhas, 233 Borak, Yossef, 233 Boraks, Edek, 261, 262 Boraks, Gustav, 25, 233 Borenstein, Meyer, 262 Bormann, Martin, 340 Borodin, Dimitry, 372 Borowi, Czesław, 184 Borowski, Werner, 325 Borzykowska, Luba, 262 Borzykowska, Ruhla, 262 Bosem, Neta, 140, 143 Bosem, Rivka, 141, 151 Bouhler, Philipp, 312, 315 Brack, Viktor, 315, 331 Brandt, Karl, 312, 315 Brat, David, 262 Bredow, Paul, 118, 326, 377, 403, 432 Bree, Max, 326 Breiter, Yitzhok, 262

450

Brenner, Henryk (Henry), 233 Breslauer, Egon, 262 Breslauer, Lotte, 262 Breslauer, Ursula, 262 Broger, 263 Broniatowska, 279 Brothandel, 234 Bruckner, Margarete, 309 Buba (Epstein's nickname for Kurt Hubert Franz), 149, 150 Bühler Brothers, 314 Burba, Manfred, 193, 217 Burg, Hans, 263 Burstein, Lolek, 263 Burstein, Mark, 263 Bursztyn, David, 263 Bursztyn, Gisza (Galina), 263 Bursztyn, Shmuel, 263 Buzyn, Regina, 263

C Camhi, Matilda, 263 Cescha, 264 Chaskiel, 134, 264, 266, 294 Cherniavsky, Volodymir, 372 Chilinowicz, Ben - Zion, 264 Chocholatý, Michal, 19, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 56, 63, 83, 92, 125, 127, 130, 131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 151, 152, 154, 159, 160, 161, 162, 164, 165, 168, 178, 405, 406, 407 Chodżko, Mieczysław, 264 Chorążycki, Dr. Julian, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 156, 264, 282, 283, 292 Chrostowski, Witold, 14, 21, 84, 91, 115, 117, 157 Ciechanowski, Chaim, 234 Cienki Brothers, 234 Comber, Dr. Lipman, 265

Conti, Leonardo, 315 Cooperman, Yechezkel, 232, 234 Cowdery, Ray, 1 Cowell, A., 220 Cukierman, Cypora, 265 Cymlich, Israel, 15, 16, 17, 20, 34, 55, 64, 70 Czarkowski, Ryszard, 32, 33, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 177 Czarny, Józef, 84, 128, 234 Czechowicz, Aaron, 234 Czerniaków, Adam, 179

D Demedyuk, Ivan (Ivan Demjanjuk), 223 Demjanjuk, Ivan (John), 93, 139, 145, 146, 209, 219, 220, 223, 233, 234, 235, 236, 245, 247 Diamant, Nachum, 235, 248 Dibus, Richard, 199 Dimitrenko, Piotr, 372 Domb, Jakob, 235 Donat, Alexander, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 38, 54, 55, 56, 58, 79, 90, 91, 97, 99, 100, 102, 107, 108, 111, 118, 160, 183, 193, 196, 203, 207, 217, 244, 245, 304, 328 Dorfman, Slamic, 265 Dorfmann, Ruth, 265 Dorner, Dalia, 145 Dr. Adrian, 257 Dressen, Willi, 42 Dubois, Werner, 331, 403 Dushenko, Fyodor, 372 Duszenko, Franciszek, 122 Dzialoszynski, Alfred, 266

E Eberl, Dr. Irmfried, 8, 30, 31, 32, 42, 43, 44, 45, 49, 61, 128, 165, 177, 202, 205, 311, 312, 313, 319, 320, 322, 324, 328, 361, 363, 364, 391, 417, 418, 419, 420 Eberl, Josef Franz, 311 Eberl, Josefine, 311 Eberl, Ruth, nee Rehm, 31, 361, 363, 364, 419, 420 Ebert (an engineer from Warsaw), 266 Edek (The Little), 266, 271 Edelman, Marek, 182 Eichmann, Adolf, 2, 66, 67, 81, 82, 93, 94, 95, 96, 102, 111, 200, 201, 217, 243, 247, 251, 255, 286, 353, 358 Einbuch (Untersturmführer), 17 Einshindler, Israel, 235 Eisner, Jakob, 235, 246 Eisold, Johannes, 326, 391 Elezier, Yisroel ben, 262 Eljaszewicz, Nachum, 266 Emmerich, Rudolf, 117, 354 Engel, Abraham, 266 Engelking, Barbara, 231, 279 Epstein, David, 63, 235 Epstein, Pinchas, 56, 63, 92, 93, 128, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 151, 158, 235, 406 Erlichman, Chana, 266 Errelis, Hans, 199 Ettinger, Moshe, 266 Eupen, Theodor van, 12, 17, 188, 410 Ewing, J., 220

F Falska, Maria, 278 Farber, Mordechai, 266

451

Fedorenko, Fedor, 64, 66, 109, 110, 207, 208, 214, 215, 219, 233, 234, 235, 241, 242, 246, 252, 372 Felfe, Hermann, 326, 327, 392 Felman, Sarah (Rivka), 266 Felner, Avraham, 267 Finkelstein, Leon, 236 Finkelstein, Samuel, 267 Finkelstein, Shumel, 267 Fischer, Ludwig, 12, 33 Fischman, Michał, 267 Fiszlewicz, Mendel, 267 Florian, 327 Floss, Erich Herbert, 80, 148, 206, 327, 328, 331, 347, 392 Fojgenbaum, Szmul, 267 Folkenflick, Rachmiel, 267 Forker, Alfred, 328, 392 Franz, Kurt Hubert (Lalka), 8, 25, 47, 49, 50, 56, 62, 63, 69, 70, 74, 77, 81, 84, 88, 93, 94, 97, 98, 101, 102, 108, 116, 118, 126, 149, 160, 196, 197, 204, 213, 222, 225, 226, 233, 234, 238, 264, 271, 286, 295, 298, 321, 322, 323, 324, 331, 336, 338, 345, 346, 348, 352, 353, 378,380, 431, 435 Freiberg, Dov, 150 Frenzel, Karl, 149, 326 Freud (Graf) Rosa, 272 Freud, Marie, 267 Freud, Sigmund, 189, 267, 272, 274, 303 Freund, Hans (Honza), 267, 268 Frey, Pavel, 268 Friedländer, S., 41 Friedler, Eric, 153 Friedman, Adolf (Adas / Adasch), 267 Frydman, Feliks, 268 Fuchs (clarinet player), 268

452

Fuchs, Erich, 328, 329 Fuks, Chaim, 268 Fürst, Willi, 268

G Gabčík, Jozef, 1 Gajkowski, Chana, 269 Galewski, Alfred (Marceli), Ing., 40, 62, 72, 73, 100, 105, 106, 156, 236, 244, 246, 247, 291 Gańcwol-Gankiewski, Adolf, 269 Ganzenmüller, Dr. Theodor, 181, 421 Gawkowski, Henryk, 186, 189 Gelberd, Aron, 236, 246, 284, 303 Gellert (a butcher), 269 Gentz, Adolf, 324, 330 Gerschonowitz, Edek, 269 Gerstein, Kurt, 40, 41, 443 Gerstenman, Wolf, 269 Gilbert, Martin, 37, 59, 412 Gilbert, Szlomo, 269 Gitler, Joseph, 269 Gladstein, Yeta, 270 Glatstein, Jakob, 270 Glatstein, Moshe, 270 Glattsztajn, Jakub, 270 Glazar, Richard (Goldschmid), 14, 15, 31, 64, 67, 72, 74, 75, 97, 111, 112, 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 153, 189, 190, 191, 236, 237, 247, 252, 257, 258, 262, 263, 264, 266, 268, 271, 277, 278, 280, 281, 285, 286, 292, 294, 295, 296, 301, 303, 324, 325, 330, 339, 351, 353, 354, 416 Glazarová, Zdena, nee Vítková, 237 Globocnik, Odilo, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 22, 41, 42, 43, 82, 115, 180, 181, 209, 210, 229, 308, 310, 313, 317, 318,

320, 322, 332, 353, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 390 Godin, Rashka, 270 Godin, Shmuel, 270 Golczewsky, Ester, 270 Gold, Adam, 270 Gold, Artur, 97, 270, 271, 274, 296 Gold, Helena, 270 Gold, Henryk, 270 Gold, Michal, 270 Goldberg, Jolke, 271 Goldberg, Sane, 271 Goldberg, Shimon, 54, 237 Goldberger, Karel, 271 Goldfarb, Abraham, 39, 93, 94, 238, 336 Goldfarb, Leybl, 271 Goldman, Henryk, 272 Goldsztajn, Abraham, 272 Goldsztajn, Bale, 272 Gomerski, Hubert, 337 Goncharov, Pyotr, 372 Gonzural, Mikolay, 372 Goska, Eugeniusz, 119 Gostynski, Zygmunt, 238 Göth, Amon, 4, 8 Gotlieb, Moshe, 272 Grabher, Michael, 32 Gradowczyk, Hirsh, 272 Graetschus, Siegfried, 331 Grauss, Ernst, 19 Greuer (a friend of Stangl), 109 Grigorchuk, Pavel, 372 Grigory (a driver / motorist), 229 Grinberg, Meir (a capo), 272 Grinberg, Meir (from Klementów), 273 Grinberg, Meir (from Opatów), 273 Grinberg, Meir (from Warsaw), 273

Grinberg, Tanhum, 77, 107, 238 Grinsbach, Eliahu, 238 Grosmann, Willy, 330, 331, 392 Gross, Yosef, 238 Grossman, Vasily, 11, 119, 120 Groth, Paul, 150 Grünberg, Adam, 273 Grynberg, Alter, 273 Gutman, Jisrael, 36, 180, 188 Gutman, Józef, 238 Gutter, Noah, 273

H Haberman, Leon, 99, 103, 273 Hackenholt, Lorenz, 49, 206, 331, 332, 333, 334, 338, 393, 403 Hagen (deputy of Lindeke), 17 Hahn, Fritz von, 199, 200 Haupt, Adam, 122 Hechtkopf, Szejndl, 273 Hefelmann, Hans, 348 Heim, Franz, 355 Heimbach, Lothar, 199 Heinrich Lanz (a firm), 237, 252 Helfing, Isadore, 239 Heller, 273 Hellman, Shlomo, 239 Hengst, August, 30, 45, 334, 338, 393 Henlein, Konrad, 349 Hermann (an architect), 273 Herschek, 112 Herszaft, Adam (Abraham), 273, 274 Herszkowicz, Moniek, 274 Herz, Sofie, 274 Heydrich, Reinhard, 1, 2, 80, 319, 358, 359, 369 Hilberg, Raul, 45, 179, 203 Hilferding, Dr. Margarethe, 274 Hiller, Richard, 334

453

Himmler, Heinrich, 2, 3, 4, 7, 27, 41, 77, 78, 81, 180, 187, 190, 355, 359, 367, 369, 400 Hirsch Baron (camp), 191 Hirsch, Walter, 274 Hirtreiter, Josef "Sepp", 65, 195, 196, 202, 233, 253, 334, 335, 353, 377 Hitler, Adolf, 2, 3, 42, 101, 287, 294, 312, 315, 331, 369 Hoffer, G., 304 Hoffman, Otto, 2 Hoffmann, Dr. Ute, 32 Höfle, Herman Julius, 3, 4, 36, 180, 210, 355, 357 Holcman, Ludwik, 274 Holzman, Malka, 274 Horn, Otto Richard, 93, 197, 328, 335, 336, 432 Huberband, Szymon, 274 Hudal (a bishop), 321

I Imich, Józef (Rubin), 275 Imich, Laja (Ludwika), 275 Inbal, 140 Ishkah, Elena Leo, 239 Ivan the Terrible, 7, 63, 93, 139, 140, 143, 144, 145, 146, 219, 220, 223, 236 Iwan Gróżny, 223

J Jabłkowski, Hershel, 33, 34, 54, 275 Jacek (a boy from Hungary), 103, 106, 275 Jakubowicz, Beila, 275 Jakubowicz, Herszlik, 275 Jakubowicz, Jakob, 239

454

Jazik (a soloist and cabaret dancer), 275 Jelenschuk, Wasil, 372 Jirmann, Fritz, 331 Josek, 112 Jurek (a capo), 155, 276

K Kaczkowski, Tadeusz, 200 Kaina, Erwin, 49, 336, 337 Kalman, Estera, 276 Kalman, Maier, 276 Kaminsky, David Daniel (Kaye Danny), 276 Kamm, Rudolf, 333 Kaplan, Aron Chaim, 276 Kaplan, Shmuel, 276, 277 Kapłanski, Chaim, 277 Karl (Unger, Karel), 111 Karoliński, Doba, 277 Katcenelson, Ester, 277 Katzenelson, Ben Zion, 277 Katzenelson, Benjamin, 277 Katzenelson, Hanna, 277 Katzenelson, Yitzhak, 270, 277 Kaye, Danny, 276 Kelin, Judah, 239 Kermish, Joseph, 57 Kermisz, Josef, 179 Kierbel, Chinda, 277 Kilian, Andreas, 153 Kirpa, Alexandra Teryentyevna, 223, 227, 228 Kisielnicki, Feiga, 277 Kisielnicki, Yitzak, 277 Kiwe (a nickname of Fritz Küttner), 107, 337 Klahn, Johannes, 337 Klarberg (Judenrat), 234 Klee, Ernst, 31, 42, 43, 47, 50, 51, 54, 116 Kleinmann, Heinrich, 277

Kleinmann, Leopold, 278 Klinzmann, Willi, 354 Kneisler, Pauline, 31 Kobyla, Itzik, 278 Kogon, Eugen, 53 Kohlenbrenner, 278 Kohn, Shulem (Kon, Stanisław), 239 Kolgushkin, Alexey Nikolaevich, 12, 14, 18 Kolski, Abraham, 241 Koltun, Abraham, 267, 278 Komarkin, 212 Kon, Stanisław, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 110, 239, 247, 282, 347 Kongorecki (Kongurecki) from Częstochowa, 278, 292 Kopówka, Edward, 122, 123, 139, 171 Korczak, Janusz, 256, 278, 279, 297, 302 Korobka, Maria Ivanovna, 227 Korotkikh, Dimitry Nikolayevich, 55, 211, 212, 213, 214, 218, 372 Kostenko, 372 Koszycki, Jakob, 241 Kott, Berek, 280 Koziebrocki, Avraham, 280 Kranz, Tomasz, 355, 356, 358 Kronenberg (a journalist), 72, 73, 280 Krüger, Friedrich Wilhelm, 2, 188, 310 Kruk (a prisoner of Treblinka camp), 241 Krysha (Ada Willenberg), 131 Krzepicki, Abraham, 29, 37, 38, 39, 55, 90, 97, 167, 182, 183, 240, 243, 253, 259, 290, 304 Kuba (a capo), 107, 280, 299

Kuba (a prisoner of Treblinka camp), 191 Kubek, Wilhelm (Jakob), 280 Kubiš, Jan, 1 Kucharek, Stephan, 186 Kudlik, Aleksandr (Arie), 50, 51, 64, 65, 77, 81, 85, 241 Kulak, Nikolay, 224, 225, 226, 372 Kulisziewicz, Aleksander, 242 Kuperhand, Miriam, 16 Kuperhand, Saul, 16 Kurinnoy, Ivan, 372 Kurland, Zvi (Zev), 24, 51, 99, 105, 280, 281 Kuszer, Mendel, 281 Küttner, Fritz (Kiwe), 50, 51, 87, 107, 197, 204, 205, 206, 260, 285, 290, 295, 302, 337, 338, 394 Kuwałek, Robert, 210 Kuzminsky, Ananiy Grigoryevich, 226, 372

L Lachman, Salek, 241 Lajcher, Berek, 281 Laks, Moszek (Mietek), 241 Lalka (a nickname of Kurt Hubert Franz), 62, 70, 74, 77, 149, 150, 156, 157, 271, 298, 299, 301, 322 Lambert, Erwin Hermann, 30, 52, 55, 56, 197, 308, 317, 332, 334, 338, 339, 387, 403 Lamper, Ivan, 133 Landau, Natalia, 281 Langbein, Hermann, 53 Langer (a nickname of Joe Siedlecki), 87 Langer from Częstochowa, 281 Lanz (SS-Unterscharführer), 17

455

Lanzmann, Claude, 42, 49, 55, 64, 67, 74, 97, 98, 182, 184, 186, 189, 217 Laponder, Peter, 23, 138 Laski, Simcha, 233, 241 Łaskiewicz, 356 Lau, Khaia, nee Frenkel, 281 Lau, Milek, 281 Lau, Moshe (Chaim), 281 Łazowertówna, Henryka, 281 Lebedenko, Nikolay, 372, 393 Leber, Myriam, 282 Leichert, Dr., 103, 282 Leiteisen (baker, conspirator's liaison), 282 Leleko, Pavel Vladimirovich, 55, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 220, 224, 225, 226, 372 Lenge, Zalman, 282 Leociak, Jacek, 231, 279, 440 Lerch, Ernst, 3 Lerer, Jechiel, 282 Less, Avner, 200 Leszczyński, Chil, 282 Levchishin, Filip Fedorovich, 223, 372 Lewi, Leon, 241 Lewin, Abraham, 283 Lewin, Luba, 283 Lewkowicz, Chaim (Cheel), 283 Lewkowicz, Freda, 283 Lewkowicz, Lajzer, 283 Lewkowicz, Mania, 283 Lewkowicz, Mottel, 283 Lewkowicz, Rivka, 283 Lewkowicz, Shaindel, 283 Lewkowicz, Sonia, 66, 242 Lewkowska, Dr. Irene (Irka), 283 Ley, Robert, 364 Lichtblau, Stanislav (Standa), 283, 285 Lichtstein, Jakob, 283 Lieberman, David, 242

456

Liebeskind, Aaron, 242 Liet, Zielo, 283 Lindeke (Unterscharführer), 17 Lindenmüller, Alfons, 204, 205, 206, 339 Lindwasser, Avraham, 96, 201, 242 Litvinov, Maxim, 253 Löffler, Alfred, 202, 339, 340, 350, 353, 394 Longerich, Peter, 2 Loshice, Avruhum, 167 Lowy, Yitzhak, 283 Lubetkin, Zivia, 254 Lubling, Ester, 284 Lubling, Moshe, 99, 112, 236, 284, 285 Lubling, Pinchas, 284, 285 Lubling, Zelda, nee Fisch, 284 Lubrenitski, Rudek, 285, 286 Luck, Moshe, 243 Ludwig, Karl Emil, 340, 395 Łukaszkiewicz, Zdzisław, 121, 195 Luksemburg, Wolf, 285

M Maier, 285 Makoda, Nikolay, 372 Malagon, Nikolay Petrovich, 37, 207, 208, 212, 214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 222, 223, 372 Manchuk, 62, 372 Mandelbaum, Jakub, 285 Mannes (a capo), 285 Manzoni, Dr., 338 Marchenko, Ivan Ivanovich, 7, 139, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 236, 372, 404 Marcus (a cleaner) from Warsaw, 285 Markin, Dr. Estera, 286

Markus from Kielce, 99, 103 Martoszenko, Moisei, 372 Masárek, Rudolf (Rudla), 74, 103, 110, 157, 286 Masaryk, 103, 110, 157 Masaryk, Tomáš Garrigue, 157 Mass, Arik, 287 Mattel, Morton, 243 Matthes, Heinrich Arthur, 53, 55, 57, 91, 94, 95, 109, 197, 202, 204, 217, 302, 327, 340, 341, 345, 350, 353, 395 Mätzig, Willy, 50, 324, 341, 342, 396 Mechele (Treblinka prisoner), 287 Medrzycki, Anshel, 243 Meidkur, Kurt, 342 Meierhofer, 422 Melnik, Theodozy, 372 Mendel, Tchechia (Cescha?), 264, 287, 291 Mentz, Willy, 42, 43, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 58, 118, 156, 197, 327, 342, 343, 377, 399, 433 Merring (Professor), 287 Meyer, Frederike, 287 Meyer, Marek, 283 Meyer, Yekhiel, 266 Michalsen, Georg, 3 Michel, Hermann, 343 Miete, August Wilhelm, 58, 62, 67, 72, 73, 87, 118, 132, 135, 156, 197, 280, 281, 292, 343, 344, 396, 399 Mika, Chaim, 287 Milejkowski, Izrael, 287 Milgrom, David, 243 Miller, Jakob, 106, 243, 245, 251 Miller, Tartakower, 173 Miska, Samuel, 297 Mitleberg, M., 243 Młynek, Bluma, 288

Moishele (a tailor), 243 Mokotowska, Chava, 288 Mokotowska, Joshua, 288 Mokotowska, Pina, 288 Mokotowska, Rachel, 288 Mokotowska, Yenta (1908), 288 Mokotowska, Yenta (1920), 288 Mokotowski, Leibl, 288 Mokotowski, Yitzhak, 288 Möller, Max, 345, 377 Moniek (a capo), 288 Mordzky, Lejzer, 243 Moritz (from Częstochowa), 288 Moshko / Moiszke from Słonim, 288 Mostowska (family), 288 Müller, 300, 396 Müller, Adolf, 345 Müller, Heinrich (Gestapo), 2 Münzberger, Gustav, 82, 94, 197, 345, 396 Mussolini, Benito, 308 Mydlo, Morris, 243

N Nachman, Rebbe, 262 Nahmias, Bohora, 288 Najman, Itccak, 289 Najman, Perła, 289 Neumark, Wolf, 288 Nezdliyminoha, Malanya Yefimovna, 227 Nidosrelow, Mikolaj, 372 Niemann, Johann, 331, 347 Niemgowski, Wacław, 119 Niudowski, Szolom, 289 Nowodworski, Dawid, 243

O Oberhauser, Josef, 41, 42, 47, 331, 363

457

Onoprijenko, Daniel, 372 Orenstein, Dr. Binyamin, 284 Orenstein, Marek, 289 Oselka, Joshua, 289 Oslerner, Chana, 289 Ostryńska, Etka, 289 Ostrzega, Avraham, 289 Osyczanski, Mikolaj, 372

P Pacanowski, Moshe, 244 Palacz (Lazarett victim), 290 Paraschenko, Alexander, 372 Parfinyuk, Yevdokim, 372 Paulus (a general), 78 Payevschnik, Nikolay Vasilyevich, 372 Perelstein, Leon, 236, 244 Perla / Paulinka (a women's capo), 290 Petakowskiy, Marek, 244 Petersburski, Jerzy, 270 Pfannenstiel, Dr. Wilhelm, 41 Pfoch, Hubert, 184, 185, 401 Piasek (Treblinka prisoner), 290 Pilman (Zugwachman), 225, 373, 393 Piotrowski, Izig, 290 Platkiewicz, Marian, 244 Plikat, Karl Heinz, 346 Pohl, Oswald, 357 Pohorille, Dr. Szymon, 290 Polakow, Leon, 373 Poprzeczny, Joseph, 3 Porzecki, Moshe, 244 Posner (a capo), 290, 291 Post, Philipp, 202, 337, 346, 350, 353, 397 Poswolski, Henryk, 245 Pottner, Emil, 291 Pötzinger, Karl, 93, 95, 346, 393 Praszker, Jakob, 240

458

Prefi (Untersturmführer), 17 Prits, Samuel Martynovich, 220, 221, 222, 373 Prohaska, Georg, 319 Puchała, Lucjan, 20 Pullman, Szymon, 291

R Rabinowicz, Henrik, 291 Rabinowicz, Jakob, 245 Rajchman, Chil, 57, 65, 66, 71, 80, 88, 89, 95, 96, 97, 183, 184, 236, 241, 245, 266, 286 Rajchman, Rivka, 183, 245 Rajchman, Yekhiel Meyer (Chil), 245 Rajgrodzki, Jerzy, 81, 112, 243, 245, 268, 298 Rajzman, Samuel, 105, 245, 246 Rak, Meir, 246 Rakowski, Benjamin, 134, 287, 291, 292 Rappaport, Moshe, 235, 246, 284 Rashke, Richard, 27 Ravelová, Irena (Irka), 127 Razanowicz (from Warsaw), 292 Rebeka (probably Fyodor Ryabeka), 215 Rehwald, Wenzel, 333 Reichleitner, Karl Franz, 6, 8, 118, 309 Reinhardt, Fritz, 358 Reislik, Dr. in Treblinka camp, 100, 278, 292 Reitlinger, Gerald, 1, 2, 3, 4, 358 Reizman, Dr. (medical staff), 292 Remba, Nachum, 279 Retstein, Matel, née Kohn, 292 Reuter (Scharführer), 106, 346 Rhodes, Richard, 80

Richter (a prisoner of Treblinka camp), 246 Richter, Kurt, 347 Riess, Volker, 42 Ringelblum, Emanuel, 240, 275, 297 Rittich, Alexander, 373 Robertus (Oberwachman), 226, 373 Rogosa / Rogoza , Boris (Zugwachman), 102, 112, 372 Rogowy, Avraham Mordechai (Rabbi), 292 Rojzman, Berek, 236, 246 Rojzman, Wolf Ber, 183 Rola-Zymierski (a general), 264 Rosenberg, Eliahu (Eli), 27, 28, 29, 30, 39, 56, 79, 92, 93, 94, 95, 128, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 154, 158, 168, 201, 217, 247, 437 Rosenblatt, Max, 293 Rosenkranz, Sol, 247 Rosenthal, Lejbel, 247 Rosenvayn, Tsvi, 284 Rosenzweig, Gadelia, 293 Rost, Paul, 347 Rotbart, Zelig, 293 Rotner (Reuter), 106 Rotsztejn, Jecheskel, 293 Rozenblum, Slamek, 250, 293 Rozensztat, Bolesław, 293 Rubez, Grigory, 373 Rubinowicz, Dawid, 293 Rubinsztajn (Rubenstein), Abraham, 294 Rückerl, Adalbert, 53 Rudek, 110 Rudek (from Płock), 294 Rudenko, Wasil, 373 Rudi (Rudolf Masárek), 74 Rum, Albert Franz, 118, 197, 327, 346, 348, 433

Ruppert, Friedrich W., 357 Rusiniak, Martyna, 115, 119, 121, 122, 123 Ryabeka, Fyodor Yakolevich, 215, 222, 225, 227, 373 Ryabtsev, Prokofy Nikolayevich, 225, 373 Rybak, doctor in Treblinka camp, 100, 278, 294 Rzondinski, Henia, 294 Rzondinski, Welwel, 294

S Sadowski (a foreman), 294 Sajet, Rozali, 295 Salwe, 271, 295 Salzberg, Heniek, Heinrich, 103, 247, 295 Salzberg, Welwel, (a loundry), 247, 295 Salzberg, Władysław, 235, 248 Salzberg, Władysław (a father), 99, 247, 295 Samborski, Wiktor, 296 Sammern-Frankenegg, Ferdinand, 42, 188 Sashka (a Ukrainian), 119 Sauer, Salo, 296 Saul (Treblinka prisoner), 111 Scharfe, Herbert, 349 Scheffler, Mikolay, 373 Schelvis, Jules, 118, 150 Schemmel, Ernst, 45, 46, 203, 349, 397 Schermann Brothers, 271, 296 Schiffner (a Jew), 296 Schiffner, Karl, 206, 349, 350, 403 Schischajew, Wasil, 373 Schlaumeier (Tarnung), 296 Schmidkin, Iwan, 373

459

Schmidt, Fritz, 57, 144, 222, 350, 379 Schmolka, Miloš, 296 Schnitzer (a musician), 296 Schoenberner, Gerhard, 41 Schonbron, Renée, 296 Schreck, Julius, 4, 180, 317 Schreibman, Ilia, 296 Schuh, Richard, 350 Schultz, Alexander, 229, 373 Schultz, Erich, 222, 225, 227, 351 Schultz, Fritz (a firm), 238 Schulz, Emanuel (Gerikhov), 373 Schulze, Dietmar, 32 Schutzer (a musician), 296 Schwarz, Gottfried, 17, 309, 331 Seidel, Kurt, 74, 351, 375, 394 Seidler, Kurt (Seidel), 110 Semotiuk, A. A., 220 Senik, Nikolay Terentevich, 373 Senykow, Mikolay, 373 Sereny, Gitta, 20, 44, 45, 74, 87, 108, 109, 110, 115, 133, 134, 166, 185, 207, 295, 296, 316, 340 Shalayev, Nikolay Yegorovich, 7, 220, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 229, 230, 373 Sharson, Lazar, 248 Shevchenko, Ivan, 373 Shiyenko, Nina Dimitriyevna, 227, 228 Shvidkoy, Ivan, 373 Sidowicz, Simcha, 296 Siebert, Barbara, 153 Siedlecki, Joseph (Joe), 87, 248, 340 Silverberg from Częstochowa, 297 Singer (a capo), 93, 297 Skakodub, Nikolay Afanayevich, 373 Skydan, Grigoriy, 222, 223, 224, 226, 227, 373

460

Slapakowa, Cecylia, 297 Sliwniak, Józef, 297 Šmídová, Jana, 133 Smith, Lyn, 186 Smith, Mark S., 75, 187 Solnicki, Dorka, 297 Sperling, Hershl, 187, 248, 249 Spiegel (an actor), 298 Spigel, Natan, 298 Spiro, Stefa, 298 Stadie, Otto, 50, 192, 197, 204, 342, 351, 352, 397, 404 Stalin, 209, 210, 221 Stangl, Franz Paul, 6, 8, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 61, 69, 74, 77, 79, 80, 82, 108, 109, 115, 150, 156, 160, 165, 200, 201, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 229, 251, 297, 308, 309, 313, 315, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 324, 326, 337, 338, 342, 343, 378, 385, 411, 429 Staron, Stanislaw, 179 Stein, Dr. Józef, 298 Steiner, George, 151 Steiner, Jean François, 151 Steinowitz, Guba, 298 Stengelin, Erwin, 352 Stern, 298 Sternberg, Petr, 299 Sternlicht, Ervin, 299 Sternlicht, Otto, 299 Strawczyński, Abus, 249, 299 Strawczyński, Anka, 299 Strawczyński, Guta, 249, 299 Strawczyński, Malka, 249 Strawczyński, Oskar, 15, 17, 20, 33, 34, 54, 55, 63, 64, 70, 235, 237, 249, 259, 266, 272, 274, 275, 276, 287, 290, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299 Strawczyński, Yoseph, 249

Strawczyński, Zygmunt, 249, 255, 274 Strebel, Oswald, 119, 373 Strebelow (Zugführer), 353 Streibel, Karl, 210 Strnad, Jiří, 145, 159, 407 Stroman, Minia, 299 Stroop, Jürgen, 188 Struwe, Dr. Karl Friedrich, 116 Strynkiewicz, Franciszek, 122 Stumpe (Unterscharführer), 17 Stupp, Abraham, 173 Sucha, Helen, 110 Suchomel, Franz, 6, 25, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 55, 59, 82, 97, 98, 108, 109, 117, 156, 175, 182, 197, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 217, 250, 265, 286, 287, 290, 295, 350, 353, 397 Sudowicz, Israel, 99, 299, 300 Sudowicz, Rakhel, née Rozenblum, 299 Sukno, Brońka, 250 Sułkowski, Jan, 14, 21, 33 Sumskaya, Alexandra Nikiforovna, 227 Sumskaya, Anna Ivanovna, 227 Sydow, Hermann, 202, 351, 353, 354 Szejnberg, Wolf, 250 Szmulowicz, Jakob, 250 Sznajdman (Schneidermann), Wolf, 21, 22, 35, 36, 51, 88, 104, 105, 107, 248 Szpajzman, Moishe, 300 Szpektor, Wigda, 267, 300 Szpilman, Władysław, 271 Sztajer, Chaim, 250 Sztern, Israel, 300 Szternfeld (from Twarda Street), 279

T Tchechia (Cecha?), 108, 264, 287, 291 Teicholz, Tom, 63, 208 Teigman, Kalman, 23, 39, 56, 63, 66, 67, 83, 85, 102, 111, 128, 154, 159, 201, 217, 243, 245, 250, 252, 256, 286, 293, 294, 298, 300, 345, 407, 436, 437 Teigman, Tema, 251, 300 Tekulsky, Józef, 250 Terekhov, Ivan, 222, 224, 227, 373 Thomalla, Richard, 22, 30, 309, 310, 311, 338, 403 Tik, Chaim, 301 Timofenko, Nadezhda, 227 Tkachuk, Ivan Kondratyevich, 373, 404 Tolpel, Moritz, 301 Trachter, Symcha, 301 Tregenza, Michael, 6, 43, 52, 81, 334 Tretyak, Yevdokiya Nikitovna, 227 Trzcinski (a Polish partisan), 37 Tscherniewsky, Wladimir, 373 Turowski, Eugen, 64, 251

U Unger, Karel, 127, 131, 132, 133, 189, 205, 237, 252 Unverhau, Heinrich, 336

V Vasilyenko, Sergey Stepanovich, 222, 224, 225, 373 Veinies- Chajkin, Marie, 301 Venezia, Shlomo, 152, 153 Vlasov, Andrey Andrejevich, 109

461

Vodenka, Peter, 1 Vogel, Hanuš (Honza), 301 Voloshenko, Alexander, 373

W Wagner, Gustav, 118 Waisman, Yosef, 301 Wajnsztajn, Yehuda Jakob (E. Weinstein), 159 Waksman, Dawid, 301 Wallabańczyk (Wołowanczyk) – started the revolt, 302 Wallach, Azriel, 245, 253 Warszawski, Szyja, 196, 252 Waserman, Jankiel, 267, 302 Wasilenko, Iwan, 373 Webb, Chris, 23, 39, 56, 154, 252, 293, 298, 388, 389, 390, 402, 408, 438 Weinberg, Boris (Kazik), 61, 253 Weiner (a Hassidic Jew), 253 Weinkranz, Bencian, 302 Weinstein, Edward J. (Edi), 24, 128, 159, 160, 161, 162, 164, 165, 168, 178, 253, 407 Weintraub, Ilik, 302 Weintreub, Władysław, 302 Werhan (Rotenführer), 17 Wiernik, Jankiel (Jakob), 23, 27, 28, 53, 56, 73, 74, 78, 91, 104, 182, 192, 201, 217, 253, 254, 278, 282, 327, 328, 339 Wiesenthal, Simon, 321 Wilczyńska, Stefania, 278, 279, 302 Wilhelm II, 314 Willenberg, Ada, 131 Willenberg, Itta, 302 Willenberg, Prof. Perez, 130 Willenberg, Samuel, 19, 22, 23, 25, 65, 69, 70, 72, 73, 78, 86, 89, 90, 91, 97, 99, 100, 107, 127,

462

128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 154, 155, 163, 191, 250, 254, 255, 256, 261, 263, 265, 266, 272, 278, 280, 281, 287, 292, 302, 405, 406, 436 Willenberg, Tamara, 255 Willinger from Częstochowa, 303 Winawer, Bruno, 303 Winternitz, Pauline, 303 Wirth, Christian, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 59, 61, 62, 79, 80, 81, 82, 96, 116, 202, 203, 204, 206, 207, 229, 306, 307, 308, 309, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 322, 325, 329, 332, 333, 335, 337, 341, 343, 344, 356, 357, 363, 391, 430 Wistrich, Robert, 201 Witwicki, Władysław, 286 Włoś, Itka, 303 Wolf, Karl, 180, 181, 421 Woloszyn, Wasil, 373 Wołowańczyk (Wallabańczyk) – started the revolt, 302 Woronkow, Vasily, 373

Y Yeger, Alexandr Ivanovich, 225, 373 Yelenchuk, Vasily, 373 Yurek (a capo), 294

Z Ząbecki, Franciszek, 19, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 59, 110, 116, 117, 119, 165, 193, 195, 198, 199, 200, 354 Zalcberg (Salzberg), 107 Zalcwasser, Zygmunt, 303 Zalman, Friedrich, 253

Zalmen, Frydrych (Zygmunt), 181 Zamenhof, Lidia, 303 Zamenhof, Ludwig, 303 Zanker, Hans, 354 Zavidenko, Trofim Trofimovich, 373 Zeidman, Yitzchak, 303 Zeisler, Gerda, 304 Zeisler, Gertrude, 304

Zelichower from Danzig, 304 Ziegelman (a prisoner of Treblinka camp), 256 Zimmermann, Dr. (capo of the "dentists"), 95, 96, 304 Zonszajn, Jakob, 304 Zonszajn, Rachela, 304 Zukerman, Yitzhak, 254 Zymerman, Joseph, 256

463

ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press Melchiorstr. 15 70439 Stuttgart Germany [email protected] www.ibidem-verlag.com www.ibidem.eu