Treblinka II Extermination Camp

Treblinka is arguably the largest Nazi extermination camp. Most estimates vary around 800,000, but some go above a million, which would put the death toll higher than Auschwitz. Until the arrival of the Hungarian Jews in the summer of 1944, Treblinka was by far the largest camp. Treblinka is located in eastern Poland near the city of Treblinka, hence the name. Treblinka was built for the disposal of the Jews of Warsaw and some of the surrounding areas. Like Auschwitz, Treblinka had two camps. The Treblinka I was used as a labor camp for Poles where about 20,000 inmates died. Treblinka I was closed and converted into the extermination camp.

Treblinka is another one of the Operational Rheinhard camps. It was opened between July 23rd, 1942 ans October 19th, 1943. (It should be noted that the “Big Round-up” Groβe Aktion in Warsaw in which 300,000 Jews were deported started on July 22nd of 1942) Many Roma and Sinti (Gypsies) also perished at Treblinka as well as Soviets, Poles, etc.

Jews being helb in Warsaw befor deportation.

Treblinka was an extermination camp meant only to kill the Jewish race. Besides a small amount to handle the remands, 99% of Jews who arrived at Treblinka were gassed immediately. Treblinka used carbon monoxide instead of the more famous zyklon B. They did not have crematoriums but mass pyres and graves.

Each stone represents a City or village of Jews who perished at Treblinka.

The prisoners staged a revolt at Treblinka on September 11th, 1942. About 300 of the 600-800 prisoners escaped. The rest were made to demolish the camp than sent to the Sobibor extermination to be gassed. (They wrote notes on the cattle cars which the Sobibor inmates found. This helped fuel their revolt in October 1943.)

Imfried Eberl was the only physician to command an extermination camp/ he had previous work killing the mentally and physically handicapped in Germany’s T4 operation. His dreams for Treblinka was to exceed all other death camps.

There are only 40 known Treblinka survivors.

Some survivors who had participated in the revolt.

Belzec extermination camp

When most people think of the holocaust, the gates of Auschwitz is usually the first image that pops into most peoples minds. Some people think the Auschwitz was the first or only camp but this was not true. Auschwitz was not even open to be used in the Final Solution of the Jewish problem. It was originally used for Poles.

Layout of Belzec


Poland had the largest number of Jews, 3.3million. It mad sense financially to have the camps there. Also the Nazis were not particularly worried about the Polish population since they had a history of being anti-Semitic.

The three operation Rheinhard camps are Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka II. (The other Treblinka camp being a concentration camp for Poles.) Camp commanders and personal were recuited from those who had assisted in the killings of mentally handicapped. Other guards were known anit-Semites. Instead of Zyklon B, the Operation Rheinhard camps used Carbon Monoxide that was pumped from trucks.

Jews being deported to their deaths at Belzec

Tank of Carbon Monoxide that was used to murder Jews.

Belzec was the first camp and opened in April 1940. It was located in Galicia in southern Poland. Its purpose was specifically the murder of all who had the misfortune of being sent there. Around 500,000 Jews were killed in Belzec along with Gypsies, Soviets, Poles and a few others. Belzec was open for less than a year but reopened for three months in 1943. Belzec was the model camp for the other two operation Rheinhard camps.

When Belzec closed, the special commando unit who were in charge of disposing of the bodies were shipped to Sobibor and gassed there. Unlike all the other extermination camps, except fot Chelmno, there was no revolt at Belzec. It was known for its brutality and prisoners were discarded of every three months usually.

There are only 3 known survivors from Belzec, Rudolf Reder and Chaim Hirszman. The other was later recaptured and deported to another camp where he perished.

Rudolf Reder

Psychiatrists under Nazism

Many psychiatrists were persecuted by the Nazis during the Holocaust. A lot of psychiatrists were Jewish or were of Jewish decent. Many escaped to England or America before the deportations started. This wave of immigration started the psychoanalysis movement in America. Most of the immigrants settled in New York.

Sigmund Freud and Wife

One of the most famous psychiatrists was Sigmund Freud who was an Austrian of Jewish decent but was not a practicing Jew and denounced religion. A Nazi, Anton Sauerwald, saved Freud and his family. He was an admirer of Freud’s work and a student of a close friend of Freud. Sauerwald signed Freud’s visa to London prior to his escape. A book was written about the family’s escape, The Escape of Sigmund Freud. In return, Freud’s daughter saved Sauerwald after he was arrested by a Freud’s nephew, a U.S. soldier. Sauerwald also saved some of the families money and property. Some of Freud’s books were saved by Sauerwald and hidden in the Austrian National library.

Viktor Frankl was another psychiatrist persecuted by the Nazis. Unlike Freud, he did not escape and was deported. With his parents and wife, Frankl was sent to Theresienstadt transit camp. Their, he still practiced and worked to prevent suicide among inmates. Eventually, he was deported to Auschwitz. His father got sick and died within the Theresienstadt camp, his mother was gassed at Auschwitz, his brother died in a camp, and his wife died in Bergen-Belsen. His only surviving family member was a sister who had escaped to Australia. His stay in the concentration camps lead to his theory of logotherapy, the thought that everything had meaning. This is the Third Viennese school of Psychotherapy, under Freud and Adler. Frankl was eventually liberated by the Americans.

Viktor Frankl





The Escape of Sigmund Freud by David Cohen

Man’s search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

The Holocaust in Iraq

Jews have lived in Iraq for the past 2,600 years.

Jewish family in Iraq

By 1951, 80% of all Iraqi Jews have immigrated, alomost all to Israel. The time during the Holocaust resulted in the beginning of the end to the Jewish community in Iraq.

Mass Grave


Rashid Ali was the pro-nazi government of Iraq at the time of the Holocaust. Many Muslim joined the Nazi party. A youth group was made in Iraq based off the Hitler's Youth program, Al-Fatwa. At this time, Iraq was under British control. They decided to place 'Abd al-Ilah as the leader of Iraq.

Muslim Nazis

Germany had strong ties to Iraq. Iraq had a German embassy. From the very start of Hitler's Third Reich, propoganda was shown in Iraq. Mein Kampf was translated into Arabic. Pro-nazi Iraqi officers were known as The Golden Square.

On April 1st, 1941, the Golden Square susscessfully over threw the British-imposed Iraqi government. Confortation happened between the Iraqi and the British armies. Hitler decided to fully back Iraq while the British asked Roosevelt for assistance.

On May 30th, the Britians were able to drive the Golden Coup out of Iraq. Most of them escaped through Iran to Germany.

Farhud is the name of the Iraqi pogrom against the Jews on June 1st and 2nd of 1941. Around 180 Jews were killed, about 900 homes and businesses destroyed and looted, and between 250 and 2000 Jews injured. The Israeli-based Babylonian Heritage Museum claims that in addition to 180 identified victims there are about 600 unidentified victims buried in a mass grave. Eight people were sentenced to death by the pro-British Iraqi government.

Farhud, the forgotton pogrom of the Holocaust marks the beginning of the dispora from Iraq. More lootings, harrassment, and abuse followed. By 2003, less than 100 Jews were left in this once great Jewish community. By 2008, the Jewish community in Iraq numbered a mere 7 people.

Porajmos The Gypsy Holocaust

Pajamos is the Gypsies term for the Holocaust. It means devouring or destruction.

Gypsies are the only other “official” victims of the Holocaust. The Nazis had a plan to exterminate the Roma and Sinti people. About 250,000 Gypsies were killed in the Holocaust. Some estimates are as high as 600,000. As a result of their wandering lifestyle, it is hard to get a precise number. Even Gypsies who were assimilated were not spared, for the most part.

By the laws the Nazis made, Gypsies should be considered Aryan. As a result of their wandering and asocial lifestyle though, they were persecuted and killed. A person was considered a Gypsy if they had a Gypsy grandparent or if 2 or more of their grandparents were part-Gypsy. The most dangerous Gypsies were those of mixed blood. According to the Nazi Dr. Ritter, about 90% of Gypsies were of mixed blood.



The treatment of the Gypsies was fairly consistent in every country. Germany decided to deport her 30,000 Gypsies. About 20,000 of these German Gypsies were gassed. Gypsies married to Germans were exempt but their children over 12 were sterilized.

There was a family camp for Gypsies in Auschwitz but on August 6th, 1944 they were mostly all gassed. A few were sent away as forced laborers but most were gassed. Many gypsies were used for experiments, just like the Jews were also used. The most common was the sterilization of women.

Gypsies were locked in the ghettos too. In the Lodz ghetto, 5007 gypsies were detained. They were kept in a separate section away from the Jews. The conditions were worse then that of the Jews. Half of the gypsies died with in the first month. None of these gypsies survived however. When the Germans ordered deportations to Chelmno to start in the beginning of 1942, the remaining gypsies were among the first victims. At Chelmno, they were gassed on arrival with carbon monoxide gas.

Jewish Resistance

The notion that the Jews were “slaughtered like sheep” is very common. Jews were heavily involved with resistance. A famous resistance group was the Belski brothers. Hiding in the forests of Belorussia, they saved over 1100 Jews. They recused any Jew who was willing to leave from the ghetto and took them to their camp in the woods. They had many guerilla operations and collaborated with the Russian soldiers who were attacking Nazis from behind the lines.

Another famous resistance movement was the Warsaw ghetto uprising. During the groβaktion (Great Action in German. Roundups of Jews for deportation or mass killings were called actions. They were also referred to as ‘pogroms’ but this was usually called and done by Eastern Europeans. i.e. Poles, Russians, etc.) From July 22nd, 1942 (Tisha B’Av) until September 21st (Yom Kippur), at least 300,000 Jews were sent to their deaths at Treblinka. About 6000 Jews were deported each day. Adam Czerniaków, head of the Warsaw Judenrat (Jewish Council), commited suicide when he was told by the Germans to make the deportation lists. The leaders of the Jewish resistance groups decided that they would resist instead of letting any more Jews be deported. Fighting started on April 19th, 1943. The battle lasted until May 16th, 1943. The Jews of the Warsaw ghetto resisted the Nazis longer then the county of Poland who only lasted 37 days. Even after the ghetto uprising was “ended” some Jews continued to fight. A lot of Jews fought during the Warsaw uprising, which happened the next year, even though some had to hid their Jewishness fro, their Polish countrymen.

In every country and in every ghetto, Jews resisted. Some resisted spiritually or passively. Religious services and education lessons were forbidden by the Nazis. Schools and religious services were held in secret. Children who possessed non-Jewish looks mostly, but various Jews, were taken to the Aryan side and hidden from the Nazis. Many organizations made false documents for Jews to hide with.

Movies

Defiance
movie about the Belski brothers.

Uprising
Movie about the warsaw ghetto uprising

Mobile Killing Squads (Graphic Content)

The First Jews were not killed in the gas chambers. About two of the six million Jews did not even make it to the camps; others didn’t even make it to the ghettos.

Einsatzgruppen-Mobile Killing squads

Hitler and the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941. Following closely behind was the mobile squads. They mostly operated in the same fashion throughout Eastern Europe. (Eastern Europe refers to anything east of The Third Reich, which is Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, parts of Czechoslovak, and parts of Western Poland.) Most Jews killed by the Einsatzgruppen did not live in a ghetto, or merely stayed for two to six weeks in “destructive ghettos.” The men were taken to dig their own graves or Eastern Europeans were used for this task. Some times, pre-dug pits, like anti-tank pits from the war, were used or even wells if they could fit. Almost always, men were taken to the its first because if the woman were taken first the men would be more likely to resist. The Jews were either shot and buried where they fell or were “sardine packed,” meaning they laid down tightly to one another and were shot in the back of the head or neck. This was more time consuming but it saved bullets and space.

(A Young Jewish Boy about to be killed while his family lies dead in front of him)


Experiments were done to kill the Jews more efficiently. Hand grenades were used to in few instances but this was messy and took more of an emotional toll on the murderers. In other cases, entire villages were buried alive. Occasionally, Jews were trapped in a building and burned alive. To save bullets, children were often bonneted. Some times, rocks were used to smash the victims’ heads. This was another way to try and save bullets. Some women were raped prior to being killed.

Sometimes, selections were made prior to the killings. Others, everyone was murdered regardless of gender or age. Not all murderers were SS or SD members. Although most were, some were ethnic Germans (citizens of German blood living in another country) or local collaborators. One famous Pogrom by non-Germans during the Holocaust was the Jedwabne pogrom. The Poles turned on their neighbors and burned them alive. They tried to blame it on the Germans but it was later proven that the act was committed and initiated by Poles.

There are survivors of the mobile killing squads. One Jewish woman managed to escape out the burning building and survived the Holocaust. I once watched a video of a survivor telling of how when she was seven, she was not shot but was buried and managed to use plant roots to climb out of the grave. One exceptional story is of a five year old Jewish Belorussian boy whose mother warned them that they were going to be killed. Wanting to live, he escaped but watched his mother and two younger siblings murder. He was them saved by Latvian and German Nazis.

The Mascot By Alez Kurzem Story of the Jewish boy hidden by Nazis