Unlike auschwitzbirkenau and majdanek, which were a combination of extermination and labor camps, the operation reinhard camps were purely extermination facilities. Camps of operation reinhard ehri online course in holocaust studies. Remembeing nazi death camps auschwitz birkenau belzec. Prior to that 800,000 victims still had to be exhumed and incinerated and also other work still needed to be done in order to obliterate all traces. The extermination camps of belzec, sobibor and treblinka sobibor from may to july 1942. Posted to italy after the cessation of operation reinhard. During the entire time i was in treblinka, i served in the upper camp. Killing operations at treblinka ii were ended on october 19, 1943, following a revolt by its sonderkommandos. Most of them had formerly been engaged in the euthanasia operation.
Chelmno and operation reinhard division of social sciences. Between the years 1942 and 1943, under the code name operation reinhard, more than oneandahalf million jews were gassed in the concentration camps of belzec, sobibor, and treblinka, located in nazioccupied poland. Belzec was the first camp to be built, followed by sobibor and finally treblinka. It is true that today there is nothing physically left of treblinka, belzec, and sobibor, where some 1,400,000 jews were murdered.
Irmfried eberl 8 september 1910 16 february 1948 was an austrian psychiatrist and medical director of the euthanasia institutes in brandenburg and bernburg, who helped set up and was the first commandant of the treblinka extermination camp where he worked as ssobersturmfuhrer from 11 july 1942 until his dismissal on 26 august 1942. Other articles where operation reinhard is discussed. As described in fuller detail below, operation reinhard was the program set in motion in october 1941, when heinrich himmler, chief of the ss, entrusted the destruction of the jewish population in polands general government the part of poland not. Alongside the reinhard camps, mass killing facilities using zyklon b were developed at the majdanek concentration camp in march 1942, 31 and at auschwitz iibirkenau between. It lasted for twentyone months, from march 1942 to november 1943, and followed the plans that nazi killing machine operators drew up. Operation reinhard einsatz reinhard became the code name for the german plan to murder the approximately two million jews residing in the socalled generalgouvernement government general. The generalgouvernement was the part of germanoccupied poland not directly annexed to germany, attached to german east prussia, or incorporated into the germanoccupied soviet union. Operation reinhard marked the most deadly phase of the holocaust, the use of death camps by 1942, the nazis had decided to undertake the final solution of the jewish question. The operation reinhard camps were under the authority of odilo globocnik, whose headquarters were in lublin, poland. Timeline of events operation reinhard united states. Operation reinhard was the code name for the german plan to murder the around two million jews residing in the socalled generalgouvernement government general. Treblinka by steiner, jean francois steiner trap with a green fence. The first thing that comes to many peoples minds when they think of the holocaust is the auschwitz concentration camp where about 1 million people, mainly jews, were gassed to death between 1941 and 1945.
The operation reinhard death camps, is an historical survey of the three death camps listed in the title, as well as some subcamps in different locations. The nazi holocaust killed 25% of its victims in just three. Several german guards were killed when 300 prisoners escaped. Under the code name operation reinhard, more than one and a half million jews were murdered between 1942 and 1943 in the concentration camps of belzec, sobibor, and treblinka, located in nazioccupied poland. From this website, i have found a description of kurt franz, which mentions that he served in the buchenwald camp in 1941, the same. Subsequently, the jews were taken through the tube to camp iii the real extermination camp. The dismantlement of treblinka began after himmlers visit to the headquarters of operation reinhard and to the death camps at the end of februarybeginning of march 1943. Operation reinhard, the systematic nazi mass murder of the polish jews within the general government, was the largest extermination aktion which took place during the holocaust. Jan 01, 1987 yitzhak arads book belzec, sobibor, treblinka. These camps were just transit camps where the nazis processed jews for transport to the east as forced labor. The nazis killed almost onequarter of holocaust victims from the towns and ghettos of western poland with military.
The largest single massacre action of the holocaust, operation reinhard, which lasted twentyone months, from march 1942 to november 1943, was carried out by. How do we know about the operation reinhard death camps of treblinka, belzec, and sobibor. During the first months of operation reinhard, all extermination camps were under globocniks direct control. Testimony of ss oberscharfuhrer erich bauer quoted in belzec, sobibor, treblinka the operation reinhard death camps, indiana university press yitzhak arad, 1987, p. Sobibor was a small town in the province of lublin in the eastern part of poland, situated on the chelmwlodawa railway line. By 1942, the nazis had decided to undertake the final solution of the jewish question. For a thorough discussion of what we knew about the operation reinhard camps and when please see jonathan harrison, robert muehlenkamp, jason myers, sergey romanov and nicholas terry, belzec, sobibor, treblinka.
The operation reinhard death camps yitzhak arad on. They set up more camps at belzec, sobibor and treblinka which had one purpose. Treblinka ii opened in july 1942 and was closed in august 1943. Hitler and himmler created operation reinhard the camouflage term for the belzec, sobibor, and treblinka program under the command of odilo globocnik. By mid1943, the bodies in the mass graves had been exhumed, burned, and the ashes reburied. It was published in hebrew by yad vashem, and in english by indiana university press. At that time almost all the jews in the general government had already been annihilated and the death camp of auschwitzbirkenau was in full operation. Stangl, franz, oberleutnant camp commandant franz stangl, the commander of sobibor and treblinka, was stationed in northern italy, in the areas of fiume and udine, from the autumn of 1943 and engaged in actions against partisans and local jews. Passed on september 3, 1965 in the trial of kurt franz and nine others at the. Jan 01, 20 i have been doing some more research on treblinka ii, one of the nazi death camps, and kurt franz, the last commandant of treblinka ii. In late february or early march 1943, himmler visited operation reinhard headquarters and the death camps of sobibor and treblinka.
The principal tasks of globocnik and his staff in operation reinhard were. Project muse the operation reinhard death camps, revised. Aktion reinhardt auch als einsatz reinhardt bezeichnet. But the pace of its murders was remarkably faster than previously estimated, stones analysis concludes. The overwhelming majority of victims in the operation reinhard killing centersbelzec, sobibor, and treblinkawere jews deported from ghettos in poland.
Operation reinhard was the final solution for the jewish problem in what germany called the general government, or poland. There were two known sonderkommando uprisings at the extermination camps built during operation reinhard treblinka. The only proof that the nazis used excavators at the operation reinhard death camps of treblinka, belzec, and sobibor are two drawings made by one single survivor of treblinka. The operation reinhard killing centers were managed by small detachments of german ss and. If operation reinhard controlled the three camps of belzec, sobibor and treblinka, why are the other 3 camps listed as additional camps in the infobox. This eerie silence ended only in late 2011 when several members of the exterminationist holocaust controversies blog published a 570 pagelong online study titled belzec, sobibor, treblinka.
Operation reinhard was the code name the nazis gave to the three death camps of treblinka, belzec, and sobibor. The overwhelming majority of victims in the operation reinhard killing centersbelzec, sobibor, and treblinka were jews deported from ghettos in poland. With two powerful engines, run by ssscharfuhrer erich fuchs. An intrigueing fact was that they were entitled to more leave than the ordinary conscript at a rest home of t4, specially reserved for aktion reinhard personnel only.
The operation reinhard team was ultimately responsible for the murder of approximately 1. In some ways, auschwitz has come to symbolize the holocaust. Extermination camps of belzec, sobibor and treblinka prolog, from yitzhak arads belzec, sobibor, treblinka. Eliayahu rosenberg, a survivor of treblinka, testifies at a trial in israel. Sobibor began operating in may 1942 and remained functional until october 1943. Treblinka, together with the camps at belzec and sobibor, was one of the operation reinhard extermination camps, so called in memory of reinhard heydrich. Within a month of the opening of belzec november 1941, the first extermination camp constructed, reports from the polish underground began to appear. At sobibor he was in charge of the waldkommando, and at treblinka he worked in the upper camp, the extermination area. Historians have long known that operation reinhard, which had the goal of exterminating every jew in nazioccupied poland, was the deadliest campaign of the holocaust.
Mar 12, 2014 according to the official story of the holocaust, the terms arrivals and evacuated were nazi code words for extermination. The origin of the operations name is debated by holocaust researchers. Quoted in belzec, sobibor, treblinka the operation reinhard death camps, indiana university press yitzhak arad, 1987, p. Unlike auschwitz, which was a death camp and concentration camp, a vast area the size of lower manhattan, where slave labor and extermination existed side by side, belzec, sobibor and treblinka simply to murdered jews. Using sources previously overlooked, such as german and polish official records and testimonies from nazi war crimes trials, yitzhak. Between the years 1942 and 1943, under the code name operation reinhard, more than one and a half million jews were gassed in the concentration camps of belzec, sobibor, and treblinka, located in nazioccupied poland. The first revolt occurred at treblinka on 2 august 1943 when 100 prisoners succeeded in breaking out of the camp. The decisionmaking process for the mass murder of the jews in the generalgouvernement bogdan musial the question of the decisionmaking process leading up to the mass murder of the european jews during world war ii remains a controversial topic in the historical research.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Belzec, sobibor, treblinka ama today is the 71st anniversary of the uprising at the death camp of sobibor and in this ama i will try to answer all your questions about this camp and the two other operation reinhard death camps, treblinka and belzec. Jewish survivors of the operation numbered fewer than 200. Survival in treblinka jewish lives by richard glazar paperback trap with a green. The memory of auschwitz and the oblivion of bloodlands. Operation reinhard marked the most deadly phase of the holocaust, the use of death camps. The operation reinhard death camps, belzec, sobibor. Soon after the task forces had began their campaign of extermination in the occupied areas of the soviet union, the deputy of the governor general hans frank, secretary of state dr. More specifically, holocaust deniers also claim that these two drawings are less than definitive in and of themselves. The operation reinhard death camps, revised and expanded edition. May 1942, when sobibor and july 1942, when treblinka became operational. In august 1942 to lublin, where he was drafted into the ss and got the rank of ssscharfuhrer whereupon he was dispatched to aktion reinhard.
Prior to that 800,000 victims still had to be exhumed and incinerated and also other work still needed to. Here he was appointed chief officer commanding camp ii and the gas chambers as well as killer at the lazarett where the ukrainians called him doctor. Introduction to the operation reinhard extermination camps by gord mcfee. They stole 2025 rifles, 20 hand grenades, and several pistols from the camp arsenal using a duplicate key.
Booker distinguished seven basic shapes of the stories that we tell, and during the lecture i looked at these plots to compare the auschwitz narratives to those generated by the einsatzgruppen and operation reinhard killings. Posted to sobibor from april 1942 to february 1943, he was then sent to treblinka death camp. History of treblinka death camp one of the 3 operation. Treblinka was the third extermination camp of operation reinhard to be built, following belzec and sobibor, and incorporated lessons learned from their construction. The largest single massacre action of the holocaust, operation reinhard, which lasted twentyone months, from march 1942 to november 1943, was carried out by, and accomplished according to the plans of, the nazi extermination machine.
Operation reinhard death camps in treblinka, sobibor. Himmler had already paid a visit to operation reinhard headquarters in the first stage of the extermination action, in the middle of july 1942. Operation reinhard einsatz reinhard the holocaust encyclopedia. Camps of operation reinhard ehri online course in holocaust. The operation reinhard death camps of treblinka, sobibor, and belzec were not extermination camps. With it they claim to refute three of our authors monographs on the camps belzec, sobibor and treblinka see vols. Operation reinhard, the systematic nazi mass murder of the polish jews within. The upper camp was that part of treblinka with the gas chambers, where the jews were killed and their corpses laid in large pits and later burned. The principal decision to terminate operation reinhard and close the death camps of belzec, sobibor, and treblinka was taken by himmler during his visit to lublin in march 1943 see chapter 22. It was located in the sparselypopulated north east of the generalgouvernement area, on the warsawbialystock line, close to an existing penal camp founded in 1941. Operation reinhard was the code name given to the nazi plan to murder polish jews in the general government.
Construction and establishing the method of annihilation 5. The treblinka staff although mostly hardened by their euthanasia experience etc. Treblinka was second only to auschwitz in the number of jews who were killed by the nazis. This deadliest phase of the holocaust was marked by the introduction of extermination camps. The operation reinhard death camps, revised and expanded. Evidence for the existence of the operation reinhard camps. Unlike more wellknown camps, which were used both for slave labor and extermination, these camps existed purely to murder jews.
Belzec and sobiboras part of operation reinhard, an effort to exterminate the jews of occupied poland. Booker distinguished seven basic shapes of the stories that we tell, and during the lecture i looked at these plots to compare the auschwitz narratives to those generated by the einsatzgruppen and operation reinhard. Treblinka, the last camp to become operational, utilised knowledge learned by the ss previously. Extermintation camps of belzec, sobibor and treblinka yitzhak arad soon after the task forces had began their campaign of extermination in the occupied areas of the soviet union, the deputy of the governor general hans frank, secretary of state dr. Operation reinhard in just over one and a half year from may 1942 to november 1943 tens of thousands of people were murdered in sobibor. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. In late february or early march 1943, heinrich himmler visited operation reinhard headquarters and the death camps of sobibor and treblinka. The second department was the inspectorate of ss special detachments under criminal police captain christian wirth, who was responsible for the construction and management of the three operation reinhard killing centers belzec, sobibor, and treblinka ii. The operation reinhard camps treblinka, belzec and sobibor are composed of sandy soil, a distinctive feature that has been noted by survivors including richard glazar. Instead of reporting to the sswvha, as did majdanek, auschwitz, and other concentration camps, operation reinhard reported to the office of the fuhrer the reich chancellery office. The operation reinhard death camps by yitzhak arad recommended library of the holocaust. Treblinka and the other two operation reinhard camps, sobibor and belzec, were all located near the bug river which formed the eastern border of germanoccupied poland.