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| This aerial photograph, often labeled 'after November 30, 1943,' likely dates to the Spring of 1944. Patches of melting snow are still visible, collecting in characteristic patterns along paths and in ground depressions. Although the camp was dismantled in November 1943, a disguised farmhouse was constructed to conceal the evidence of the crimes committed here. There is a stark contrast between the areas surrounding the Treblinka death camp (encircled) and the site itself. The surrounding land shows a very regular patchwork of fields prepared for spring sowing, whereas the area within the right portion of the circle remains irregular. This scarred section of land marks the location of the mass graves, where the remains of nearly one million Jews were buried after being cremated on open-air pyres. |
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| Records from the Oneg Shabbat archive detail the systematic deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. Here from the beginning of the Gros Action on July 22, 1942, to August 11th, 1942. |
Records from the Oneg Shabbat archive detail the systematic deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. On July 26, 1942, my grandfather, Gabriel Rozental, was seized at a soup kitchen on Ogrodowa Street while waiting for a meal. He was taken to the Umschlagplatz and deported to Treblinka; on that day alone, 6,400 Jews were transported to the death camp.
August 3, 1942 - 6,458 Jews
My grandmother, Helena Rozental (née Polirsztok), sought to evade deportation by living and working in a brush factory within the ghetto. However, on August 3, 1942, she too was taken to the Umschlagplatz. Records show that 6,458 Jews were sent to Treblinka that day.
August 5, 1942 - 6,458 Jews
Two days later, on August 5th, a transport of 6,623 Jews included Janusz Korczak, Stefania Wilczyńska (Pani Stefa), 10 teachers, and 239 children from their orphanage, alongside children from several other institutions in the Little Ghetto.
The photograph captures the two primary faces of the Treblinka murders: the commander of Treblinka, Franz Stangl, and his successor, Kurt Franz. Stangl, who is on the left with the whip behind him. He used the whip to maintain the "elegance" of his rank, ensuring he remained a master of the scene without "dirtying his hands" with the manual labor of murder. Kurt Franz, on the right, used the whip as a literal weapon of torture, often striking prisoners across the face or kidneys, or using it to signal his dog, Bary, to attack. Franz Stangl was the commandant from September 1942 to August 1943. He turned Treblinka into an efficient death factory. Kurt Franz was his successor, the last commandant, Aug 1943 – Nov 1943, who oversaw the final dismantling. Under Franz’s orders, the gas chambers were razed, and the remains of the victims were exhumed and burned to hide the evidence. Richard Goldszmid (Glazar), former prisoner in Treblinka testimony about Stangl: A man in a brilliant white uniform and riding boots, with a whip in his hand, stood there in the midst of all the chaos. He did not look like an executioner; he looked like a noble horseman who had accidentally ended up in the wrong place. But when he moved his whip, the entire mass of people moved. He didn't need to shout. He just pointed, and fate was sealed.
What happened later at Treblinka Death Camp after the Germans closed it in October 1943? The last commander of Treblinka, Kurt Franz, oversaw the final dismantling of the camp. Under Franz’s orders, the gas chambers were razed. The remains of the victims were exhumed and burned to hide the evidence. The ashes were thereafter put into the former mass graves and covered with sand. The entire area was thereafter smoothed. Following the camp's destruction in November 1943, the Nazis built a disguised farmhouse on the site. A Ukrainian guard was even settled there to act as a "farmer" to deter intruders. This building is clearly visible in the photograph below. Yes, to deter the intruders, who were mainly the peasants from the villages around.
Two days later, on August 5th, a transport of 6,623 Jews included Janusz Korczak, Stefania Wilczyńska (Pani Stefa), 10 teachers, and 239 children from their orphanage, alongside children from several other institutions in the Little Ghetto.
Today, the ashes of my grandparents, Helena and Gabriel Rozental, and more than 100 members of the Polirsztok, Rozental, and Wójcikiewicz families, lie scattered across Treblinka—forever joined with the ashes of the Old Doctor, his staff, and the children they refused to abandon.
During the infamous Grossaktion Warschau (the Great Action), which took place between July 22 and September 21, 1942, approximately 265,000 Jews were transported from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp.
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| What happened later at Treblinka Death Camp after the Germans closed it in October 1943? The last commander of Treblinka, Kurt Franz, oversaw the final dismantling of the camp. Under Franz’s orders, the gas chambers were razed. The remains of the victims were exhumed and burned to hide the evidence. The ashes were thereafter put into the former mass graves and covered with sand. The entire area was thereafter smoothed. |
What happened later at Treblinka Death Camp after the Germans closed it in October 1943? The last commander of Treblinka, Kurt Franz, oversaw the final dismantling of the camp. Under Franz’s orders, the gas chambers were razed. The remains of the victims were exhumed and burned to hide the evidence. The ashes were thereafter put into the former mass graves and covered with sand. The entire area was thereafter smoothed. Following the camp's destruction in November 1943, the Nazis built a disguised farmhouse on the site. A Ukrainian guard was even settled there to act as a "farmer" to deter intruders. This building is clearly visible in the photograph below. Yes, to deter the intruders, who were mainly the peasants from the villages around.
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| The Disguise (Incircled): The building highlighted in the circle is the farmhouse built by the Nazis using material from the wooden barracks and possibly the bricks from the razed gas chambers and weapon arsenal. A Ukrainian guard was stationed there to act as a "farmer" to deter intruders and disguise the site of the mass genocide. There is a stark contrast between the regular patchwork of fields outside the camp and the irregular, scarred earth within the right portion of the circle. This disturbed ground marks the location of the mass graves of nearly one million victims. |
The aspect of the Treblinka site and the robbery digging there was conveyed by Karol Ogrodowczyk, a member of a delegation from Warsaw that inspected the site in 1947:
"The fields are dug up and rummaged through, the pits are about 10 meters deep, bones are lying around and objects of all kinds, shoes, spoons, forks, chandeliers, hair of wigs worn by Jewesses. In the air hangs the stench of decomposing corpses. … The foul smell so numbed me and my colleagues that we vomited and felt an unusual rasping in the throat. (...) Under every tree seekers of gold and gems have dug holes (...) Between the trees cavort local peasants, eager to find treasures. When we ask them 'What are you doing here?' they give no answer."
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| Treblinka Death Camp after WWII (1947). The fields are dug up and rummaged through, the pits are about 10 meters deep, bones are lying around, and objects of all kinds, shoes, spoons, forks, chandeliers, hair of wigs worn by Jewesses. In the air hangs the stench of decomposing corpses. … |
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| Treblinka Death Camp after WWII (1947). The fields are dug up and rummaged through, the pits are about 10 meters deep, bones are lying around, and objects of all kinds, shoes, spoons, forks, chandeliers, hair of wigs worn by Jewesses. In the air hangs the stench of decomposing corpses. … |
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| Gold diggers at Treblinka - local peasants. |
