The six major death camps in Poland are Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka.  Each camp had there own unique qualities.  They where all symbols of death in the 1930's.  Many who survived say we should learn from our mistakes , that way we don't repeat the same mistakes.  The Holocaust was one of our mistakes and we should all learn about it.

This is a gas chamber where many died as you can see from all the blood.

Auschwitz
Built on the outside of the town of Oswiecim was the death camp Auschwitz.  The nick name for the town Oswiecim was Auschwitz, that is how the camp got it's name.  Auschwitz was the most famous death camp and was a symbol of fear in all Jewish eyes.  Not only Jews where killed in this death camp but also gypsies, soviet war prisoners, and any others that where not the wright religion.  Rudolph Hess  had the job to fit about 30,000 inmates into this camp, and he went above and beyond and ended up fitting about 100,000 inmates.  Out of the prisoners captured 25% of them went to forced labor camps, and the other 75% where immediately sent to there death beds.  The S.S. officers soon started to think that the war would soon be over and began destroying any evidence they stumbled upon.  The prisoners where evidence so they had to also be destroyed.   The guess was 1,000,000 where killed, 670 barely escaped Auschwitz alive, and 270 who attempted escape where caught and killed.  When January 27, 1945 came around a huge relief for the reminder of prisoners left in Auschwitz, because that day they where freed by The Red Army.

Belzec
In March of 1942 the extermination camp  Belzec opened.  The inmates believed this was a forced labor camp but they soon found that it was a death camp.  Zyklon B. and Carbon Minoxide where what was used to gas the inmates with.  These are two stories that will tell you how desperate these prisoners where to get out of Belzec.  This is the story of  Mina Astman and Malka Talenfeld.  They slipped away and hid in a ditch the whole night until no one was looking.  Then the started to run for there lives.  Here is another storie.  Sara Ritter ( a four year old ) was hidden in a bread basket where then her uncle tried to sneak her out.  He was later found and shot, but the young girl lived.  She was able to stay with a family in a near by town.  Belzec was responsible for a guess of about 600,000 to about 800,000 killings.  These prisoners where lucky not to be in that count. 

Chelmno
One of he first death camps was Chelmno.  One of the ways  they killed inmates was to burn them in mobile gas vans.  They would insolate the vans and pile in as many prisoners as thy could, then pump in the poison.  Chelmno was responsible for a guess of 150,000 killings of Jews and a guess of 5,000 killings of Gypsies.   In March of 1943  Chelmno was shut down.   No one ever recorded escaped this camp alive.

Majdanek

The death camp Majdanek was built near the small city of Lublin. The camp was built in an open area where the public could see the camp, and they didn't even try to hid this camp from the people.  In October of 1941 was when this camp opened.  Majdanek was suppose to hold 25,000 inmates to about 50,000 inmates, but a new plan came about and the camp would be made to hold almost 250,000 prisoners.  There where seven gas chambers in Majdanek that would use the gas Zyklon B.  These gas chambers started up in 1942.  A lot of the prisoners died in these gas chambers and the others who did not die of starving to death, dirty living areas, or they would be shot.  After the picked up the dead bodies they would be puy in a cremator.  Cremators where brought into Majdanek in 1943.  They where good to have because they got rid of the evidence of dead bodies. During he day prisoners where assigned jobs one assigned to the women was to separate the different parts of the shoe and put them into piles.  Many of the others had to do horrible fiscal labor and that normally ended up to mean death.  On October of 1943 the inmates had to dig three huge trenches.  Then in November of 1943 the inmates where assigned to a trench where they would be shot.  Over one day 18,000 where killed in one of the biggest one day killings.  This was named the Harvest Festival.  On July 24,1944 when the Soviet Troops finally arrived almost 500,000 killings had accorded.     

Sobibor

Sobibor was built during WWII next to a small town in Poland.  Unlike some other camps this camp was out of the people's view.  Most of the prisoners in Sobibor felt like no one cared and that they where forgotten.  Train tracks where next to the and they would dump of prisoners at the camp.  When the inmates first got to camp Sobibor they lost all of there stuff even there hair,  although some didn't have the chance to be humiliated because they where sent straight to the gas chambers.  The camp soon began to grow and so did the gas chambers. There was three then it went to six.  There was a problem with the inmates on October 14, of 1943.  They where getting restless and started to cause an up rising.  This was the reason the camp shut down.  Sixty was the guess of  how many survived and over 260,000 died in camp Sobibor.  Sobibor lasted for over one bad year, from May of 1942 to October of 1943. 

Treblinka

In June of 1942 Treblinka was built on a 61 acre piece of land.  Treblinka was run by ActionReinhard.  It's amazing that it only took one month to start taking prisoners in on July of 1942.  On September of 1942 they put in gas chambers.  The prisoners where told they where in a forced labor camp and had a little time to live, but they where in an extermination camp where they would probably die. Many in fact died when they first got to the the extermination camp.  They didn't have to suffer long, but       some did suffer long and painful deaths.  On August of 1943 was the guess that almost 800,000 where killed in Treblinka.
Now you know why we all should learn about the Holocaust, and that it was a big mistake.  It would be smart to never let something this bad ever happen again. 

 

 

Kelly Brummer

7th Social Studies

Rossville Jr. High

Holocaust Project

2004

Bibliography