Treblinka extermination camp

What happened at Treblinka during World War II is one of the most unimaginable crimes ever committed. There were two camps in the village, a labor camp and a death camp, which are places that preserve important historical values for future generations; only the ruins remind us that this place once existed at all. It has become not only another symbol, but also a place of memory.

Visiting the Treblinka camp

The former camp grounds are now a museum. It is possible to visit on your own or to purchase a Treblinka Concentration Camp tour with a guide. The entrance fee to the museum is 7 PLN per person. On Monday there is no charge. Dogs are not allowed in the museum – except for guide dogs.

Treblinka Labor and Death Camps I and II

The penal labor camp Treblinka I was a place of internment for people recognized as “enemies” of Germany. It was in operation from the summer of 1941 until the end of July 1944, and was organized largely by district governor Ernst GramssThe camp’s commandant was Theo van Eupen. The German administration numbered about 20 people.

The Treblinka II extermination camp was established by the Germans in mid-1942, next to a penal work site. The camp occupied 17 hectares of land and had an outer fence with high barbed wire on top that surrounded all sides. Prisoners were used for slave labor while in the camp as a result of “Operation Reinhardt,” which aimed to physically eliminate the Jewish population.

Approximately 10,000 people passed through the camp during its existence until 1944. Most of them died here in Treblinka II. The first train with Jews from the Warsaw ghetto arrived at Treblinka in July 1942.

Visiting the camp in Treblinka

The camp is a painful reminder that we never forget and should never tolerate such arrangements.

The symbolic camp gate and train ramp are remnants of the sprawling concentration camp. The 17,000 large stones are a memorial to all who were murdered there.

The entrance to the Treblinka extermination camp is the site of a memorial to those who died there. The cracked wall, reminiscent of similar structures found at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, provides an understanding of what happened here, and is topped by a finial with bas-reliefs.

There is also a museum on the grounds of the camps. The museum offers four different exhibitions. The largest is dedicated to Treblinka II, but you can also see the history of civilian life during World War II and after Germany occupied Poland in 1939.
Photo: wikipedia.org