The extermination camps were the facilities set up by Nazi Germany in World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe. Members of some other groups whom the Nazis wished to exterminate, such as Roma (Gypsies), Serbs exterminated as a main target of nazi Ustashe, Soviet prisoners of war, Poles and others, were also killed in these camps. Prisoners at these camps were not expected to live more than 24 hours beyond arrival. This was part of what has become known as the Holocaust. Selection at the Auschwitz camp in 1944, where the Nazis chose whom to kill immediately and whom to use as slave labor or for medical experimentation. ... The Racial Policy of Nazi Germany refers to the policies and laws implemented by Nazi Germany, asserting the superiority of the Aryan race, and including measures aimed primarily against Jews. ... Nazi eugenics pertains to Nazi Germanys nazism and race social policies that placed the improvement of the race through eugenics at the centre of their concerns and targeted those humans they identified as Life Unworthy of Life, including but not limited to: weak, idle, criminal, degenerate, homosexuals and insane... It has been suggested that Reich Citizenship Law be merged into this article or section. ... This poster reads: 60,000 Reichsmark is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community during his lifetime. ... Prior to and during World War II Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager or KZ) throughout the territory it controlled. ... The following is a list of Nazi German concentration camps. ... German Jews have lived in Germany for over 1700 years, through both periods of tolerance and spasms of anti-Semitic violence, culminating in the Holocaust and the destruction of the Jewish community in Germany and much of Europe. ... Pogrom (from Russian: ; from громить - to wreak havoc, to demolish violently) is a form of riot, a massive violent attack on a particular group; ethnic, religious or other, primarily characterized by destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... Dots represent large cities where synagogues were destroyed. ... The IaÅŸi pogrom of June 27, 1941 was one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history, launched by governmental forces in the Romanian city of IaÅŸi against its Jewish population, resulting in the brutal mass-murder of 13,266 Jews. ... The Jedwabne Pogrom (or Jedwabne Massacre) was a massacre of Jewish people living in and near the town of Jedwabne in Poland that occurred during World War II, in July 1941. ... Lviv (Ukrainian: Львів, L’viv ; Polish: Lwów; Russian: Львов, Lvov; German: Lemberg; Latin: Leopolis; see also Cities alternative names) is a city in western Ukraine, the capital city of the Lviv Oblast (province) and one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine. ... Ghettos established by the Nazis in which Jews were confined, and later shipped to concentration camps. ... The Ghetto Heroes Memorial The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in General Government during the Holocaust in World War II. In the three years of its existence, starvation, disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps dropped the population of the... The Łódź Ghetto (historically the Litzmannstadt Ghetto) was the second-largest ghetto (after the Warsaw Ghetto) established for Jews and Roma in Nazi-occupied Poland. ... The Lwów Ghetto (also called the Lemberg Ghetto, Lviv Ghetto, and Lvov Ghetto) was one of the larger Ghettos established for Jews in Poland by Nazi authorities. ... Deportation of Jews from the Kraków Ghetto, March 1943 The Jewish ghetto in Kraków (Cracow) was one of the five main ghettos created by the Nazis during their occupation of Poland during World War II. It was a staging point to begin dividing able workers from those who... Location of the concentration camp in the Czech Republic Gate Concentration camp Theresienstadt was a concentration camp set up by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city Terezín (German name Theresienstadt), located in what is now the Czech Republic. ... A member of Einsatzgruppe D is just about to execute Jewish man kneeling before a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1942. ... The massacre at Babi Yar Babi Yar (Russian:Бабий яр, Ukrainian:Бабин яр, Babyn Yar) is a ravine in Kiev, Ukraine, which was the site of massacres of Jews, Gypsies, and other civilians by the Nazis, with assistance from local collaborators, during World War II. // Before the massacre The Germans reached Kiev on September... Rumbula Forest is a pine forest enclave in Riga, Latvia. ... Paneriai (Polish: , German: ) is a suburb of Vilnius, situated about 10 kilometres away from the city centre. ... The Odessa Massacre was the extermination of Jews and Communists in Odessa during the autumn of 1941. ... In a February 26, 1942 letter to German diplomat Martin Luther, Reinhard Heydrich follows up on the Wannsee Conference by asking Luther for administrative assistance in the implementation of the Endlösung der Judenfrage (Final Solution of the Jewish Question). ... The Wannsee Villa, location of the Wannsee Conference, is now a Holocaust museum. ... Operation Reinhard (Aktion Reinhard, Einsatz Reinhard, Aktion Reinhardt or Einsatz Reinhardt in German) was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the former General Government and rob their possessions. ... Extermination camp (German: Vernichtungslager) or Death Camp was the term applied to a group of facilities set up by Nazi Germany during World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe, although members of some other groups whom the Nazis wished to exterminate, such as Roma... The CheÅ‚mno extermination camp was a Nazi extermination camp that was situated 70 km from Łódź near a small village called CheÅ‚mno nad Nerem (Kulmhof an der Nehr, in German), in Greater Poland (which was, in 1939, annexed and incorporated into Germany under the name of Reichsgau Wartheland). ... Bełżec was the first of the Nazi German extermination camps created for implementing Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. ... Sobibór was a Nazi extermination camp that was part of Operation Reinhard. ... Majdanek in the winter, 2005 Majdanek is the site of a German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly 2. ... Treblinka was a Nazi Germany extermination camp, part of the Holocaust, the systematic murder of Jews and others. ... Auschwitz, Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-Birkenau, KL Auschwitz is the name used to identify the largest of the Nazi German extermination camps, along with a number of concentration camps, comprising three main camps and 40 to 50 sub-camps. ... “Jasenovac” redirects here. ... Other languages FAQs | Table free Welcome to Wikipedia, the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. ... Å»ydowski ZwiÄ…zek Wojskowy (Å»ZW, Polish for Jewish Military Union) was an underground organisation operating during World War II in the area of Warsaw Ghetto and fighting during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ... Ghetto Uprising refers to an armed struggle by people incarcerated in German Ghettos during World War II against the plans to resettle all the inhabitants to concentration and death camps. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Jewish resistance (Å»OB, Å»ZW) Commanders Jürgen Stroop Mordechai Anielewicz Strength 2,054, including 821 Waffen SS 40,000 civilians, 750-1,000 fighters Casualties 300 KIA and about 700 wounded; official reports acknowledge 16 KIA and 85 wounded about 13,000 killed, almost all of the... Dachau concentration-camp inmates on a death march through a German village in April 1945. ... Berihah (literally escape in Hebrew) was the organized effort to help Jews escape post-Holocaust Europe for the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Sherit ha-Pletah is a biblical (First Chronicles 4:43) term used by Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust to refer to themselves and the communities they formed following their liberation in the spring of 1945. ... The UstaÅ¡e (often spelled Ustashe in English; singular UstaÅ¡a or Ustasha) was a Croatian organization put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers in 1941, in which they pursued Nazi policies. ... Generalplan Ost (GPO) was a Nazi plan to realize Hitlers new order of ethnographical relations in the territories occupied in Eastern Europe during World War II. It was prepared in 1941 and confirmed in 1942. ... Gypsy arrivals in the Belzec death camp await instructions The Porajmos (also Porrajmos) literally Devouring, is a term coined by the Roma (Gypsy) people to describe attempts by the Nazi regime to exterminate most of the Roma peoples of Europe during the Holocaust. ... The German word Gleichschaltung â’½ â’¾ (literally synchronising, synchronization) is used in a political sense to describe the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce. ... 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... Once vibrant, Eldorado gay night club in Berlin after being shut down in 1933 Gay men and, to a lesser extent, lesbians, were two of several groups targeted by Nazis during the Holocaust. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Reinhard Heydrich as SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (March 7, 1904 – June 4, 1942, Prague) was an SS-Obergruppenführer, chief of the Reich Security Main Office (which included the Gestapo, security agency and criminal police) and Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia. ... Adolf Eichmann, Germany 1940. ... (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ... The Deaths Head emblem similar to Skull and crossbones, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; secret state police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... A German newspaper announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... Chief prosecutor Telford Taylor opens the prosecution case in the Krupp Trial The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials (or, more formally, the Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT)) were a series of twelve U.S. military trials for war crimes against surviving members of the military, political, and... Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ... This is a list of people who helped victims to escape from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, often called rescuers. The list is not exhaustive, concentrating on famous cases, or people who saved the lives of many potential victims. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... There are many famous Holocaust survivors who survived the Nazi genocides in Europe only to go on to achievements of great fame and notability. ... Holocaust resources for main article The Holocaust. ... Book cover The Destruction of the European Jews is a three-volume work published in 1961 by historian Raul Hilberg. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Functionalism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust as well as most aspects of the Third Reich, such as foreign policy. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... World map showing Europe Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... The Roma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rom, sometimes Rroma, and Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies in English, and as Tsigany in most of Europe. ... Serbs (Serbian: Срби, Srbi) are a south Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia. ... The Ustaše (often spelled Ustashe in English; singular Ustaša or Ustasha) was a Croatian right-wing organisation put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers in 1941. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Selection at the Auschwitz camp in 1944, where the Nazis chose whom to kill immediately and whom to use as slave labor or for medical experimentation. ...

Terminology

The terms extermination camp (German: Vernichtungslager) or death camp (German: Todeslager) specifically refer to the camps whose primary function was genocide. Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing...

Extermination camps are distinguished from concentration camps (such as Dachau and Belsen), which were mostly located in Germany and intended as places of incarceration and forced labour for a variety of "enemies of the state" of the Nazi regime (such as Communists and homosexuals). In the early years of the Nazi regime, many Jews were sent to these camps, but after 1942 all Jews were deported to the extermination camps. Prior to and during World War II Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager or KZ) throughout the territory it controlled. ... The camp was constructed in a disused gunpowder factory and was completed on March 21, 1933. ... Bergen-Belsen, sometimes referred to as just Belsen, was a German concentration camp in the Nazi era. ... Slavery is any of a number of related conditions involving control of a person against his or her will, enforced by violence or other clear forms of coercion. ... This article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... The word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings over time. ... This article is about the year. ... Deportation is the expelling of someone from a country. ...

They should also be distinguished from slave labor camps, which were set up in all German-occupied countries to exploit the labor of prisoners of various kinds, including prisoners of war. Many Jews were worked to death in these camps, but eventually the Jewish labor force, no matter how useful to the German war effort, was destined for extermination. In all Nazi camps there were very high death rates as a result of starvation, disease, exhaustion, and extreme brutality, but only the extermination camps were designed specifically for mass killing. A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in penal labour. ... A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ... A disease is an abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person afflicted or those in contact with the person. ... Fatigue is a feeling of excessive tiredness or lethargy, with a desire to rest, perhaps to sleep. ...

The distinction between extermination camps and concentration camps was made by the Nazis themselves. As early as September, 1942, an SS doctor witnessed a gassing and wrote in his diary 'They don't call Auschwitz the camp of annihilation (das Lager der Vernichtung) for nothing!'^[1] When one of Eichmann's deputies, Dieter Wisliceny, was interrogated at Nuremberg, he was asked for the names of 'extermination camps', and answered referring to Auschwitz and Majdanek as such. When asked 'How do you classify camps Mauthausen, Dachau and Buchenwald?' he replied 'They were normal concentration camps from the point of view of the department of Eichmann.'^[2] Adolf Eichmann, Germany 1940. ... Dieter Wisliceny (? 1911 - February 1948) was a member of the German Schutzstaffel, and a key executioner of the German Final Solution. ... A German newspaper announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... Majdanek in the winter, 2005 Majdanek is the site of a German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly 2. ... Mauthausen is a small town in Upper Austria about 20 kilometers east of the city of Linz. ... Slave laborers in the Buchenwald concentration camp (Elie Wiesel is second row, seventh from left). ...

The camps

Major deportation routes to the extermination camps in Europe.

Most accounts of the Holocaust recognise six extermination camps, all located in occupied Poland. These were: Image File history File links Massdeportations. ... Image File history File links Massdeportations. ... Majdanek - crematorium Extermination camp (German Vernichtungslager) was the term applied to a group of camps set up by Nazi Germany during World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe, although members of some other groups whom the Nazis wished to exterminate, such as Roma (Gypsies...

• Auschwitz II (Auschwitz-Birkenau) (Auschwitz I was a concentration camp and Auschwitz III a labor camp)
• Belzec
• Chelmno (German: Kulmhof an der Nehr, Polish: Chelmno nad Nerem)
• Majdanek
• Sobibór
• Treblinka

Of these, Auschwitz II and Chelmno were located within areas of western Poland annexed by Germany - the other four were located within the General Government area. Another two death camps were located outside Poland: Auschwitz, Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-Birkenau, KL Auschwitz is the name used to identify the largest of the Nazi German extermination camps, along with a number of concentration camps, comprising three main camps and 40 to 50 sub-camps. ... Auschwitz, Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-Birkenau, KL Auschwitz is the name used to identify the largest of the Nazi German extermination camps, along with a number of concentration camps, comprising three main camps and 40 to 50 sub-camps. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... Auschwitz, Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-Birkenau, KL Auschwitz is the name used to identify the largest of the Nazi German extermination camps, along with a number of concentration camps, comprising three main camps and 40 to 50 sub-camps. ... A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in penal labour. ... Belzec was the first of the Nazi German extermination camps created for implementing Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Majdanek in the winter, 2005 Majdanek is the site of a German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly 2. ... Sobibór was a Nazi extermination camp that was part of Operation Reinhard. ... Treblinka was a Nazi Germany extermination camp, part of the Holocaust, the systematic murder of Jews and others. ... Annexation is the legal merging of some territory into another body. ... The General Government (in full General government for the occupied Polish areas, in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) was the name given by Germany to the governing authority in Poland after its occupation by the Wehrmacht in September and October 1939. ...

• Jasenovac extermination camp was operated by Croatian Nazi Ustaše puppet regime, and had Serbs as its primary victims. However, Jews, Gypsies and political prisoners were also killed there, like in other concentration camps. The genocide in Jasenovac was committed by Croatian Ustashe, who had a racial extermination programme, formulated by Mile Budak, before and independently of the Wannsee plan. Croatian Ustashe started exterminating Serbs at such a pace and with such enthusiasm, that in late 1941 German Nazis decided to take measures to restrain the genocide, before they resorted to similar actions in their death camps. Overall, the death toll makes Jasenovac the third most productive in Holocaust, and the only one which did not have Jews as main target.

• Maly Trostenets, a much less known camp than the other, was located in present-day Belarus.

Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibór were constructed during Operation Reinhard, the codename for the systematic killing of the Jews of Europe, widely known under the euphemism, the "final solution of the Jewish question" (Endlösung der Judenfrage). The operation was decided at the Wannsee Conference of January 1942 and carried out under the administrative control of Adolf Eichmann. Jasenovac is a municipality in Central Croatia, in the southern part of the Sisak-Moslavina county at the confluence of the river Una into Sava. ... The Ustaše (often spelled Ustashe in English; singular Ustaša or Ustasha) was a Croatian far-right organisation put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers in 1941. ... Mile Budak (1889 - 1945) is Croatian writer and politician, best known as one of the chief ideologists of Ustasha movement. ... The Wannsee Villa, location of the Wannsee Conference, is now a Holocaust museum. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Maly Trostenets (Belarusian: Малы́ Трасьцяне́ц; Russian: Ма́лый Тростене́ц), a small village on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, was the site of a relatively less-well-known but highly efficient - and prolific - Nazi extermination camp. ... Treblinka is a small village in the Mazowieckie voivodship (province) of Poland. ... Belzec was the first of the Nazi German extermination camps created for implementing Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. ... Sobibór was a Nazi extermination camp that was part of Operation Reinhard. ... Operation Reinhard (Aktion Reinhard, Einsatz Reinhard, Aktion Reinhardt or Einsatz Reinhardt in German) was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the former General Government and rob their possessions. ... A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. ... A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less troublesome for the speaker. ... In a February 26, 1942 letter to German diplomat Martin Luther, Reinhard Heydrich follows up on the Wannsee Conference by asking Luther for administrative assistance in the implementation of the Endlösung der Judenfrage (Final Solution of the Jewish Question). ... The Wannsee Villa, location of the Wannsee Conference, is now a Holocaust museum. ... This article is about the year. ... Adolf Eichmann, Germany 1940. ...

While Auschwitz II was part of a labour camp complex, and Majdanek also had a labour camp, the Reinhard camps and Chelmno were pure extermination camps, built solely to kill vast numbers of Jews within hours of arrival – the only prisoners sent to these camps not immediately murdered were those used as slave labour directly concerning the extermination process (e.g. to remove the corpses from the gas chambers). These camps were small in size – only several hundred meters on each side – as only minimal housing and support facilities were required. Arriving persons were told that they were merely at a transit stop for relocation east. A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in forced labor. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

In addition, many non-Jews were also killed in these camps - Serbs were main victims in Jasenovac, while many (non-Jewish) Poles and Soviet prisoners of war were killed in the other death camps.

The number of people killed at these death camps has been estimated as follows:

• Auschwitz II: about 1,100,000
• Belzec: 436,000
• Chelmno: 340,000
• Majdanek: 78,000 ^[3] - 235,000
• Sobibór: 260,000
• Treblinka: at least 700,000, possibly over 1,000,000
• Jasenovac: 500,000-840,000
• Maly Trostenets: at least 200,000, possibly over 500,000

This gives a total of at least 3,600,000, and possibly 4,600,000. Of these, over 80% were Jews. These camps thus accounted for about half the total number of Jews killed in the entire Nazi Holocaust, including almost the whole Jewish population of Poland.

Operation of the camps

Majdanek - crematorium

The method of killing at these camps was typically poison gas, usually in "gas chambers", although many prisoners were killed in mass shootings, starvation or sadism. Rudolf Hoess, the Commandant of Auschwitz, wrote after the war that many of the Einsatzkommandos involved in the mass shootings went mad or committed suicide, "unable to endure wading through blood any longer". ^[4] The bodies of those killed were destroyed in crematoria (except at Sobibór where they were cremated on outdoor pyres), and the ashes buried or scattered. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1136x852, 256 KB) from [1] File links The following pages link to this file: Extermination camp Majdanek ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1136x852, 256 KB) from [1] File links The following pages link to this file: Extermination camp Majdanek ... Majdanek in the winter, 2005 Majdanek is the site of a German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly 2. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... Gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison A gas chamber is a means of execution whereby a poisonous gas is introduced into a hermetically sealed chamber. ... Rudolf Hoess Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höß (in English commonly Hoess or Höss; November 25, 1900 – April 16, 1947) was a senior Nazi official, member of the SS and Waffen-SS (with the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer) and commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp where he was responsible for... A member of Einsatzgruppe D executes a Jew kneeling before a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1942. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... Cremation is the practice of disposing of a corpse by burning. ... Sobibór was a Nazi extermination camp that was part of Operation Reinhard. ... A pyre is a structure, such as a mound of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite. ...

The camps differed slightly in operation, but all were designed to kill as efficiently as possible. SS Lt. Kurt Gerstein, who worked in the SS medical service, for example, testified to a Swedish diplomat during the war about what he had seen at the camps. He describes how he arrived at Belzec on August 19, 1942 (at the time, the camp was still using primarily carbon monoxide from a gas engine in its gas chambers), where he was proudly shown the unloading of 45 train cars stuffed with 6700 Jews, many of whom were already dead, but the rest were marched naked to the gas chambers, where, he said: Kurt Gerstein (August 11, 1905 in Münster, Westfalia - July 25, 1945, Paris), was a member of the Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS and participated in mass murders in the Nazi extermination camps Belzec and Treblinka. ... Belzec was the first of the Nazi German extermination camps created for implementing Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Unterscharführer Hackenholt was making great efforts to get the engine running. But it doesn't go. Captain Wirth comes up. I can see he is afraid because I am present at a disaster. Yes, I see it all and I wait. My stopwatch showed it all, 50 minutes, 70 minutes, and the diesel did not start. The people wait inside the gas chambers. In vain. They can be heard weeping, "like in the synagogue," says Professor Pfannenstiel, his eyes glued to a window in the wooden door. Furious, Captain Wirth lashes the Ukrainian assisting Hackenholt twelve, thirteen times, in the face. After 2 hours and 49 minutes - the stopwatch recorded it all - the diesel started. Up to that moment, the people shut up in those four crowded chambers were still alive, four times 750 persons in four times 45 cubic meters. Another 25 minutes elapsed. Many were already dead, that could be seen through the small window because an electric lamp inside lit up the chamber for a few moments. After 28 minutes, only a few were still alive. Finally, after 32 minutes, all were dead...Dentists hammered out gold teeth, bridges and crowns. In the midst of them stood Captain Wirth. He was in his element, and showing me a large can full of teeth, he said: "See for yourself the weight of that gold! It's only from yesterday and the day before. You can't imagine what we find every day - dollars, diamonds, gold. You'll see for yourself!" Christian Wirth, better known by the pseudonym RaD Man, is a computer artist and historian. ...

According to Hoess, the first time Zyklon B was used on the Jews, many suspected they would be killed, despite being led to believe that they were only being deloused. As a result, pains were taken to single out possibly "difficult individuals" in future gassings, so they could be separated and shot unobtrusively. Members of the Special Detachment — a group of Jewish prisoners from the camp assigned to help carry out the exterminations — were also made to accompany the Jews into the gas chamber and remain with them until the doors closed. A guard from the SS also stood at the door to perpetuate the "calming effect". To avoid giving the prisoners time to think about their fate, they were urged to undress as speedily as possible, with the Special Detachment helping those who might slow down the process. ^[5] Zyklon B label — Note that “Gift” translates as “poison” Zyklon B was the tradename of a pesticide ultimately used by Nazi Germany in some Holocaust gas chambers. ...

The Special Detachment reassured the Jews being gassed by talking of life in the camp, and tried to persuade them that all would be alright. Many Jewish women secreted their infants beneath their clothes once they had undressed, because they feared the disinfectant would harm them. Hoess wrote that the "men of the Special Detachment were particularly on the look-out for this," and would encourage the womenfolk to bring their children along. The Special Detachment men were also responsible for comforting older children that might cry "because of the strangeness of being undressed in this fashion". ^[6]

These measures did not deceive all, however. Hoess reported of several Jews "who either guessed or knew what awaited them nevertheless" but still "found the courage to joke with the children to encourage them, despite the mortal terror visible in their own eyes." Some women would suddenly "give the most terrible shrieks while undressing, or tear their hair, or scream like maniacs." These were immediately led away by the Special Detachment men to be shot. ^[7] Some others instead "revealed the addresses of those members of their race still in hiding" before being led into the gas chamber. ^[8]

Once the door was sealed with the victims inside, powdered Zyklon B would be shaken down through special holes in the roof of the chamber. The camp commandant was required to witness every gassing carried out through a peephole, and supervise both the preparations and the aftermath. Hoess reported that the gassed corpses "showed no signs of convulsion"; the doctors at Auschwitz attributed this to the "paralyzing effect on the lungs" that Zyklon B had, which ensured death came on before convulsions could begin. ^[9] Zyklon B label — Note that “Gift” translates as “poison” Zyklon B was the tradename of a pesticide ultimately used by Nazi Germany in some Holocaust gas chambers. ...

After the gassings had been carried out, the Special Detachment men would remove the bodies, extract the gold teeth and shave the hair of the corpses before bringing them to the crematoria or the pits. In either case, the bodies would be cremated, with the men of the Special Detachment responsible for stoking the fires, draining off the surplus fat, and turning over the "mountain of burning corpses" so that the flames would constantly be fanned. Hoess found the attitude and dedication of the Special Detachment amazing. Despite them being "well aware that ... they, too, would meet exactly the same fate," they managed to carry out their duties "in such a matter-of-course manner that they might themselves have been the exterminators". According to Hoess, many of the the Special Detachment men ate and smoked while they worked, "even when engaged on the grisly job of burning corpses". Occasionally, they would come across the body of a close relative, but although they "were obviously affected by this, ... it never led to any incident." Hoess cited the case of a man who, while carrying bodies from the gas chamber to the fire pit, found the corpse of his wife, but behaved "as though nothing had happened." ^[10]

Some high-ranking leaders from the Nazi Party and the SS were sent to Auschwitz on occasion to witness the gassings. Hoess wrote that although "all were deeply impressed by what they saw," some "who had previously spoken most loudly about the necessity for this extermination fell silent once they had actually seen the 'final solution of the Jewish problem.'" Hoess was repeatedly asked how he could stomach the exterminations. He justified them by explaining "the iron determination with which we must carry out Hitler's orders", but found that even "[Adolf] Eichmann, who [was] certainly tough enough, had no wish to change places with me." ^[11] The Nazi swastika symbol The National Socialist German Workers Party ( German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... Adolf Eichmann (March 19, 1906 — June 1, 1962) was a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany, and served as an Obersturmbannführer in the S.S.. He was largely responsible for the logistics of the extermination of millions of people during the Holocaust, in particular Jews, which was called the final...

Post war

As the Soviet armed forces advanced into Poland in 1944, the camps were closed and partly or completely dismantled to conceal what had taken place in them. The postwar Polish Communist government further partly dismantled the camps, and generally allowed the sites to decay. Monuments of various kinds were erected at the sites of the former camps; these usually did not mention that most of the people killed in them were Jews. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... The Taj Mahal, commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, as a mausoleum for his wife, Arjumand Banu Begum. ...

After the fall of communism in 1989, the camp sites became more accessible and have become centres of tourism, particularly at the most-recognized Auschwitz. There has been a series of disputes between the Jewish organizations and the Polish about what is appropriate at these sites. Some Jewish groups have objected strongly to the erection of Christian memorials at the camps. In the most notable case (the Auschwitz cross), the cross was located near concentration camp Auschwitz I, where most of the victims were Poles, not the extermination camp Auschwitz II. In the 1970s and 1980s the whole system in Poland was deeper and deeper in the crisis and was beginning to crumble as was the whole Eastern bloc with the USSR as the fading superpower. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... More than 3 million tourists visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, India in 2004. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ whom they believe is the saviour of the world. ... Sculpture on the Discoveries Age and Portuguese Navigators in Lisbon, Portugal Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg by David Ascalon (1994) A memorial is an object served as a memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event. ... This article is about a cross erected near the Auschwitz concentration camp. ...

Holocaust denial

Main article: Holocaust denial

Some groups and individuals deny the existence of Nazi extermination camps. For example, Robert Faurisson claimed in 1979 that "Hitler's 'gas chambers' never existed." He contended that the notion of the gas chambers was "essentially of Zionist origin".^[12] Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... Robert Faurisson Robert Faurisson (born January 25, 1929) is a French holocaust-denier who generated controversy over various articles he published in the Journal of Historical Review and elsewhere, as well as various letters he has sent in to French newspapers (especially Le Monde) over the years which denied the... This page refers to the year 1979. ...

Scholars and historians point out that Holocaust denial is contradicted by the testimonies of survivors and perpetrators, material evidence, and photographs, as well as by the Nazis' own record-keeping. Efforts such as the Nizkor Project, the work of Deborah Lipstadt, Simon Wiesenthal and his Simon Wiesenthal Center, and more at Holocaust resources, all track and explain Holocaust denial. The work of credible historians such as Raul Hilberg (who published The Destruction of the European Jews), Lucy Davidowicz (The War Against the Jews), Ian Kershaw, and many others relegate Holocaust denial to a minority fringe. Right-wing or anti-Semitic political motivation is often imputed to those who deny the Holocaust. Broadly speaking, a contradiction is an incompatibility between two or more statements, ideas, or actions. ... The Nizkor (Hebrew: we will remember) Project is an ongoing Internet-based project run by Ken McVay which is dedicated to countering Holocaust revisionism. ... Lipstadts book: Denying The Holocaust Deborah Lipstadt is an American historian and author of the book Denying the Holocaust. ... Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal, KBE, (Buczacz, December 31, 1908 – Vienna, September 20, 2005) was an Austrian-Jewish architectural engineer who became a Nazi hunter after surviving the Holocaust. ... The Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish organization that declares itself to be a human rights group dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. ... Holocaust resources for main article The Holocaust. ... Many historians and commentators examine the phenomenon of Holocaust denial. ... Dr. Raul Hilberg Raul Hilberg (born June 2, 1926) is one of the best-known and most distinguished of the Holocaust historians. ... Book cover The Destruction of the European Jews is a three-volume work published in 1961 by historian Raul Hilberg. ... Lucy S. Davidowicz, a historian, an author of books in modern Jewish history, about the Holocaust, in particular. ... Lucy Dawidowicz wrote the book, The War Against the Jews. ... Professor Sir Ian Kershaw (born April 29, 1943 Oldham, England) is a British historian, noted for his biographies of Adolf Hitler. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Notes

1. ^ http://www.holocaust-history.org/auschwitz/19420901-kremer/
2. ^ Richard Overy, Interrogations, p 356-7 (Penguin 2002, ISBN 0-140-28454-0)
3. ^ A recent study radically revised downward the estimated number of deaths at Majdanek. According to a piece "Majdanek Victims Enumerated" by Pawel P. Reszka, Lublin, Gazeta Wyborcza 12 December 2005, reproduced on the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, Lublin scholar Tomasz Kranz has recently established this number, and the Majdanek museum staff consider it to be authoritative. Earlier estimates were considerably higher: 360,000, in a much-cited 1948 publication by Zdzislaw Lukaszkiewicz, a judge who was a member of the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland, and 235,000, from a 1992 article by Dr. Czesaw Rajca, now retired from the Majdanek museum staff.
4. ^ Hoss, Rudolf (2005). I, the Commandant of Auschwitz. In Lewis, Jon E. (Ed.), True War Stories, p. 321. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1533-2.
5. ^ Hoss, pp. 321–322.
6. ^ Hoss, pp. 322–323.
7. ^ Hoss, p. 323.
8. ^ Hoss, p. 324.
9. ^ Hoss, pp. 320, 328.
10. ^ Hoss, pp. 325–326.
11. ^ Hoss, p. 328.
12. ^ "The Chorus and Cassandra" by Christopher Hitchens

December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 19 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (b. ...

Further reading

• Holocaust Journey: Travelling in Search of the Past, Martin Gilbert, Phoenix 1997, gives a good account of the sites of the extermination camps as they are today, plus a great deal of historical information about them and about the fate of the Jews of Poland.

External links

• Aktion Reinhard and the Holocaust