Testimonies of Nazi SS-Men at Treblinka
Treblinka, a camp hidden in the remote forests of northeastern Poland, functioned not as a concentration camp but as one of only six extermination centers where the Nazi 'Final Solution' and 'Operation Reinhard' were carried out in their extreme fashions. Before its Allied liberation, Treblinka was liquidated and completely destroyed by the retreating German army, leaving almost no evidence of the
atrocities committed within its fences.
Today, the horrors that took place at Treblinka have come to light from a number of testimonials from Nazi SS soldiers who were stationed at the camp and carried out the Nazi murderous actions. What you are about to read are excerpts from these testimonies but have not been otherwise changed.
Second Commandant Stangl:
Michel [the sergeant-major of the camp] told me later
that Wirth suddenly appeared, looked around on the gas chambers on which
they were still working, and said: 'right, we'll try it out right now
with those twenty-five working Jews. Get them up here'. They marched
our twenty-five Jews up there and just pushed them in and gassed them.
Michel said Wirth behaved like a lunatic, hitting at his own staff with
his whip to drive them on...
(Quoted in BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death
Camps. Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 184)
Willi Mentz:
When I came to Treblinka the camp commandant was a
doctor named Dr. Eberl. He was very ambitious. It was said that he ordered
more transports than could be "processed" in the camp. That
meant that trains had to wait outside the camp because the occupants
of the previous transport had not yet all been killed. At the time it
was very hot and as a result of the long wait inside the transport trains
in the intense heat many people died. At the time whole mountains of
bodies lay on the platform. The Hauptsturmfuehrer Christian Wirth came
to Treblinka and kicked up a terrific row. And then one day Dr. Eberl
was no longer there...
For about two months I worked in the upper section
of the camp and then after Eberl had gone everything in the camp was
reorganized. The two parts of the camp were separated by barbed wire
fences. Pine branches were used so that you could not see through the
fences. The same thing was done along the route from the "transfer"
area to the gas chambers...
Finally, new and larger gas chambers were built. I
think that there were now five or six larger gas chambers. I cannot
say exactly how many people these large gas chambers held. If the small
gas chambers could hold 80-100 people, the large ones could probably
hold twice that number...
Following the arrival of a transport, six to eight
cars would be shunted into the camp, coming to a halt at the platform
there. The commandant, his deputy Franz, Kuettner and Stadie or Maetzig
would be here waiting as the transport came in. Further SS members were
also present to supervise the unloading: for example, Genz and Belitz
had to make absolutely sure that there was no one left in the car after
the occupants had been ordered to get out.
When the Jews had got off, Stadie or Maetzig would
have a short word with them. They were told something to the effect
that they were a resettlement transport, that they would be given a
bath and that they would receive new clothes. They were also instructed
to maintain quiet and discipline. They would continue their journey
the following day.
Then the transports were taken off to the so-called
"transfer" area. The women had to undress in huts and the
men out in the open. The women were than led through a passageway, known
as the "tube", to the gas chambers. On the way they had to
pass a hut where they had to hand in their jewelery and valuables..
(Quoted in The Good Old Days - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess,
The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 245-247)
Kurt Franz:
I cannot say how many Jews in total were gassed in
Treblinka. On average each day a large train arrived. Sometimes there
were even two. This however was not so common.
In Treblinka I was commander of the Ukrainian guard
unit as I had been in Belzec. In Treblinka as in Belzec the unit consisted
of sixty to eighty men. The Ukrainians' main task was to man the guard
posts around the camp perimeter. After the uprising in August 1943 I
ran the camp more or less single-handedly for a month; however, during
that period no gassings were undertaken.
It was during that period that the original camp was
demolished. Everything was leveled off off and lupins were planted...
(Quoted in The Good Old Days - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess,
The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 247-249)
SS Oberscharfuehrer Heinrich Matthes:
During the entire time I was in Treblinka, I served
in the upper camp. 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.
About fourteen Germans carried out services in the
upper camp. There were two Ukrainians permanently in the upper camp.
One of them was called Nikolai, the other was a short man, I don't remember
his name... These two Ukrainians who lived in the upper camp served
in the gas chambers. They also took care of the engine room when Fritz
Schmidt was absent. Usually this Schmidt was in charge of the engine
room. In my opinion, as a civilian he was either a mechanic or a driver...
All together, six gas chambers were active. According
to my estimate, about 300 people could enter each gas chamber. The people
went into the gas chamber without resistance. Those who were at the
end, the Ukrainian guards had to push inside. I personally saw how the
Ukrainians pushed the people with their rifle butts...
The gas chambers were closed for about thirty minutes.
Then Schmidt stopped the gassing, and the two Ukrainians who were in
the engine room opened the gas chambers from the other side.
(Quoted in BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation
Reinhard Death Camps. Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987,
p. 121)
Source: Shamash |
