Nothing remains of the Nazi death camp at Treblinka. Before World War II ended, the Nazis essentially accomplished their goal of exterminating Polish Jewry. In the aftermath of the Katyn massacre (done by Soviets and discovered by Wehrmacht), they were mindful of the need to cover up atrocities and so razed the camp’s facilties, ultimately converting the grounds into a farm operated by Ukrainian former guards. Because of this, when we traveled to the site of the death camp on Thursday, we did not see any structures or materials from the time of the camp’s operation. Instead, we were confronted by a beautiful green field and a number of Communist-era stone memorials.
Our guide, historian Tomasz Cebulski, led us around the site and told us the details of the camp’s operation. Almost all of Warsaw’s Jews were killed at Treblinka. Prior to our visit, Mr. Cebulski emphasized the rich cultural heritage and long history of Warsaw’s Jewish population. Learning about the lives that were taken at Treblinka put the history of the camp into a compelling human context. Mr. Cebulski also screened a video documenting life in the Warsaw ghetto, where Warsaw’s Jews were forced to live for several years before being sent to Treblinka.
We know what happened at Treblinka only because of the testimony of the camp’s few hundred survivors. Cattle trains packed with people brought Jews from the ghetto to the camp. Many prisoners died on this journey: cars that should have held around fifteen people carried more than fifty, no food or water was provided, sometimes the trains would sent on the tracks for days, waiting for trains carrying military freight to pass by. Those that did survive the journey to Treblinka were killed within hours of arriving at the camp. A few traincars at a time would unload their contents on the Treblinka platform. Prisoners were forced to strip off their clothes and relinquish their valuables. They were then herded into gas chambers and poisoned with carbon monoxide.
Treblinka was a model of Nazi efficiency. Because calm people were easier to kill, prisoners were told they were not in danger until the moment the gas chambers were sealed. They were given receipts to claim their valuables later on. An orchestra played during camp operations. Prisoners were informed that the gas chambers were showers. Treblinka could kill around 17,000 people a day.
These horrors are not evident at Treblinka today. We visited a small museum and then walked through the woods to the site of the atrocities. It was a clear and peaceful day. In the main clearing, about 17,000 stones, roughly cut and unsculpted, stand above Treblinka’s mass graves. At the location of the camp’s gas chambers, a large stone column has been erected. The column is capped by a scuplture representing human forms in torment. Above these tangled shapes, two hands open downwards in blessing.
We had a short discussion next to this monument. Many of us were surprised by Treblinka. Maybe we had imagined a visually arresting place with horrors on full display. We decided that Treblinka created a special and important space within which we could consider the atrocities of the Shoah without being unproductively overwhelmed by shock, sadness or disgust. As the site of a successful genocide, Treblinka demands to be remembered and hallowed, but, with its simple yet profound memorials and disarming natural beauty, it does so on human terms.
-Steven Kochevar (US Fellow)
