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Like
Auschwitz, Majdanek was both a labor camp and an extermination
center. Situated on the southern perimeter of the historic Polish
city of Lublin, Majdanek was the only killing center in the
General Government that was not devoted primarily to the murder
of Jews. Though thousands of Jews died there, it was, primarily,
a place for Soviet soldiers who had surrendered or been captured.
Majdanek was equipped with a number of small gas chambers, but
many of the approximately 350,000 who were killed died of starvation,
disease, or were shot. A particularly deadly day for the Jews
occurred in November 1943. In reprisal for resistance actions
in the ghettos and attempted escapes from Sobibor and Treblinka,
the Nazis decided to expedite the murder of Jews in the Lublin
district. In Aktion Erntefest (Operation Harvest Festival) around
40,000 Jews were shot on November 3, nearly half of them at
Majdanek. Today the Majdanek camp is noteworthy for its many
extant structures, its imposing main monument, and its proximity
to the outskirts of Lublin.
The pictures below were taken on June 13, 2000. |
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The gigantic main monument, which
stands long a main road into Lublin. |
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| One of Majdanek's
several gas chambers. As at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Zyklon B was used
here. |
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Watchtower, with Lublin
clearly visible in the background. |
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