85 Treblinka (Holocaust: Reinhard)
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This article is from the Holocaust FAQ, by Ken McVay kmcvay@nizkor.org with numerous contributions by others.
85 Treblinka (Holocaust: Reinhard)
The most accurate figures available regarding the numbers killed at
the Treblinka camp are found in the judgements (URTEILSBEGRUNDUNG)
from the first and second Treblinka trials, held in Dusseldorf in
1965 and 1970:
Passed on September 3, 1965 in the trial of Kurt Franz and nine
others at the court of Assizes in Dusseldorf (First Treblinka
Trial) (AZ-LG Dusseldorf: II 931638, p. 49 ff.), and the trial
of Franz Stangl at the court of Assizes at Dusseldorf (Second
Treblinka Trial) on December 22, 1970 (pp. 111 ff.,AZ-LG
Dusseldorf, XI-148/69 S.)
Number of Persons Killed at the Treblinka Extermination Camp:
-------------------------------------------------------------
At least 700,000 persons, predominantly Jews, but also a number
of Gypsies, were killed at the Treblinka extermination camp.
These findings are based on the expert opinion submitted to the
Court of Assizes by Dr. Helmut Krausnick, director of the
Institute for Contemporary History (Institute fuer
Zeitgeschichte) in Munich. In formulating his opinion, Dr.
Krausnick consulted all the German and foreign archival
material accessible to him and customarily studied in historical
research. Among the documents he examined were the following:
(1) The so-called Stroop report, a report by SS Brigadefuhrer
[Brigadier] Jurgen Stroop, dealing with the destruction of the
Warsaw ghetto. This report consists of three parts: namely, an
introduction, a compilation of daily reports and a collection of
photographs.
(2) The record of the trial of the major war criminals before
the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg.
(3) The official transportation documents (train schedules,
telegrams, and train inventories) relevant to the transports to
Treblinka.
The latter documents, of which only a part were recovered after
the war, were the subject of the trial and were made available
to Dr. Krausnick by the Court of Assizes.
Dr. Krausnick's report includes the following information:
According to the Stroop report a total of approximately 310,000
Jews were transported in freight trains from the Warsaw ghetto
to Treblinka during the period from July 22, 1942 to October 3,
1942. Approximately another 19,000 Jews made the same journey
during the period from January, 1943 to the middle of May, 1943.
During the period from August 21, 1942 to August 23, 1943,
additional transports of Jews arrived at the Treblinka
extermination camp, likewise by freight train, from other Polish
cities, including Kielce, Miedzyrec, Lukow, Wloszczowa,
Sedzizzow, Czestochowa, Szydlowiec, Lochow, Kozienice,
Bialystok, Tomaszow, Grodno and Radom. Other Jews, who lived in
the vicinity of Treblinka, arrived at Treblinka in horse-drawn
wagons and in trucks, as did Gypsies, including some from
countries other than Poland. In addition, Jews from Germany and
from other European countries, including Austria,
Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Greece were transported
to Treblinka, predominantly in passenger trains.
It has not been possible, of course, to establish the exact
number of people transported to Treblinka in this fashion,
because only a part of the transportation documents,
particularly those relevant to the railroad transports, are
available. Still, assuming that each of the trains consisted of
an average of 60 cars, with each freight car holding an average
total of 100 persons and each passenger car an average total of
50 (i.e., that each freight train might have carried an
approximate total of 6,000, and each passenger train an
approximate total of 3,000 Jews to Treblinka) the total number
of people transported to Treblinka in freight trains and
passenger trains might be estimated at approximately 271,000.
This total would not include the 329,000 from Warsaw. Actually,
however, these figures in many instances were much larger than
the ones cited above. Besides, many additional thousands of
Jews - and also Gypsies - arrived in Treblinka in horse-drawn
wagons and on trucks. Accordingly, it must be assumed that
the total number of Jews from Warsaw, from other parts of
Poland, from Germany and from other European countries, who were
taken to Treblinka, plus the total of at least 1,000 Gypsies who
shared the same fate, amounted to far more than 700,000, even if
one considers that several thousands of people were subsequently
moved from Treblinka to other camps and that several hundred
inmates succeeded in escaping from the camp, especially during
the revolt of August 2, 1943. In view of the foregoing, it
would be scientifically admissible to estimate the total number
of persons killed in Treblinka at a minimum of 700,000.
The court of Assizes sees no reason to question the opinion of
this expert, who is known in the scholarly world for his studies
on the National Socialist persecution of the Jews. The expert
opinion he has submitted is detailed, thorough and, therefore,
convincing.
In the fall of 1969 another expert, Dr. Scheffler, submitted
for the second Treblinka trial an opinion which was based on
more recent research, estimating the total number of victims at
about 900,000.
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