KL Majdanek (KL Lublin), German concentration camp, Lublin, Poland
Part 2 of 3: Functioning and Daily Life

Majdanek was both a concentration camp and an extermination camp, where approximately 130,000 to 150,000 people from over 30 countries were imprisoned, including Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and other nationalities.

In October 1942, a separate camp for women and children was established. Conditions were inhuman: prisoners lived in overcrowded barracks, received minimal food rations, were forced into hard labor, and were brutally treated by the SS staff. Epidemics, hunger, disease, and exhaustion caused immense mortality. Majdanek differed from other extermination camps in that it was also a center for forced labor.

On November 3, 1943, during the “Erntefest” (Harvest Festival) operation, a mass execution of approximately 18,000 Jews was carried out, representing the largest single massacre of its kind committed by the Germans in concentration camps.

#majdanek #lublin #kllublin #klmajdanek #german #germany #concentrationcamp #deathcamp #exterminationcamp #germandeathcamp #germanexterminationcamp #nazigermany #worldwar2 #war #ww2 #wwii #polska #poland #extermination #jews #germans #nazis #history #historia #nazism #nazizm #bw #blackandwhite #blackandwhite #monochrome #holocaust

Winnipegger honours dad who was among survivors shown in famous concentration camp photo
It wasn't until he was in his 20s that Rob Berkowits learned his father was in one of the most famous photos of a concentration camp in the Second World War.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/holocaust-remembrance-day-9.7161891?cmp=rss

Winnipegger honours dad who was among survivors shown in famous concentration camp photo
It wasn't until he was in his 20s that Rob Berkowits learned his father was in one of the most famous photos of a concentration camp in the Second World War.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/holocaust-remembrance-day-9.7161891?cmp=rss

Winnipegger honours dad who was among survivors shown in famous concentration camp photo
It wasn't until he was in his 20s that Rob Berkowits learned his father was in one of the most famous photos of a concentration camp in the Second World War.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/holocaust-remembrance-day-9.7161891?cmp=rss

KL Majdanek (KL Lublin), German concentration camp, Lublin, Poland
Part 1 of 3: Establishment and Beginnings of the Camp

The city of Lublin was occupied by the Wehrmacht in 1939. During the German occupation, it became a place of intense Germanization and repressive policies.

The Majdanek concentration camp (officially KL Lublin) was established by the decision of Heinrich Himmler (the Supreme Commander of the SS) during his visit to Lublin in July 1941. Construction of the camp began in the autumn of 1941, with command given to Odilo Globocnik, the SS and Police Leader in the Lublin district. Majdanek was intended to be a forced labor camp for 25,000 to 50,000 prisoners, employed in the expansion of the Third Reich and local SS projects. The construction plan was repeatedly expanded; ultimately, in March 1942, a plan for a camp capable of holding up to 150,000 prisoners and captives was approved, which would make it the largest camp in occupied Europe. The first prisoners were mainly Soviet POWs who arrived in cattle cars under harsh conditions, without food or water, causing enormous mortality from the very beginning of the camp’s operation.

#Majdanek #KLLublin #KLMajdanek #german #germany #concentrationcamp #deathcamp #exterminationcamp #germandeathcamp #germanexterminationcamp #nazigermany #worldwar2 #war #ww2 #polska #poland #extermination #jews #germans #nazis #history #historia #nazism #nazizm #Lublin #pomink #momument

Resistance within #Buchenwald #ConcentrationCamp seized control on #ThisDayInHistory in 1945. They had worked to delay evacuation, which saved many lives as a third of evacuees died soon thereafter. The camp killed almost 57,000 people since 1937. US troops arrived the next day.

#GeorgElser, a labourer in #Nazi Germany, built a bomb with stolen explosives & tried to assassinate #Hitler in a Munich pub in 1939. He was arrested & sent to #Dachau #ConcentrationCamp. He was executed at #Himmler's order on #ThisDayInHistory in 1945, days before the camp fell.