The Conclusion to Aktion Reinhard
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Panorama of Belzec after the camp was dismantled (circa 1944)Heinrich Himmler the Reichsfuhrer –SS visited Lublin in March 1943 and toured the death camps of Sobibor and Treblinka, it became clear that the Aktion Reinhard death camps had fulfilled their gruesome task, and that virtually all of the Jews in the General Gouvernment had been exterminated.
The SS were determined to erase all traces of their crimes, and Himmler ordered all the corpses to be exhumed and cremated. In addition the camp structures were to be destroyed the area ploughed over, and trees to be planted.
The first camp to be dismantled and closed was Belzec, with transports ceasing in mid –December 1942, thereafter cremations became the main focus of activity.
SS-Oberscharfuhrer Heinrich Gley made a statement on the 6 February 1962 about the cremations in Belzec:
“I was assigned with a big Jewish work brigade to the cremation of the corpses by means of railway lines which served as a grate. About 80 -90 Jews then worked under my supervision in three shifts.
The cremation site was as long as a rail and about 4-5 m wide. The rails were placed on top of big rocks and narrow-gauge rails served as a cross-mesh.
The cremation surface could take about 200 corpses. First, a wood fire was kindled under the iron grate. During the course of the cremation operation the corpses later served as the only fuel.
From time to time the badly twisted rails had to be replaced by new ones.”
<-Gisela Gdula, On the right Michael Tregenza, Belzec investigator (circa 2002)
Gisela Gdula a Belzec villager interviewed in 2004 said:
“We used to take round loaves to the camp from our bakery, we saw pyres like a volcano - the villagers had to scrape human fat off the windows.”
Another of the Belzec SS garrison SS-Scharfuhrer Werner Dubois testified:
“The transports to Belzec and consequently the gassing operations, stopped quite suddenly. As staff members of the Belzec camp, we were informed that the place would be rebuilt completely.
A working group of Jews whose size I don’t remember was in charge of the demolition work. It is worth mention that at the time (March – April 1943) the cremation of the corpses was terminated and the graves levelled.
The camp was emptied entirely and levelled accordingly. I heard that some planting was done there. The Jewish work commando, after accomplishing this work, was taken to Sobibor.
I remained in Belzec for two more days, together with some of my colleagues and guards, to carry out the last clearing and loading. Some time later when I was in Sobibor, I heard that during the transport of the Jewish work commando from Belzec to Sobibor some mutiny and shooting took place which led to some deaths.”
After the camp buildings were dismantled and the German and Ukrainian staff had left people from the neighbouring villages and townships started digging in the area of the camp, searching for gold and valuables. A Pole Edward Luczynski, who lived in Belzec, testified:
“After levelling and cleaning the area of the extermination camp, the Germans planted the area with small pines and left. At that moment, the whole area was plucked to pieces by the neighbouring population, who were searching for gold and valuables.
That’s why the whole surface of the camp was covered with human bones, hair ashes from cremated corpses, dentures, pots and other objects.”
In order to safeguard the site from the above kind of activity, the Aktion Reinhard organisers decided to build a farm on the former death camp site. A farm was built for a Ukrainian guard who would live there with his family.
This precautionary measure was later adopted also in Treblinka and Sobibor. Globocnik wrote about this to Himmler:
Russian photo from Treblinka (circa 1944) 
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“For reasons of surveillance, in each camp a small farm was created which is occupied by a guard. An income must regularly be paid to him so that he can maintain a small farm.”
The next camp to be liquidated was Treblinka. The last transports came from the Bialystok designated Pj 207 and Pj 208 (Pj – Polish Jews) which arrived in Treblinka death camp on 18 and 19 August respectively.
Due to the revolt and the partially destroyed facilities, only ten freight cars loaded with Jews could be unloaded on the ramp, a fifty percent reduction compared with the pre-revolt situation.
After the completion of this extermination action, in recognition of Globocnik’s work, Globocnik was appointed to the post of Higher SS and Police Leader for the Trieste area in north eastern Italy.
Globocnik left Lublin in September 1943 and took with him to Italy over the next few months a group of SS men and Ukrainians who had been under his command in Aktion Reinhard, including key personalities such as Wirth, Stangl, Reichleitner, Hering and Franz.
Read more here: http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/arconclusion.html
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/
Copyright Carmelo Lisciotto 2009 H.E.A.R.T
