Editing Treblinka extermination camp (section)

==Treblinka prisoner uprising==
[[File:Treblinka uprising (Ząbecki 1943).jpg|thumb|Burning Treblinka II perimeter during the prisoner uprising, 2 August 1943. Barracks were set ablaze, including a tank of petrol which exploded setting fire to the surrounding structures. This clandestine photograph was taken by [[Franciszek Ząbecki]].]]
In early 1943, an underground Jewish resistance organisation was formed at Treblinka with the goal of seizing control of the camp and escaping to freedom.<ref name="remember-me"/> The planned revolt was preceded by a long period of secret preparations. The clandestine unit was first organised by a former Jewish captain of the [[Polish Army]], Dr. [[Julian Chorążycki]], who was described by fellow plotter [[Samuel Rajzman]] as noble and essential to the action.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=99}} His organising committee included Zelomir Bloch (leadership),{{sfn|Cywiński|2013}} [[Rudolf Masarek|Rudolf Masaryk]], Marceli Galewski, Samuel Rajzman,{{sfn|Rajzman|1945|loc=U.S. Congress}} Dr. Irena Lewkowska ("Irka",{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=219}} from the sick bay for the ''[[Trawnikis|Hiwis]]''),<ref name="Maranda-161">{{cite book |url=http://obozyzaglady.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/noz.pdf |trans-title= Nazi Extermination Camps: Description and attempted analysis of the phenomenon|title= Nazistowskie Obozy Zagłady: Opis i próba analizy zjawiska|publisher=[[University of Warsaw]], Instytut Stosowanych Nauk Społecznych |year=2002 |access-date=7 January 2018 |last=Maranda |first=Michał |pages=160–161 |language=pl |oclc=52658491 |via=Internet Archive, direct download |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054709/http://obozyzaglady.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/noz.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Leon Haberman, [[Chaim Sztajer]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=L'Chaim: the exceptional life of Chaim Sztajer |last=Malka |first=Zylbersztajn |publisher=JHC Publishing House |year=2018 |isbn=9780987518866 |location=Elsternwick, Victoria |pages=44–71}}</ref> Hershl (Henry) Sperling from [[Częstochowa]], and several others.<ref name="Treblinka-Defiance">{{cite web |url=http://www.treblinka.bho.pl/index.php?Itemid=48&id=48&option=com_content&task=view |title=Defiance and Uprising |publisher=Muzeum Walki i Męczeństwa w Treblince [Museum of Struggle and Martyrdom at Treblinka] |work=Treblinka II – Opór i powstanie |date=12 May 2008 |access-date=7 January 2018 |last=Kopówka |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Kopówka |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922022111/http://www.treblinka.bho.pl/index.php?Itemid=48&id=48&option=com_content&task=view |archive-date=22 September 2013}}</ref> Chorążycki (who treated the German patients){{sfn|Arad|1987|p=219}} killed himself with poison on 19 April 1943 when faced with imminent capture,{{sfn|Rajzman|1945|loc=U.S. Congress}} so that the Germans could not discover the plot by torturing him.{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=273}} The next leader was another former Polish Army officer, Dr. [[Berek Lajcher]],{{efn|He was remembered by survivors as either "Dr Lecher",{{sfn|Rajzman|1945|loc=U.S. Congress}} or "Dr Leichert".<ref name="remember-me" />}} who arrived on 1 May. Born in Częstochowa, he had practised medicine in [[Wyszków]] and was expelled by the Nazis to [[Wegrów]] in 1939.{{sfn|Weinfeld|2013|p=41}}

The date of the revolt was initially set for 15 June 1943, but it had to be postponed.{{sfn|Wiernik|1945|loc=chapt. 11}} A fighter smuggled a grenade in one of the early May trains carrying captured rebels from the [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]],{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=275}} which had begun on 19 April 1943. When he detonated it in the undressing area, the SS and guards were thrown into a panic.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|pp=107–108}} After the explosion, Treblinka received only about 7,000 Jews from the capital for fear of similar incidents;{{sfn|Young|2007}} the remaining 42,000 Warsaw Jews were deported to [[Majdanek]] instead.<ref name="ushmm-uprising" /> The burning of unearthed corpses continued at full speed until the end of July.<ref name="USHMM-Treblinka" /> The Treblinka II conspirators became increasingly concerned about their future as the amount of work for them began to decline.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=110}} With fewer transports arriving, they realised "they were next in line for the gas chambers."{{sfn|Smith|2010}}{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=292}}

===Day of the revolt and survivors===
The uprising was launched on the hot summer day of 2 August 1943 (Monday, a regular day of rest from gassing), when a group of Germans and 40 Ukrainians drove off to the [[Bug River|River Bug]] to swim.{{sfn|Smith|2010}} The conspirators silently unlocked the door to the arsenal near the train tracks, with a key that had been duplicated earlier.{{sfn|Rajzman|1945|loc=U.S. Congress}} They had stolen 20–25 rifles, 20 hand grenades, and several pistols,{{sfn|Rajzman|1945|loc=U.S. Congress}} and delivered them in a cart to the gravel work detail. At 3:45&nbsp;p.m., 700 Jews launched an insurgency that lasted for 30 minutes.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=110}} They set buildings ablaze, exploded a tank of petrol, and set fire to the surrounding structures. A group of armed Jews attacked the main gate, and others attempted to climb the fence. Machine-gun fire from about 25 Germans and 60 Ukrainian ''Trawnikis'' resulted in near-total slaughter. Lajcher was killed along with most of the insurgents. About 200 Jews{{sfn|Weinfeld|2013|p=43}}{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=110}} escaped from the camp.{{efn|Two hundred is the number accepted by Polish historians and the Treblinka camp museum; the ''Holocaust Encyclopedia'' lists 300, instead.<ref name="USHMM" />}} Half of them were killed after a chase in cars and on horses.{{sfn|Rajzman|1945|loc=U.S. Congress}} The Jews did not cut the phone wires,{{sfn|Smith|2010}} and Stangl called in hundreds of German reinforcements,{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=292}} who arrived from four towns and set up roadblocks along the way.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=110}} Partisans of the ''[[Armia Krajowa]]'' (Polish: Home Army) transported some of the surviving escapees across the river<ref name="Śląski-PAX">{{Cite book |url=http://alija.4me.pl/pdf/Pod_gwiazda_Dawida.pdf |title=VII. Pod Gwiazdą Dawida |trans-title=Under the Star of David |publisher=PAX, Warsaw  |year=1990 |access-date=15 August 2013 |author=Śląski, Jerzy |pages=8–9 |language=pl |isbn=83-01-04946-4 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220216/http://alija.4me.pl/pdf/Pod_gwiazda_Dawida.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> and others like Sperling ran {{cvt|30|km|mi}} and were then [[Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust|helped and fed by Polish villagers]].{{sfn|Smith|2010}} Of those who broke through, around 70 are known to have survived until the end of the war,<ref name="BBC-Easton">{{Citation |last=Easton |first=Adam |date=4 August 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23557979 |title=Treblinka survivor recalls suffering and resistance |publisher=BBC News, Treblinka, Poland |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=13 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113010418/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23557979 |url-status=live }}</ref> including the future authors of published Treblinka memoirs: [[Richard Glazar]], [[Chil Rajchman]], [[Jankiel Wiernik]], and [[Samuel Willenberg]].<ref name="remember-me">{{cite web |url=http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/treblinka/treblinkarememberme.html |title=Alphabetical Listing of [better known] Treblinka Survivors and Victims |publisher=Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team H.E.A.R.T |year=2010 |access-date=30 August 2013 |author=Archer, Noah S. |display-authors=etal |archive-date=19 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019021234/http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/treblinka/treblinkarememberme.html |url-status=live }} ''Also in:'' {{cite book |url=http://www.treblinka.bho.pl/index.php?Itemid=48&id=48&option=com_content&task=view |title=The list of Treblinka survivors, with expert commentary in Polish |year=1979 |publisher=Muzeum Walki i Męczeństwa w Treblince |id=''Source of data:'' [[Alexander Donat|Donat]] (1979), ''The death camp Treblinka.'' New York, pp. 279–291. |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922022111/http://www.treblinka.bho.pl/index.php?Itemid=48&id=48&option=com_content&task=view |archive-date=22 September 2013 |isbn=0896040097 }}</ref>

[[File:Samuel Willenberg Treblinka 2 sierpnia 2013 01b.JPG|thumb|Survivor [[Samuel Willenberg]] presenting his drawings of Treblinka II in the Museum of Struggle and Martyrdom at the site of the camp. On the right, the "Lazarett" killing station.]]

Among the Jewish prisoners who escaped after setting fire to the camp, there were two 19-year-olds, Samuel Willenberg and [[Kalman Taigman]], who had both arrived in 1942 and had been forced to work there under the threat of death. Taigman died in 2012{{efn|With Taigman's death {{Circa|27 July 2012|lk=yes}},<ref name="Erec-Kalman">{{cite web |url=http://izrael.org.il/news/2538.html |title=Kalman Taigman, ocalały z Treblinki, nie żyje |trans-title=Kalman Taigman, survivor of Treblinka died |publisher=Erec Israel |work=Translation from Hebrew, Maariv Daily, 8 August 2012 |date=13 August 2012 |access-date=30 March 2014 |author=MAARIV |language=pl |archive-date=20 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020032653/http://izrael.org.il/news/2538.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Willenberg became the last survivor.<ref name="BBC-Easton"/>}} and Willenberg in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35623492 |title=Last Treblinka death camp survivor Samuel Willenberg dies |date=20 February 2016 |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=7 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307222947/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35623492 |url-status=live }}</ref> Taigman stated of his experience, "It was hell, absolutely hell. A normal man cannot imagine how a living person could have lived through it – killers, natural-born killers, who without a trace of remorse just murdered every little thing."<ref name="2 survivors remain">{{cite news |title=Only 2 survivors remain from Treblinka |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977660,00.html |access-date=23 April 2013 |newspaper=Israel Jewish Scene |date=11 February 2010 |archive-date=15 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715182221/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977660,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Willenberg and Taigman emigrated to Israel after the war and devoted their last years to retelling the story of Treblinka.{{efn|There was also a revolt at Sobibór two months later,<ref name="interviews">{{cite web |title=Preparation – Sobibor Interviews |url=http://www.sobiborinterviews.nl/en/the-revolt/preparation |publisher=[[NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies]] |year=2009 |author=NIOD |access-date=3 September 2013 |archive-date=1 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501004248/https://www.sobiborinterviews.nl/en/the-revolt/preparation |url-status=live }}</ref> and at [[Auschwitz-Birkenau]] on 7 October 1944.<ref name="Vanderwerff"/>}}<ref name="2 survivors remain" /><ref name="Inquisitr-Treblinka">{{cite news |title=When God Went On Holiday: The BBC Tells The Story Of Treblinka |page=When God Went On Holiday: The BBC Tells The Story Of Treblinka |url=http://www.inquisitr.com/301237/when-god-went-on-holiday-the-bbc-tells-the-story-of-treblinka/ |access-date=15 May 2014 |work=The Inquisitr News |date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=17 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517120850/http://www.inquisitr.com/301237/when-god-went-on-holiday-the-bbc-tells-the-story-of-treblinka/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Escapees Hershl Sperling and Richard Glazar both suffered from [[survivor guilt]] syndrome and eventually killed themselves.{{sfn|Smith|2010}} Chaim Sztajer, who was 34 at the time of the uprising, had survived 11 months as a ''Sonderkommando'' in Treblinka II and was instrumental in the coordination of the uprising between the two camps.<ref name=":0" /> Following his escape in the uprising, Sztajer survived for over a year in the forest before the liberation of Poland. Following the war, he migrated to Israel and then to [[Melbourne|Melbourne, Australia]] where later in life he constructed from memory a model of Treblinka which is currently displayed at the [[Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre|Jewish Holocaust Centre]] in Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jhc.org.au/news-and-events/news-from-the-jhc/item/133-a-labour-of-love.html |title=Jewish Holocaust Centre – A Labour of Love |website=www.jhc.org.au |date=22 May 2010 |access-date=2018-10-19 |archive-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019122135/http://www.jhc.org.au/news-and-events/news-from-the-jhc/item/133-a-labour-of-love.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===After the uprising===
After the revolt, Stangl met the head of Operation Reinhard, Odilo Globocnik, and inspector [[Christian Wirth]] in Lublin, and decided not to draft a report, as no native Germans had died putting down the revolt.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=111}} Stangl wanted to rebuild the camp, but Globocnik told him it would be closed down shortly and Stangl would be transferred to [[Trieste]] to help fight the partisans there. The Nazi high command may have felt that Stangl, Globocnik, Wirth, and other Reinhard personnel knew too much and wanted to dispose of them by sending them to the [[Front line|front]].{{sfn|Levy|2002|pp=741–742}} With almost all the Jews from the German ghettos (established in Poland) murdered, there would have been little point in rebuilding the facility.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=293}} [[Auschwitz]] had enough capacity to fulfil the Nazis' remaining extermination needs, rendering Treblinka redundant.{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=640}}

The camp's new commandant [[Kurt Franz]], formerly its deputy commandant, took over in August. After the war he testified that gassings had stopped by then.{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=247}} In reality, despite the extensive damage to the camp, the gas chambers were intact, and the murder of Polish Jews continued. Speed was reduced, with only ten wagons rolled onto the ramp at a time, while the others had to wait.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=112}} The last two rail transports of Jews were brought to the camp for gassing from the [[Białystok Ghetto]] on 18 and 19 August 1943.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=28}} They consisted of 76 wagons (37 the first day and 39 the second), according to a communiqué published by the Office of Information of the ''Armia Krajowa'', based on observation of Holocaust trains passing through the village of Treblinka.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=112}}{{sfn|Sereny|2013|p=249}} The 39 wagons that came to Treblinka on 19 August 1943 were carrying at least 7,600 survivors of the [[Białystok Ghetto Uprising]].{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=111}}

On 19 October 1943, Operation Reinhard was terminated by a letter from Odilo Globocnik. The following day, a large group of Jewish ''Arbeitskommandos'' who had worked on dismantling the camp structures over the previous few weeks were loaded onto the train and transported, via [[Siedlce]] and [[Chełm]], to [[Sobibor extermination camp|Sobibór]] to be gassed on 20 October 1943.<ref name="ARC - Treblinka History" /> Franz followed Globocnik and Stangl to Trieste in November. Clean-up operations continued over the winter. As part of these operations, Jews from the surviving work detail dismantled the gas chambers brick-by-brick and used them to erect a farmhouse on the site of the camp's former bakery. Globocnik confirmed its purpose as a secret guard post for a Nazi-Ukrainian agent to remain behind the scenes, in a letter he sent to Himmler from Trieste on 5 January 1944.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=112}} A ''Hiwi'' guard called Oswald Strebel, a Ukrainian ''Volksdeutscher'' (ethnic German), was given permission to bring his family from Ukraine for "reasons of surveillance", wrote Globocnik; Strebel had worked as a guard at Treblinka II.{{sfn|Sereny|2013|p=249}} He was instructed to tell visitors that he had been farming there for decades, but the local Poles were well aware of the existence of the camp.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=294}}