Editing Treblinka extermination camp (section)

===Irmfried Eberl===
[[File:Irmfried Eberl.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Irmfried Eberl]], the first commandant of Treblinka II, removed because of his alleged incompetence in running the camp]]
SS-''Obersturmführer'' [[Irmfried Eberl]] was appointed the camp's first commandant on 11 July 1942. He was a [[psychiatrist]] from [[Bernburg Euthanasia Centre]] and the only physician-in-chief to command an extermination camp during World War II.{{sfn|Friedländer|2009|p=432}} According to some, his poor organisational skills caused the operation of Treblinka to turn disastrous; others point out that the number of transports that were coming in reflected the Nazi high command's wildly unrealistic expectations of Treblinka's ability to "process" these prisoners.{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=87}} The early gassing machinery frequently broke down due to overuse, forcing the SS to shoot Jews assembled for suffocation. The workers did not have enough time to bury them, and the [[mass grave]]s were overflowing.<ref name="USHMM" /> According to the testimony of his colleague ''Unterscharführer'' [[Hans Hingst]], Eberl's ego and thirst for power exceeded his ability: "So many transports arrived that the disembarkation and gassing of the people could no longer be handled."{{sfn|Friedländer|2009|p=432}}{{sfn|Arad|1987|p=87}} On incoming Holocaust trains to Treblinka, many of the Jews locked inside correctly guessed what was going to happen to them.<ref name="Chrostowski" /> The odour of decaying corpses could be smelled up to {{cvt|10|km|mi|abbr=off}} away.{{sfn|Rees|2005|loc=BBC}}

Oskar Berger, a Jewish eyewitness, one of about 100 people who escaped during the 1943 uprising, told of the camp's state when he arrived there in August 1942:

{{blockquote|When we were unloaded, we noticed a paralysing view – all over the place there were hundreds of human bodies. Piles of packages, clothes, suitcases, everything in a mess. German and Ukrainian SS-men stood at the corners of the barracks and were shooting blindly into the crowd.<ref name="Chrostowski">{{Citation |last=Chrostowski |first=Witold |year=2004 |title=Extermination Camp Treblinka |publisher=Vallentine Mitchell |location=London |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzdnAAAAMAAJ&q=Berger |id=Google Books search inside |access-date=11 September 2013 |isbn=0-85303-456-7 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813121921/https://books.google.com/books?id=hzdnAAAAMAAJ&q=Berger |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

When Globocnik made a surprise visit to Treblinka on 26 August 1942 with Christian Wirth and Wirth's adjutant from Bełżec, [[Josef Oberhauser]], Eberl was dismissed on the spot.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=291}} Among the reasons for dismissal were: incompetently disposing of the tens of thousands of dead bodies, using inefficient methods of murder, and not properly concealing the mass-murder. Eberl was transferred to Berlin, closer to operational headquarters in [[Hitler's Chancellery]],<ref name="Eberl" /> where the main architect of the Holocaust, Heinrich Himmler, had just stepped up the pace of the programme.{{sfn|Rees|2005|loc=BBC}}{{sfn|Sereny|2013|p=98}} Globocnik assigned Wirth to remain in Treblinka temporarily to help clean up the camp.<ref name="Eberl" /> On 28 August 1942, Globocnik suspended deportations. He chose Franz Stangl, who had been the commandant of the Sobibór extermination camp, to assume command of the camp as Eberl's successor. Stangl had a reputation as a competent administrator with a good understanding of the project's objectives, and Globocnik trusted that he would be capable of resuming control.<ref name="Eberl">{{cite web |url=http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/treblinka/camprestructure.html |title=The Removal of Dr Eberl and the Re-Organisation of the Camp – August 1942 |publisher=H.E.A.R.T Holocaust Research Project.org |work=Treblinka Death Camp |year=2009 |access-date=1 November 2013 |author1=Webb, Chris |author2=Smart, Victor |quote=''Source:'' Arad, Donat, Sereny et al. |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207070451/http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/treblinka/camprestructure.html |url-status=live }}</ref>