Editing Treblinka extermination camp (section)

===Treblinka II===
[[File:Treblinka Memorial 05.jpg|thumb|left|Memorial at Treblinka II, with 17,000 quarry stones symbolising [[gravestones]].<ref name="MWiMT" /> [[Inscription]]s indicate places of [[Holocaust train]] departures, which carried at least 5,000 victims each, and selected ghettos from across Poland.]]
Treblinka II (officially the ''SS-Sonderkommando Treblinka'') was divided into three parts: Camp 1 was the administrative compound where the guards lived, Camp 2 was the receiving area where incoming transports of prisoners were offloaded, and Camp 3 was the location of the gas chambers.{{efn|The order was reversed by Yankel (Jankiel) Wiernik in his book ''A Year in Treblinka'' (1945); he named the receiving area of Treblinka II as Camp 1, and the gassing zone (where he worked) as Camp 2.{{sfn|Wiernik|1945|loc=chapt. 10}}}} All three parts were built by two groups of German Jews recently expelled from Berlin and [[Hanover]] and imprisoned at the Warsaw Ghetto (a total of 238 men from 17 to 35 years of age).{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=77|loc=chapt. 3:1}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ghettos/acdiary.html |title=Adam Czerniakow and His Diary |publisher=Holocaust Research Project |access-date=17 April 2017 |archive-date=31 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831110136/http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ghettos/acdiary.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' [[Richard Thomalla]], the head of construction, brought in German Jews because they could speak German. Construction began on 10 April 1942,{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=77|loc=chapt. 3:1}} when Bełżec and Sobibór were already in operation.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=289}} The entire death camp, which was either {{cvt|17|ha}}{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=77|loc=chapt. 3:1}} or {{cvt|13.5|ha}} in size (sources vary),<ref name="Sokołów-Treblinka II">{{cite book |url=http://www.sokolow.4web.pl/treblinka.htm |title=Treblinka II |date=18 May 2006 |publisher=Biblioteka Regionalna Sokołowskiego Towarzystwa Społeczno-Kulturalnego |isbn=83-906213-1-2 |editor1=Władysław Piecyk |editor2=Wanda Wierzchowska }}</ref> was surrounded by two rows of barbed-wire fencing {{cvt|2.5|m}} high. This fence was later woven with pine tree branches to obstruct the view of the camp from outside.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=78|loc=section 2}} More Jews were brought in from surrounding settlements to work on the new railway ramp within the Camp 2 receiving area, which was ready by June 1942.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=77|loc=chapt. 3:1}}

The first section of Treblinka II (Camp 1) was the ''Wohnlager'' administrative and residential compound; it had a telephone line. The main road within the camp was paved and named ''Seidel Straße''{{efn|The ''ß'', called ''Eszett'' or ''scharfes s'' ("sharp s") in German, is roughly equivalent to ''ss''.}} after ''[[Unterscharführer]]'' Kurt Seidel, the SS corporal who supervised its construction. A few side roads were lined with gravel. The main gate for road traffic was erected on the north side.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|pp=79–80}} [[Barracks]] were built with supplies delivered from Warsaw, Sokołów Podlaski, and [[Kosów Lacki]]. There were a kitchen, a bakery, and dining rooms; all were equipped with high-quality items taken from Jewish ghettos.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=77|loc=chapt. 3:1}} The Germans and Ukrainians each had their own sleeping quarters, positioned at an angle for better control of all entrances. There were also two barracks behind an inner fence for the Jewish work commandos, known as ''[[Sonderkommandos]]''. ''SS-Untersturmführer'' Kurt Franz set up a small [[zoo]] in the centre next to his horse stables, containing two foxes, two peacocks and a [[roe deer]] (introduced in 1943).{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|pp=79–80}} Smaller rooms were built as laundry, [[tailor]]s, and [[shoemaker|cobbler]]s, and for woodworking and medical aid. Closest to the SS quarters were separate barracks for the Polish and Ukrainian women who served, cleaned, and worked in the kitchen.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|pp=79–80}}

[[File:Treblinka II aerial photo (1944).jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|The 1944 aerial photo of ''Treblinka II'' after efforts at "clean-up", or disguising its role as a death camp. The new farmhouse and livestock building are visible to the lower left.<ref name="ARC 2005">{{Citation |author=National Archives |url=http://www.deathcamps.org/treblinka/maps.html |title=Aerial Photos |publisher=Washington, D.C. |year=2014 |quote=Made available at the Mapping Treblinka webpage by ARC. |access-date=12 August 2013 |archive-date=9 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709165334/http://www.deathcamps.org/treblinka/maps.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The photograph is overlaid with outlines of already-dismantled structures (marked in red/orange). On the left are the SS and ''Hiwi'' (Trawniki) guards' living quarters (1), with barracks defined by the surrounding walkways. At the bottom (2) are the railway ramp and unloading platform (centre), marked with the red arrow. The "road to heaven"{{sfn|Smith|2010}} is marked with a dashed line. The undressing barracks for men and women, surrounded by a solid fence with no view of the outside, are marked with two rectangles. The location of the new, big gas chambers (3) is marked with a large X. The burial pits, dug with a [[crawler excavator]], are marked in light yellow.]]
[[File:2 Nota 8.jpg|thumb|Page 7 <!-- page # is visible on page -->from "[[Raczyński's Note]]" with Treblinka, Bełżec and Sobibór extermination camps identified- Part of the official note of the [[Polish government-in-exile]] to [[Anthony Eden]], 10 December 1942.]]
The next section of Treblinka II (Camp 2, also called the lower camp or ''Auffanglager''), was the receiving area where the railway unloading ramp extended from the Treblinka line into the camp.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=80|loc=section 3}}<ref name="Yeger" /> There was a long and narrow platform surrounded by barbed-wire fencing.{{sfn |Webb|Chocholatý|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mV0ZBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 28–29]}} A new building, erected on the platform, was disguised as a railway station complete with a wooden clock and fake rail terminal signs. SS-''[[Scharführer]]'' [[Josef Hirtreiter]], who worked on the unloading ramp was known for being especially cruel; he grabbed crying toddlers by their feet and smashed their heads against wagons.{{sfn|Levy|2002|p=342}} Behind a second fence, about {{cvt|100|m}} from the track, there were two large barracks used for undressing, with a cashier's booth where money and jewelry were collected, ostensibly for safekeeping.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=100}} Jews who resisted were taken away or beaten to death by the guards. The area where the women and children were shorn of their hair was on the other side of the path from the men. All buildings in the lower camp, including the barber barracks, contained the piled up clothing and belongings of the prisoners.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=100}} Behind the station building, further to the right, there was a Sorting Square where all baggage was first collected by the ''Lumpenkommando''. It was flanked by a fake infirmary called "Lazarett", with the [[Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]] sign on it. It was a small barracks surrounded by barbed wire, where the sick, old, wounded and "difficult" prisoners were taken.{{sfn |Webb|2014|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mV0ZBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 pp. 23–24]}} Directly behind the "Lazarett" shack, there was an open excavation pit seven metres (23&nbsp;ft) deep. These prisoners were led to the edge of the pit{{sfn|Klee|1988|p=246}} and shot one at a time by ''[[Blockführer]]'' [[Willi Mentz]], nicknamed "Frankenstein" by the inmates.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=100}} Mentz single-handedly killed thousands of Jews,<ref name="ARC">{{cite web |url=http://www.deathcamps.org/treblinka/perpetrators.html |title=The Treblinka Perpetrators |publisher=Aktion Reinhard Camps ARC |work=An overview of the German and Austrian SS and Police Staff |date=23 September 2006 |access-date=1 November 2013 |quote=''Sources:'' Arad, Donat, Glazar, Klee, Sereny, Willenberg et al. |archive-date=5 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805232207/http://www.deathcamps.org/treblinka/perpetrators.html |url-status=live }}</ref> aided by his supervisor, [[August Miete]], who was called the "Angel of Death" by the prisoners.{{sfn|Arad|1987|pp=122, 194}} The pit was also used to burn old worn-out clothes and identity papers deposited by new arrivals at the undressing area.<ref name="Yeger">{{Citation |author=Ministry of State Security of Ukraine |url=http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/y/yeger-aleksandr-ivanovich/yeger-002.html |title=Testimony of Aleksandr Yeger |publisher=The Nizkor Project |date=2 April 1948 |quote=Excerpt from report of interrogation |access-date=22 August 2013 |archive-date=20 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920032253/http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/y/yeger-aleksandr-ivanovich/yeger-002.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=100}}

The third section of Treblinka II (Camp 3, also called the upper camp) was the main killing zone, with gas chambers at its centre.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=82}} It was completely screened from the railway tracks by an earth bank built with the help of a mechanical digger. This mound was elongated in shape, similar to a retaining wall, and can be seen in [[Treblinka#Organization of the camp|a sketch]] produced during the 1970 trial of Treblinka II commandant [[Franz Stangl]]. On the other sides, the zone was camouflaged from new arrivals like the rest of the camp, using tree branches woven into barbed wire fences by the ''Tarnungskommando'' (the work detail led out to collect them).{{sfn |Webb|Lisciotto|2007}}{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=89}} From the undressing barracks, a fenced-off path led through the forested area to the gas chambers.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=82}} The SS cynically called it ''die Himmelstraße'' ("the road to heaven"){{sfn|Smith|2010}} or ''der Schlauch'' ("the tube").{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=83}} For the first eight months of the camp's operation, the excavator was used to dig burial ditches on both sides of the gas chambers; these ditches were {{cvt|50|m}} long, {{cvt|25|m}} wide, and {{cvt|10|m}} deep.{{sfn |Webb|Lisciotto|2007}} In early 1943, they were replaced with cremation [[pyre]]s up to {{cvt|30|m}} long, with rails laid across the pits on concrete blocks. The 300 prisoners who operated the upper camp lived in separate barracks behind the gas chambers.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=84}}