Editing Treblinka extermination camp (section)

===Cremation pits===
[[File:Treblinka Cremation Pit 2.jpg|thumb|Stone memorial resembling one of the original cremation pits where the bodies were burned. It is a flat grave marker constructed of crushed and cemented black basalt symbolising burnt charcoal. The actual human ashes were mixed with sand and spread over an area of {{cvt|2.2|ha}}.{{sfn|Cywiński|2013}}]]

The Germans became aware of the political danger associated with the mass burial of corpses in April 1943 after they discovered the graves of Polish victims of the 1940 [[Katyn massacre]] carried out by the Soviets near Smolensk. The bodies of the 10,000 Polish officers executed by the [[NKVD]] were well preserved despite their long burial.<ref name="Zawodny-77">{{cite book |title=Death in the Forest: The Story of the Katyn Forest Massacre |first=Janusz K. |last=Zawodny |author-link=Janusz K. Zawodny |year=1962 |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |oclc=59791617 |pages=15, 77 |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27886543 |access-date=19 March 2017 |archive-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605002045/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27886543 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Germans formed the [[Katyn Commission]] to prove that the Soviets were solely responsible, and used radio broadcast and newsfilm to alert the Allies to this war crime.<ref name="ipn_eng_katyn">{{cite press release |url=http://www.ipn.gov.pl/portal/en/2/77/Decision_to_commence_investigation_into_Katyn_Massacre.html |title=Decision to commence investigation into Katyn Massacre |first=Małgorzata |last=Kużniar-Plota |date=30 November 2004 |publisher=Departmental Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation }}</ref> Subsequently, the Nazi leadership, concerned about covering up their own crimes, issued the secret orders to exhume the corpses buried at death camps and burn them. The cremations began shortly after Himmler's visit to the camp in late February or early March 1943.{{sfn|Arad|1987|pp=300–301}}

To incinerate bodies, large cremation pits were constructed at Camp 3 within Treblinka II.{{efn |according to court judgement of the 1st Treblinka trial in Düsseldorf,<ref name="nizkor.org"/> in the case main proceedings the number of cremation pyres could not be established exactly.}} The burning pyres were used to cremate the new corpses along with the old ones, which had to be dug up as they had been buried during the first six months of the camp's operation. Built under the instructions of [[Herbert Floss|Herbert Floß]], the camp's cremation expert, the pits consisted of railroad rails laid as grates on blocks of concrete. The bodies were placed on rails over wood, splashed with petrol, and burned. It was a harrowing sight, according to Jankiel Wiernik, with the bellies of pregnant women exploding from boiling [[amniotic fluid]].{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|pp=104–105}}{{sfn|Wiernik|1945|p=13}} He wrote that "the heat radiating from the pits was maddening."{{sfn|Wiernik|1945|p=13}} The bodies burned for five hours, without the ashing of bones. The pyres operated 24 hours a day. Once the system had been perfected, 10,000–12,000 bodies at a time could be incinerated.{{sfn|Wiernik|1945}}{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|pp=104–105}}

The open air burn pits were located east of the new gas chambers and refuelled from 4&nbsp;a.m.{{sfn|Wiernik|1945|loc=chapt. 13}} (or after 5&nbsp;a.m. depending on work-load) to 6&nbsp;p.m. in roughly 5-hour intervals.{{sfn|Kopówka|Rytel-Andrianik|2011|p=91}} The current camp memorial includes a flat grave marker resembling one of them. It is constructed from melted basalt and has a concrete foundation. It is a symbolic grave,<ref name="Rescue">{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |title=The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War |year=1987 |publisher=Henry Holt |isbn=0-8050-0348-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/holocausthistory0000gilb}}</ref> as the Nazis spread the actual human ashes, mixed with sand, over an area of {{cvt|2.2|ha}}.{{sfn|Cywiński|2013}}