Chelmno Concentration Camp Holocaust

The Chelmno concentration camp was used as an extermination camp during the Holocaust. It was known by the Germans as Kulmhof concentration camp. This camp operated in two periods during the war; from December 8th, 1941 to March 1943, and from June 1944 to January 18th, 1945. The first period was open during the most deadly phase of the Holocaust known as Aktion Reinhard and the second period was open during the Soviet counteroffensive. This camp was specifically built to exterminate Polish Jews who came from the Lodz Ghetto. In between these periods, when the camp was not in use, modifications to the killing centers were made because the main portions of the camp were taken down in 1943 (Chelmno). The prosecution in the Chelmno trials
It also consisted of a large forest clearing about 2.5 miles from Chelmno. These sites were known as Schlosslager (manor-house camp) and the Waldlager (forest camp). Within the estate was a large brick house known as “the palace”. Its rooms were used as reception offices, as well as rooms for the victims to undress and give up their possessions. The grounds, including the forest area, which was used for burial sites, were fenced off from the rest of the world. The extermination camp contained three sections: an administration section, barracks and storage for taken goods, and a burial and cremation section
SS Officers and police brought Jewish and Romany populations to the camp first to be exterminated. Approximately 3,830 Jews and 4,000 Gypsies were murdered by gas before February of 1942. The victims were taken from all over Kolo County to Powiercie by train. Being forced with whips, the victims were marched to Zawadki, where they were locked up overnight; they were refused of food and water. The next morning, the victims were taken on lorries to their deaths at Chelmno. At Chelmno, the victims were put into the gas vans and killed by the exhaust of the vans (the pipes were altered to release the fumes in the back of the vas) while on their way to the burial sites in the forest. Around six to nine van loads a day were used for the killings. The drivers of these vans used gas masks in order to prevent inhaling the fumes. In 1942, a secretary of the local Polish council and his wife were arrested because he wrote a letter exposing what was going on in these camps. This letter was intercepted by the SS-Sonderkommando and the secretary was executed three days later. What was occurring inside this extermination camp was a secret to the public. The SS Officers and police could not chance the public finding out, in fear of what might happen. The public could be angered by what is occurring in their town and revolt. This was carefully avoided by the officers of Chelmno (Chelmno Death