Concentration Camps: Manya Perel's Role In The Holocaust
Tara Stockage
Mrs Kester
Senior Project
March 15, 2013
Research Paper
Concentration Camps The years 1939-1942 marked the expansion of the concentration camps system. The concentration camps took in Jew prisoners for economic profit. The concentration camps also became sites for the mass murder of small targeted groups by the Nazi authorities. The concentration camps were a major role in the Holocaust, changing the lives of every Jew, leaving a horrible memory for those who did survive the concentration camps. The first concentration camp was camp Chelmno. Camp Chelmno was known for being an extermination camp which was a typical death camp. Any Jew that was brought to this camp was authorized to die with no questions asked. There were …show more content…
only a small group that would be but they were later chosen by the German authorities. Chelmno’s extermination camp was surrounded by a high wooden fence. Chelmno was a very secretive extermination camp. “Those who were brought here for destruction were convinced till the very last moment that they were to be employed on fortification work in the Easy. They were told that, before going further, they would have a bath, and that their clothes would be disinfected.” (Zamosc, 2). The Holocaust victims were tricked by the Germans. Therefore adding, “Immediately after their arrival at the camp they were taken to the large hall of the house, where they were told to undress, and then they were driven along a corridor to the front door, where a large lorry also known as a wagon , made up as a gas-chamber, was standing.” (Zamosc, 2) This was the point that the Jews thought they were going to be bathing and cleaning up themselves. Instead, “When the wagon was full, the door was locked, the engine started, and carbon monoxide was introduced into the interior through a specially constructed exhaust pipe.” (Zamosc, 2)The Jews were trapped in this wagon as long as forty-five minutes. Furthermore, “When the cries and struggles of the suffocating victims were heard no more, the wagon was driven to the wood, which was enclosed with a high fence and surround with outposts. Here the bodies were unloaded and buried, and afterwards burnt in one of the clearings” (Zamosc, 2). At Chelmno concentration camp the Jews were put to labor work. Jews were treated like dirt at this camp. Several Jews died from starvation and extremely poor conditions. More than 300,000 Jews were murdered at the camp of Chelmno. The Auschwitz camp was one of the worst concentration camps in Holocaust history. Auschwitz was made of three main camps that were known to put enslaved prisoners to work. Auschwitz was to serve three main purposes:
“1.) To incarcerate real and perceived enemies of the Nazi regime and the German occupation authorities in Poland for an indefinite period of time; 2.) to have available a supply of forced labourers for deployment in SS-owned, construction-related enterprises (and, later, armaments and other war0related production); and 3.) to serves as a site to physically eliminate small, targeted groups of the of the populations whose death was determined by the SS and police authorities to be essential to the security of Nazi Germany” (U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2). ).
Later through the years, Nazis started using the poisonous gas method. When Jews were forced to work, the hours consisted from eleven to twelve hour work days. “They worked on huge farms, coal mines, in stone quarries, in fisheries, and especially in armaments industries” (U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2). Jewish prisoners were registered and tattooed so Germans could keep track of each of them. A total of 1.2 million Jews were killed during the captive time of Auschwitz. ( Dwork,6). Auschwitz will always be seen as a place that shall be remembered throughout history. Lives were taken but the memories shall prevail. Another concentration camp was Belzec, which was also an extermination camp. This camp was carefully hidden from the outside world. “The outer fence was camouflaged with tree branches. During the later reorganisation of the camp, the space between the two fences was filled with rolls of barbed wire. On the eastern side, another barrier erected on a steep slope by fixing the tree trunks of wooden planks” (The Belzec Death Camp, 1). Eventually, a line of trees were planted to cover any other appearances of the existing camp. At first Jews were killed in cells which were filled with diesel fumes, however in August 1942, Zyklon-B, the quick-acting hydrogen cyanide gas, was first demonstrated at Belzec. The camp was closed in the spring of 1943 and all traces of The Belzec Death Camp were demolished. After the Jews died, the Germans searched every single body. “Each corpse was searched for valuables and any gold teeth removed before the bodies were lowered in the pits” (The Belzec Death Camp, 3). Such horrible things happened to Jews at this camp. Between March and December of 1942, Belzec served as a German extermination center, at which between 550,000 and 600,000 Jews were killed. (Yitzhak, 17) The Belzec Camp changed the life of many Jews and other people that were part of the camp. The Belzec Death Camp left survivors with the remembrance of a tragedy that could never be forgotten.
Camp Sobibor was established March 1942. Like previous camps, Sobibor was also an extermination camp. Sobibor was also secretly guarded by barbed fence. “The site measured roughly 1,300 by 2,000 feet, surrounded by a triple line of barbed wire fencing and guarded by watchtowers. It was sub-divided into a reception area and three camps” (Sobibor Poland, 1). Jews were forced to leave all belongings such as luggage and clothing. Jews were naked when they reached the gas chambers, and were taken to an isolated part of the camp that was covered by tree branches intertwined with the barbed wire. The chambers at Camp Sobibor, could hold up to 160-180 people.
“Carbon monozide generated by a diesel engine mounted outside was piped into the gas chambers. The corpses were removed from a second door and buried in huge, specially excavated pits. Carts, and later trolleys on a small rail track, were used to carry deportees who were infirm to walk to burial pits where they were shot so not to delay the killing process” (Sobibor Poland, 2).
The Nazi German’s wanted to get the killing over and done with. All traces of this camp were demolished and disguised as a farm. A total of 250,000 Jews were exterminated. In November 1941, Camp Treblinka was established. Both Jews and Polish inmates were imprisoned at Treblinka. The imprisoners of Camp Treblinka were deployed at forced labor, which majority took place in a gravel pit. Like previous camps before, this camp was hidden from outsiders with barbed-wire fence and trees. The camp consisted of three areas: the reception area, the living area, and the killing area. The living area was to house the German staff and the guards. “It also contained barracks that housed those Jewish prisoners selected from incoming transports to provide forced labor to support the camp’s function: mass murder” (HMM, 1). In the killing area, Jews were forced to run naked along the path leading to the gas chambers, which were labeled as showers. “Once the chamber doors were sealed, an engine installed outside the building pumped carbon monoxide into the gas chambers, killing those inside” (HMM, 2). Mass graves were used to bury the bodies of the Jews from the gas chambers. Later, Jews were forced to dig up the already buried bodies and dispose of the bodies by burning them in huge trenches in “ovens” that were made of rail track. At Camp Treblinka, the Jews were forced with hard labor that resulted in many sick Jews. The imprisoners who became sick were told that they would be able to see a doctor to be cured. The Nazis disguised themselves as the Red Cross, and shot the poor Jews. This camp was a camp of death that resulted in between 870,000 to 925,000 deaths of Jews. The last and final camp was Stutthof. Stutthof was covered with electrified barbed-wire fence. Conditions of the camp were brutal; Jews were beaten and had to give up all their possessions as they entered the gates. This camp was like a boot camp, each Jew had their own barrack to sleep in and they had to perform labor in the mornings. Jews were also forced to march to the Baltic Sea coast where they were machine gunned down. The surviving Jews were forced to march back to Stutthof. “Marching in severe winter conditions and treated brutally by SS guards, thousands died during the march.” (Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1) Jews had to experience long work days, with a little or no break. Some Jews had the privilege to work inside from the brutal weather conditions. However, Jews were not fed that much, under 1000 calories a day. Thousands of Jews died from this. Jews experienced horrible conditions, leaving only three thousand of the Jews to survive amongst the millions that were killed. There are few survivors from these concentration camps. It is a shame that human beings had to go through such torture. There are so many unanswered questions still to this day. How can the Nazi armies live with themselves for killing so many innocent people? Due from these concentration camps, survivors today will tell their tragedies that had happened to them so other people can relive the story too. Manya Perel was a Holocaust survivor that now changes the life of many individual through her inspiring story.
Manya Frydman Perel was born in 1924 in Radom, Poland, one of ten children. Manya attended a public school as teenager and she always had the hope to go to college. However these plans were demolished in September 1939 when the Nazi army marched into the city and removed homes and businesses, and eventually confined all the Jewish people.
Manya Perel was imprisoned in a ramdom ghetto in April 1941 and then later then deported to several concentration and death camps including Ravensbrück, Plaszow, Rechlin, Gundelsdorf, and Auschwitz. She completed hard labor and nearly starved to death. Mayna on some days only ate a crumb of bread a day. Despite the horrible living conditions, scarce food rations and the constant threat of the gas chambers and death, Manya risked her life to save others. Her bravery, in the face of such hardship, is an inspiration to others.
In 1945, Manya and a friend Hannah escaped a death march from Auschwitz by running off into a dark forest at night and on May 5 the Russians liberated them. In July 1945 she was taken to a displaced-persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany where she was reunited with the remaining members of her family. She recovered here and waited for her turn to leave Europe and immigrate to North
America.
Later, she married and moved from Montreal, Canada, to Philadelphia and raised a family and is now a proud grandmother. Her family has promised to take over her task and carry on her story from generation to generation. She says, “I hope that my life will be an example for others not to take life for granted, not to be prejudiced toward others, and to respect one another. After all, we only have one life to live.”
Works Cited
Arad, Yitzhak. Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: the Operation Reinhard death camps. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. Print.
"Auschwitz." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189>.
"Belzec Death Camp www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/belzec.html>.
"Belzec Extermination Camp (Poland)." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.jewishgen.org/forgottenCamps/Camps/BelzecEng.html>.
Dwork, Deborah, and R. J. van Pelt. Auschwitz. Norton pbk. ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002. Print.
Gumkowski, Janusz, Adam Rutkowski, and Warsaw Monuments. Treblinka. Warszawa: Council for Protection of Fight and Martyrdom Monuments, 1961. Print.
Lawton, Clive. Auschwitz. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.
Perel, Manya, Nora Levin, and Michael Steinlauf. Holocaust testimony of Manya Perel, nee Frydman: transcript of audiotaped interview : historical comments by Michael Steinlauf. Melrose Park, PA: Gratz College, 1996. Print.
"Sobibor Extermination Camp (Poland)." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.jewishgen.org/forgottencamps/camps/sobiboreng.html>.
Zamosc, Leon. "Chelmno Extermination Camp." Chelmno. (Gabin, Poland, Jewish Genealogy), n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <weber.used.edu/-lzamosc/gchelmno.html>.
Mrs Kester
Senior Project
March 15, 2013
Research Paper
Concentration Camps The years 1939-1942 marked the expansion of the concentration camps system. The concentration camps took in Jew prisoners for economic profit. The concentration camps also became sites for the mass murder of small targeted groups by the Nazi authorities. The concentration camps were a major role in the Holocaust, changing the lives of every Jew, leaving a horrible memory for those who did survive the concentration camps. The first concentration camp was camp Chelmno. Camp Chelmno was known for being an extermination camp which was a typical death camp. Any Jew that was brought to this camp was authorized to die with no questions asked. There were …show more content…
only a small group that would be but they were later chosen by the German authorities. Chelmno’s extermination camp was surrounded by a high wooden fence. Chelmno was a very secretive extermination camp. “Those who were brought here for destruction were convinced till the very last moment that they were to be employed on fortification work in the Easy. They were told that, before going further, they would have a bath, and that their clothes would be disinfected.” (Zamosc, 2). The Holocaust victims were tricked by the Germans. Therefore adding, “Immediately after their arrival at the camp they were taken to the large hall of the house, where they were told to undress, and then they were driven along a corridor to the front door, where a large lorry also known as a wagon , made up as a gas-chamber, was standing.” (Zamosc, 2) This was the point that the Jews thought they were going to be bathing and cleaning up themselves. Instead, “When the wagon was full, the door was locked, the engine started, and carbon monoxide was introduced into the interior through a specially constructed exhaust pipe.” (Zamosc, 2)The Jews were trapped in this wagon as long as forty-five minutes. Furthermore, “When the cries and struggles of the suffocating victims were heard no more, the wagon was driven to the wood, which was enclosed with a high fence and surround with outposts. Here the bodies were unloaded and buried, and afterwards burnt in one of the clearings” (Zamosc, 2). At Chelmno concentration camp the Jews were put to labor work. Jews were treated like dirt at this camp. Several Jews died from starvation and extremely poor conditions. More than 300,000 Jews were murdered at the camp of Chelmno. The Auschwitz camp was one of the worst concentration camps in Holocaust history. Auschwitz was made of three main camps that were known to put enslaved prisoners to work. Auschwitz was to serve three main purposes:
“1.) To incarcerate real and perceived enemies of the Nazi regime and the German occupation authorities in Poland for an indefinite period of time; 2.) to have available a supply of forced labourers for deployment in SS-owned, construction-related enterprises (and, later, armaments and other war0related production); and 3.) to serves as a site to physically eliminate small, targeted groups of the of the populations whose death was determined by the SS and police authorities to be essential to the security of Nazi Germany” (U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2). ).
Later through the years, Nazis started using the poisonous gas method. When Jews were forced to work, the hours consisted from eleven to twelve hour work days. “They worked on huge farms, coal mines, in stone quarries, in fisheries, and especially in armaments industries” (U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2). Jewish prisoners were registered and tattooed so Germans could keep track of each of them. A total of 1.2 million Jews were killed during the captive time of Auschwitz. ( Dwork,6). Auschwitz will always be seen as a place that shall be remembered throughout history. Lives were taken but the memories shall prevail. Another concentration camp was Belzec, which was also an extermination camp. This camp was carefully hidden from the outside world. “The outer fence was camouflaged with tree branches. During the later reorganisation of the camp, the space between the two fences was filled with rolls of barbed wire. On the eastern side, another barrier erected on a steep slope by fixing the tree trunks of wooden planks” (The Belzec Death Camp, 1). Eventually, a line of trees were planted to cover any other appearances of the existing camp. At first Jews were killed in cells which were filled with diesel fumes, however in August 1942, Zyklon-B, the quick-acting hydrogen cyanide gas, was first demonstrated at Belzec. The camp was closed in the spring of 1943 and all traces of The Belzec Death Camp were demolished. After the Jews died, the Germans searched every single body. “Each corpse was searched for valuables and any gold teeth removed before the bodies were lowered in the pits” (The Belzec Death Camp, 3). Such horrible things happened to Jews at this camp. Between March and December of 1942, Belzec served as a German extermination center, at which between 550,000 and 600,000 Jews were killed. (Yitzhak, 17) The Belzec Camp changed the life of many Jews and other people that were part of the camp. The Belzec Death Camp left survivors with the remembrance of a tragedy that could never be forgotten.
Camp Sobibor was established March 1942. Like previous camps, Sobibor was also an extermination camp. Sobibor was also secretly guarded by barbed fence. “The site measured roughly 1,300 by 2,000 feet, surrounded by a triple line of barbed wire fencing and guarded by watchtowers. It was sub-divided into a reception area and three camps” (Sobibor Poland, 1). Jews were forced to leave all belongings such as luggage and clothing. Jews were naked when they reached the gas chambers, and were taken to an isolated part of the camp that was covered by tree branches intertwined with the barbed wire. The chambers at Camp Sobibor, could hold up to 160-180 people.
“Carbon monozide generated by a diesel engine mounted outside was piped into the gas chambers. The corpses were removed from a second door and buried in huge, specially excavated pits. Carts, and later trolleys on a small rail track, were used to carry deportees who were infirm to walk to burial pits where they were shot so not to delay the killing process” (Sobibor Poland, 2).
The Nazi German’s wanted to get the killing over and done with. All traces of this camp were demolished and disguised as a farm. A total of 250,000 Jews were exterminated. In November 1941, Camp Treblinka was established. Both Jews and Polish inmates were imprisoned at Treblinka. The imprisoners of Camp Treblinka were deployed at forced labor, which majority took place in a gravel pit. Like previous camps before, this camp was hidden from outsiders with barbed-wire fence and trees. The camp consisted of three areas: the reception area, the living area, and the killing area. The living area was to house the German staff and the guards. “It also contained barracks that housed those Jewish prisoners selected from incoming transports to provide forced labor to support the camp’s function: mass murder” (HMM, 1). In the killing area, Jews were forced to run naked along the path leading to the gas chambers, which were labeled as showers. “Once the chamber doors were sealed, an engine installed outside the building pumped carbon monoxide into the gas chambers, killing those inside” (HMM, 2). Mass graves were used to bury the bodies of the Jews from the gas chambers. Later, Jews were forced to dig up the already buried bodies and dispose of the bodies by burning them in huge trenches in “ovens” that were made of rail track. At Camp Treblinka, the Jews were forced with hard labor that resulted in many sick Jews. The imprisoners who became sick were told that they would be able to see a doctor to be cured. The Nazis disguised themselves as the Red Cross, and shot the poor Jews. This camp was a camp of death that resulted in between 870,000 to 925,000 deaths of Jews. The last and final camp was Stutthof. Stutthof was covered with electrified barbed-wire fence. Conditions of the camp were brutal; Jews were beaten and had to give up all their possessions as they entered the gates. This camp was like a boot camp, each Jew had their own barrack to sleep in and they had to perform labor in the mornings. Jews were also forced to march to the Baltic Sea coast where they were machine gunned down. The surviving Jews were forced to march back to Stutthof. “Marching in severe winter conditions and treated brutally by SS guards, thousands died during the march.” (Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1) Jews had to experience long work days, with a little or no break. Some Jews had the privilege to work inside from the brutal weather conditions. However, Jews were not fed that much, under 1000 calories a day. Thousands of Jews died from this. Jews experienced horrible conditions, leaving only three thousand of the Jews to survive amongst the millions that were killed. There are few survivors from these concentration camps. It is a shame that human beings had to go through such torture. There are so many unanswered questions still to this day. How can the Nazi armies live with themselves for killing so many innocent people? Due from these concentration camps, survivors today will tell their tragedies that had happened to them so other people can relive the story too. Manya Perel was a Holocaust survivor that now changes the life of many individual through her inspiring story.
Manya Frydman Perel was born in 1924 in Radom, Poland, one of ten children. Manya attended a public school as teenager and she always had the hope to go to college. However these plans were demolished in September 1939 when the Nazi army marched into the city and removed homes and businesses, and eventually confined all the Jewish people.
Manya Perel was imprisoned in a ramdom ghetto in April 1941 and then later then deported to several concentration and death camps including Ravensbrück, Plaszow, Rechlin, Gundelsdorf, and Auschwitz. She completed hard labor and nearly starved to death. Mayna on some days only ate a crumb of bread a day. Despite the horrible living conditions, scarce food rations and the constant threat of the gas chambers and death, Manya risked her life to save others. Her bravery, in the face of such hardship, is an inspiration to others.
In 1945, Manya and a friend Hannah escaped a death march from Auschwitz by running off into a dark forest at night and on May 5 the Russians liberated them. In July 1945 she was taken to a displaced-persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany where she was reunited with the remaining members of her family. She recovered here and waited for her turn to leave Europe and immigrate to North
America.
Later, she married and moved from Montreal, Canada, to Philadelphia and raised a family and is now a proud grandmother. Her family has promised to take over her task and carry on her story from generation to generation. She says, “I hope that my life will be an example for others not to take life for granted, not to be prejudiced toward others, and to respect one another. After all, we only have one life to live.”
Works Cited
Arad, Yitzhak. Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: the Operation Reinhard death camps. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. Print.
"Auschwitz." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189>.
"Belzec Death Camp www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/belzec.html>.
"Belzec Extermination Camp (Poland)." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.jewishgen.org/forgottenCamps/Camps/BelzecEng.html>.
Dwork, Deborah, and R. J. van Pelt. Auschwitz. Norton pbk. ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002. Print.
Gumkowski, Janusz, Adam Rutkowski, and Warsaw Monuments. Treblinka. Warszawa: Council for Protection of Fight and Martyrdom Monuments, 1961. Print.
Lawton, Clive. Auschwitz. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.
Perel, Manya, Nora Levin, and Michael Steinlauf. Holocaust testimony of Manya Perel, nee Frydman: transcript of audiotaped interview : historical comments by Michael Steinlauf. Melrose Park, PA: Gratz College, 1996. Print.
"Sobibor Extermination Camp (Poland)." JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.jewishgen.org/forgottencamps/camps/sobiboreng.html>.
Zamosc, Leon. "Chelmno Extermination Camp." Chelmno. (Gabin, Poland, Jewish Genealogy), n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <weber.used.edu/-lzamosc/gchelmno.html>.