Archive/File: camps/aktion-reinhard/belzec/press/belzec-largely-forgotten Last-Modified: 1998/08/03 Source: http://cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9807/19/poland.camp/ Copyright (c) CNN 1998 Part of Poland's Nazi history under threat July 19, 1998 Web posted at: 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT) BELZEC, Poland (CNN) -- While the names Auschwitz and Birkenau are generally known as infamous Nazi death camps, there are fears that other less well-known sites, such as the former camp at Belzec in southeastern Poland, are becoming forgotten and rotting away into oblivion. At Belzec these days, a simple metal gate with the dates 1942-1943 marks the entrance to what seems little more than an overgrown field. But just over 50 years ago, the site was a death camp where the Nazis first used gas chambers and where at least 600,000 Jews were murdered. Despite its significance, the camp has been left to rot. Archaeologists and historians have been carrying out excavations and research at the site for the past year. They believe Belzec has had less attention than better-known camps because of its remote location next to the Ukrainian border. Belzec was in the middle of nowhere. No one came through Belzec. There were almost no visitors here unless someone had a special reason for coming. And slowly it just became totally forgotten," said Michael Tregenza, an amateur historian. The camp is unprotected by fences, and locals can bicycle across it, damaging what little remains. The only real monument at the camp is a stern Soviet memorial that barely mentions what happened here. However, a few visitors do make the trip to Belzec. "I was shocked by the current condition of the camp, but I also expected it because I know the camp is not well-known. There are more famous camps and the lesser-known ones receive less care. So I was not surprised but still shaken," said Johannes Piskorz, a visitor from Germany. However, there may be hope for a change. Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek said during a visit in Washington this month that a proper memorial would be set up. The Polish government says that avoiding talk of the Holocaust is an unfortunate legacy of communism. "For years in communist Poland you couldn't speak about the truth of what really happened in these camps. There was a different philosophy about how to commemorate such places. It was guided by narrow political interests. Today this has changed. Today we can speak impartially and freely about these matters," a government spokesman said. Those who live in Belzec would welcome a new memorial at the camp. Nearly everyone who lived here during the war was associated with the camp in one way or another. Many were used as forced laborers, like 78-year old Bronislaw Czachur, a carpenter who helped make barracks at the camp. "There should be a memorial to commemorate what happened there. Now, it is in ruins. Nothing is there to remind people what happened," he said. For the time being, the grassy field remains the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of victims of the Holocaust. =30=
Home ·
Site Map ·
What's New? ·
Search
Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and
to combat hatred.
Any statements or excerpts found on this site are for educational purposes only.
As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may
include on this website materials, such as excerpts from the writings of racists and antisemites. Far from approving these writings, Nizkor condemns them and
provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist
and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.