The Liquidation of the Camps
The Treblinka Revolt in Polish Sources
The idea of the uprising, its organization and implementation were
entirely the fruit of prisoner initiative. No assistance nor
encouragement whatsoever was received from the outside. In a number
of Polish sources, which appeared for the first time in 1969, mention
is made of a plan by the Armia Krajowa (Fatherland Army) to attack
Treblinka and free its prisoners. According to what is written, this
was in coordination with the Jewish underground in the camp. It is
also stated in these publications that on August 2 the camp was in
fact attacked from the outside. (Ibid., pp. 96-99; Tedyslaw
Razmowski, "Akcja Treblinki," 'Dzieje Najnowsze', Vol. I, 1969,, pp.
167-172) It should, however, be noted that these accounts are filled
with imprecisions, contradictions and a lack of clarity and confused
information about the labor and penal camp -- Treblinka 1, where most
of the prisoners were Poles -- and about the Treblinka annihilation
camp. It is more reasonable to suppose that the Armia Krajowa's
planned attack had to do with Treblinka 1. In not a single testimony
by survivors of Treblinka is there any mention of a link with the
Polish underground or with any other underground outside the camp, or
any hint whatever of assistance received from outside. Nor is Polish
assistance in the revolt mentioned in the reports of the Polish
underground written during the war and dealing with the Jews'
uprising in Treblinka. The same holds for the German sources, and
for the two Treblinka trials, where no Polish attack on Treblinka is
mentioned. It is certain that had such an attack occurred it would
have aroused responses on a wide front, including reprisal measures,
and would have appeared in the German reports. It thus can be stated
with absolute certainty that the Polish underground did not extend
any aid whatever to the revolt in Treblinka. The Polish underground
did not attack German camps in which Polish prisoners were held in
detention, even though ihose Poles were themselves members of the
underground. Moreover, it is known that the Armia Krajowa was not
distinguished by its sympathy for the Jews, and it is difficult to
suppose that its forces would have carried out an offensive operation
against a camp within which, with the exception of some 2,000
Gypsies, only Jews were imprisoned and annihilated. Furthermore,
survivors of Treblinka tell of many instances in which Armia Krajowa
people conspired against them after their escape from the camp. (For
testimonies of escapees from the camp who were given a hostile
reception by the surrounding population, see Abram Krzepicki,
"Relacje dwoch zbiegow z Treblinki II," BZIH, No. 40, 1961, pp.
78-88. Sereny, op. cit., pp. 244-245; testimony of Goldfarb, op
cit., pp. 28-29)
Infuence of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on the Treblinka Uprising
The idea of an uprising and the formation of the underground in
Treblinka occurred before the Warsaw ghetto uprising. In the
testimonies of Treblinka survivors, we find conflicting views on the
effect information about the Warsaw ghetto uprising and its outcome
had on the prisoners and members of the underground in Treblinka. On
the one hand is the claim that word of the Jewish fighting lifted
morale and fostered a fighting spirit in Treblinka. On the other
hand, the view has been put forward that the remnants of Warsaw Jewry
who were brought to Treblinka had given up on the possibility of
rescue by means of revolt or escape; this discouraged the prisoners
in Treblinka and cast a cloud of pessimism over the camp.
(Wilenberg, op. cit., pp. 52-53; Kon, op. cit., p. 536; testimony
of Strawczynski, op. cit., p. 50)
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Liquidation of the Camp
After the uprising, on August 18 and 19, 1943, another two transports
slated for extermination arrived in Treblinka, bringing Jews from
Bialystok. Shortly afterward the Germans destroyed the gas chambers
and the other installations that remained after the revolt, and with
that put an end to the camp. While the liquidation of the camp was
no doubt in accord with a plan that predated the uprising, its timing
was probably moved up in wake of the revolt. On October 20 most of
the remaining Jewish prisoners were transferred to Sobibor, where
they were killed. Another 25-30 prisoners remained in Treblinka and
were shot there a few days later. In order to cover up the crime, a
farm-house was built on the site of the camp, trees were planted, and
a Ukrainian peasant was employed to guard the deserted place.
(Sereny, op. cit., pp. 249-250; Franciszck Zabecki, 'Rozbicie obozu
w Treblince', Warsaw, 1977, pp. 94-95)