Last week’s blog entry spoke of research completed to discover the concentration camp in which Composer Ara Sevanian had been interred. Called the Lublin/Majdanek concentration camp, it was also a death camp. Below, in bold italics are aspects of the camp that matched Mr. Sevanian’s experience. Links reference the research entries:
“Only a strand of wire separated us,” from Kanon.
The Majdanek concentration camp is located in an entirely open area with no ten-foot wall around it to hide the activities inside the camp, as at Dachau. There was no security zone established around the Majdanek camp, as at Birkenau, and there is no natural protection, such as a river or a forest, as at Treblinka. Besides being bounded on the north by a busy main road, the camp was bounded on the south by two small villages named Abramowic and Dziesiata. People driving past the camp, while it was in operation, had a completely unobstructed view . . . from a busy street.
“The last camp . . . housed thousands and thousands of prisoners. Many were from other countries. The Germans had built adjacent camps for Ukrainians, for Italians, and for other nationalities.”from Kanon
Minority contingents included Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Austrians, Slovenes, Italians, and French and Dutch nationals.
“I was close enough to overhear one say to the other, “Who’ll take the first shot?” The man’s eyes fixed on the strolling prisoner.
The second guard snickered and chided, “Yes, who will take the first shot?”
Pop! The prisoner crumpled to the ground. “Bravo!” A handshake and slap on the back sealed the pact. I ran. I had to get out of there—bad things like that all the time.” from Kanon
Conditions in the camp during the bitterly cold winter of 1941-1942 were lethal; the SS routinely shot prisoners too weak to work either on the edge of the camp grounds or in the Krepiecki Forest north of Lublin.
“Sometimes the Germans marched us Russian detainees to the French camp. It seemed a long way off, and when we got there, the guards asked us to clean the French barracks. In exchange, the French were told to share part of their Red Cross relief packs with us. Unlike prisoners from other countries, we Russians couldn’t get food and clothing through the International Red Cross . . . (because, Stalin) . . . work for the French prisoners; it kept us alive a little longer.” from Kanon
All the prisoners at Majdanek were allowed to receive Red Cross packages, as well as packages from Polish civilians who organized to provide aid. The Museum guidebook (which) shows the official Thank You postcard provided by the Nazis for the prisoners to send in acknowledgment.
“In the morning lots of big trucks came bringing more Jewish families, men, women, and children.” from Kanon
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, there was no railroad spur line to bring the new prisoners directly into the Majdanek camp . . .the prisoners destined for Majdanek were transported the rest of the way to the camp in trucks.
“When it was all over, the Germans bulldozed dirt over the spot. I stared and stared at that pit in the following days. A couple of weeks later a mist covered the area. The soil looked like it was moving. It was so eerie. Maybe it was the gas from decomposition. The whole thing—I don’t understand. How can anybody do that? This is not human.” from Kanon
On November 3, 1943, in Operation "Erntefest" (Harvest Festival), special SS and police units dispatched to Lublin specifically for that purpose shot 18,000 Jews just outside the camp. At least 8,000 of the victims were Majdanek prisoners; the remaining 11,000 were forced laborers from other camps or prisons in Lublin city. During the operation, music was played throughout the camp over loudspeakers to drown out the sounds of mass murder. This massacre at Majdanek on November 3, 1943, was, in the number of victims, the largest single-day, single-location killing during the Holocaust.
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