George Pfeffer survived the Majdanek concentration camp, located near Lubin in southeast Poland. In this extract from his memoirs, he recalls the camp’s daily routine, including the regular persecution and torture of Jewish inmates.
According to the #USHMM: The SS killed tens of thousands of Jews at Majdanek. Most of them arrived in Majdanek as forced laborers and either died due to the brutally inhumane living conditions or were killed in the gas chambers after the Germans determined that they could no longer work. Majdanek’s gas chambers were also used to kill prisoners from other camps in Lublin, such as the Lipowa Street camp in Lublin, who were no longer able to work. Some Jewish victims were killed in the gas chambers upon arrival, though presently available documentation does not permit estimates. Many, however, were killed in shooting operations. Many others died of disease, starvation, exposure and overwork.
The SS evacuated most prisoners to concentration camps further west during the spring of 1944. In late July 1944, as Soviet forces approached Lublin, the remaining camp staff hastily abandoned Majdanek, without fully dismantling the camp. Soviet troops first arrived at Majdanek during the night of July 22–23 and captured Lublin on July 24. Captured virtually intact, #Majdanek was the first major concentration camp to be liberated.
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