The Extermination Camp, Treblinka: An Overview

The Extermination Camp in Treblinka was built in the spring of 1942 near an existing penal labor camp and covered an area of 17 hectares. The camp was surrounded by a high barbed wire fence camouflaged with interwoven greenery to hide what was happening inside. Anti-tank obstacles ("Spanish horses") and rolls of barbed wire were placed outside the fence. Watch towers were additionally positioned around the camp. The staff consisted of 25-30 Germans and Austrians who supervised …

…attempt to escape. Many were killed by machine-gun fire. More than 300 did escape, most only to be captured and killed by German police and troops. Most of the camp was burned down by the prisoners in the uprising. The surviving prisoners were forced to remove all remaining traces of the camp's existence. They too were then shot. The Germans ordered the dismantling of Treblinka in the fall of 1943. Between 700,000 and 850,000 people had been killed there.