Polish Fortnightly Review: Belzec

“Extraordinary Report from the Jew-extermination Camp at Belzec.

July 10th, 1942.





According to information from a German employed at the extermination

camp, it is situated in Belzec, by the station, and is barred off by barriers

of barbed wire. Inside the wire, and all round the outside, Ukrainians

are on guard. The executions are carried out in the following fashion:

When a trainload of Jews arrives at the station in Belzec, it is shunted by a

side track up to the wire surrounding the place of execution, at which point

there is a change in the engine crew and train guards. From the wire onward

the train is serviced by German drivers who take it to the unloading

point, where the track ends. After unloading, the men go to a barracks on

the right, the women to a barracks situated on the left, where they strip, ostensibly

in readiness for a bath. After they have undressed both groups go

to a third barracks where there is an electrified plate, where the executions

are carried out. Then the bodies are taken by train to a trench situated outside

the wire, and some thirty metres deep. This trench was dug by Jews,

who were all executed afterwards. The Ukrainians on guard are also to be

executed when the job is finished. The Ukrainians acting as guards are

loaded with money and stolen valuables; they pay 400 zlotys for a litre of

vodka, 2,000 zlotys and jewellery for relations with a woman.”