shooting them one by one with a rifle. Oddly enough, nobody among that
group of a few hundred men attacked the German to avoid death. The executions
lasted from 7.30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The relatively easiest work in the execution site is the sorting of clothes
of the murdered. It allows one to eat one’s fill, as the “resettled” Jews take
large supplies of food, bread, marmalade, fat, and sugar for the road. But the
boss does not let people work there long and after several days he orders
the workers to be transferred to work as gravediggers.
Shortages in the auxiliary Jewish service are met using the transports
arriving at Treblinka. Normally there arrived two transports every day: one
in the morning and another in the evening, while there are several during
periods of particular intensification of the Aktion. Each train consists of a few
dozen boxcars. Some of the boxcars halt at the siding opposite the arrival
square, while the rest are taken to the side, where they wait until the first
group has been exterminated. The boxcars are emptied quickly. The maltreated
and extremely anxious mass of people sighs with relief when it walks
out onto the arrival square. The auxiliary Jewish service led by kapos takes over
right away. Orders in Yiddish are given to instruct the newcomers about what
they should do. Women and children are immediately ordered to enter a barrack,
while the men remain on the square. Looking around, they see a poster
on a tall pole informing them in large letters: Achtung Warschauer,⁹⁵⁹ even
though large numbers of transports of Jews from many other towns in the
General Government, Germany and Western European countries arrive to
Treblinka. “Do not worry about your fate!” the poster goes on. “Everybody
is going east to work. You will work and your wives will run your households.
But before departure you need to wash yourselves and your clothes
need to be deloused. Valuables and money must be deposited at the local
safe upon receipt. After the shower and the delousing all the property shall
be returned intact”.
During the first period of the murder in Treblinka an SS officer with an
angelic face, which inspired complete trust, used to come to the square and
give a similar speech to those assembled. [28] But when in the course of the
Aktion more transports from various directions began to arrive and a large
959 (Ger.) attention, Varsovians.
