Mapping Treblinka

In order to give an idea of the size, layout and operation of the death camp, several maps over the years have been compiled. These were mainly based on the evidence as remembered by some survivors, but also according to evidence of some of the perpetrators. Although these maps do correspond in the main aspects of the camp, there are discrepancies regarding shape and minor details of features.

What makes the death camp so unique in comparison with concentration/death camps like Auschwitz in this aspect is the fact that there was an attempt to by the Nazis to cover the existence of the camp and its functions as the Russians were advancing. The fencing was dismantled, the mass graves filled in, earth mounds were levelled, the extermination and sorting yard were ploughed over, and Lupins were planted to cover the telltale scarring of the ground. Also most of the structures that remained standing after the revolt were dismantled or utilised as a decoy in order to make the area appear as an ordinary farm.

Therefore little remained when the Polish Commission Into War Crimes in Poland investigated the area in 1945 with some camp survivors. Accordingly a survey map was drawn up (see insert) which still reflects much of the perimeter of the area as it found on the actual site today.
Apart from three other survivors who produced a map seemingly based on this survey map of the area, showing some camp features, most other maps disregarded the actual trapezoid shape of the camp. Therefore we have an array of maps, which are oblong or slightly trapezoid, which outer shape effects the placing, and size of the features inside the camp. At first glance some look radically different, while in other maps only smaller details are different.

These discrepancies are due, not so much to erroneous recall by witnesses, but mostly for the following reasons:

1. According to witnesses' reports, it was impossible to see from one section of the camp to another, since most of the fences were camouflaged thereby obscuring the view.
2. In addition the camp was purposely situated on a slight hillock inside the remains of a forest area (for camouflage and deception reasons) making it impossible for interns to determine whether the camp was square, rectangle or trapezoid (it was in fact an irregular trapezoid).
3. The camp went through different stages of layout and construction, features were added and fencing changed.
4. Except a few inmates, most were restricted to their section of the camp. Therefore some maps as drawn by the witnesses, probably without much input from other sources, are incomplete, especially in the death camp section.
5. Aerial photographic evidence (1943-44), which shows the camp after its eradication, only came to light in around 1990 with the advent of opening up of East German archives.
6. The most important fact was that the Nazis obliterated the camp. Although they did work according to a trail and error method of which Treblinka was the most perfected of their death camp efforts, there was in all probability not an "official" Nazi map drawn up of the camp by the Aktion Reinhard death camps "architect" SS-Hauptsturmführer Richard Thomalla. If so, it would in any case have been destroyed as with most other evidence. However the fact that both the camp commandant and his deputy have sworn to the accuracy of maps as brought against them in court speaks volumes.

A new map was therefore drawn taking into account the combined evidence of the Wiernik model, all available Treblinka death camp maps, a topographical map of the area, the aerial photos and witness accounts. Other maps and evidence may still come to light, but these would probably only affect smaller detail in the proposing of a reconstruction of a new Treblinka map.

Below are some maps of which features were used in the redrawn of a proposed new Treblinka map. Various other maps of the camp were also consulted not to mention all the witness reports.

To make a comparison between all camp structures easier, most of the maps are turned so that the railway is at the bottom. The north - south direction is usually apparent by the north arrow.