Communique de la Commission extraordinaire Polono-Sovietique chargee d’etablir les forfaits commis par les allemands au camp de destruction de Majdanek, a Lublin – “Report of the Polish-Soviet Committee responsible for establishing the crimes committed by the Germans in the extermination camp Majdanek in Lublin”, published by En langues etrangeres, Moscow, 1944 – First edition. French. The first official report on the crimes of the Nazis in the Majdanek death camp. Rare.
The Polish-Soviet Commission for investigation of Nazi crimes at Majdanek included Vice President of the Polish National Liberation Committee Mr. A. Witos, Dr. Kroshinsky, Dr. Zomersztain member of the Polish National Liberation Committee, President of the Red Cross of Lublin, Prosecutor at the Court of Appeals in Lublin Mr. Balcerzak, President of the District Court in Lublin Szczepański, and others.
“Everything that the commission responsible for establishing the German crimes in the city of Lublin managed to observe leaves far behind the monstrous crimes that were already known to universal public opinion…” . The report details how “the main goal of this camp (Majdanek) was to murder as many men as possible, therefore it was called by the Germans Vernichtungslager, meaning “extermination camp”. The report describes in detail the structure of the camp and how it was built, guarding in the camp (“Observation posts were set up throughout the camp, manned constantly by guards with machine guns… In addition, 200 German shepherd dogs were kept, constituting an important component in securing the camp”), the number of prisoners who stayed in it while “the vast majority of people were brought to the camp only as a temporary step on the way to death”. The report provides details on various findings indicating the unimaginable number of murders in the camp – piles of passports found in the camp of deceased prisoners, a death ledger found in the ambulance, witness statements, a list of camp prisoners murdered compiled by the Soviets, and more.
The report further details the torture methods in the camp, slave labor, systematic starvation, grueling schedule, and more. (In this part of the report, harsh prisoner testimonies are cited). The report also includes an extensive chapter on the mass executions carried out in the camp in various ways, including harsh testimonies of prisoners who witnessed executions carried out in the camp and surroundings, and a detailed description of gassing at the camp using Zyklon B gas in the gas chambers. (Among other things, the testimony of a prisoner named Stanislawski who witnessed the gassing of 300 Poles in May 1943 is cited, as well as additional prisoner testimonies on this incident). Additionally , the report deals with the ways in which the Nazis sought to conceal evidence of their heinous crimes, including executing civilian witnesses to the murders, burying ashes of the murdered in ditches, mixing the ashes of the murdered with manure to blur the large number of victims, burning bodies, and grinding bones of the deceased. The report also deals with the plunder industry in the camp – and the way all the property of prisoners was looted. At the end of the report the committee lists the names of the people directly responsible for the crimes committed in Majdanek – the Hitler government, chief executioner Himmler, and a list of camp commanders and their deputies who operated in the camp.
Extremely rare. One copy in the world listed in the world cat global library catalog at the University of Kansas Archives Library.
28 p. 16 cm. Very good condition.
