The Belzec Death Camp: History, Biographies, Remembrance

This revised and updated version of Chris Webb’s comprehensive 2016 book covers the development and history of the first death camp in Poland within the Aktion Reinhardt mass murder program.



Webb outlines the construction of the death camp in Poland by the National Socialists and provides a comprehensive account of who built the death camp and how the mass murder was perfected by Christian Wirth, the first Commandant, who was well versed in the mass murder by gas, from his days in the T4 Organization.



The history of the death camp is retold with eyewitness testimony of some of the Jewish survivors, the Poles who helped build the death camp, and former SS members of the Garrison and German visitors to the camp.



The book includes an updated and revised Jewish Roll of Remembrance, with sources provided to verify each entry. This includes the handful of survivors as well as a comprehensive record of the victims, Polish and Czech Jews, and those deported from the Reich to Belzec.



The book also provides a detailed record of the leading figures of Aktion Reinhardt, including Odilo Globocnik, Christian Wirth, and Hermann Hofle, and members of the SS Garrison who served in Belzec. The biographies record their histories, what they did at Belzec, and their fates, where known.



Also covered are the post-war testimonies, trials, and excavations. A number of historic and contemporary photographs, some of which have never been published before, and documents and drawings enhance this edition.



Chris Webb has been studying the Holocaust for over fifty years. He is the founder of the Holocaust Historical Society, in the UK, and has an extensive private archive of documents and original photographs. He has published several books on all the Aktion Reinhardt Camps and books on Auschwitz and Chelmno. Chris has worked with the BBC, on a number of documentaries,both as a consultant and provided material from his archive. He has recently taken part in a podcast for the Ghetto Fighters House in Israel, on Belzec, which was a great honor.