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Zamosc - Izbica - Majdanek - Lublin – Piasci
At the start of our third full day, we visited the
Holocaust memorial in Zamosc. Shortly afterwards we were standing at the
Umschlagplatz. From this place 3000 Jews were deported to Belzec on 11
April 1942, and another 5000 to Sobibor on 15 May of the same year.
On arrival at Izbica we found ourselves at the site of
another Umschlagplatz, a short distance from the large transit camp. It is
likely that thousands were murdered at this little-known camp. Scrambling
up a steep hill, we arrived at the Jewish cemetery. We were greeted by a
local man, a stonemason by trade. He identified himself as a non-Jew, from
Silesia, and was deeply concerned about the state of the cemetery. Only
days before, he pointed out, the monument pictured was seriously damaged by
vandals.
From Izbica we travelled to Majdanek, the most
developed tourist site on our itinerary. The efforts of the state to
maintain the site as a monument and instrument of mass-public education and
are commendable. Much like Auschwitz, however, the site is not entirely
accurate in its depiction of the terrible events that unfolded there.
From Majdanek we travelled to the Old Lublin Airfield,
the main Operation Reinhard sorting depot for looted goods. The ruined
building depicted in the photograph was used as a gas chamber during the
war. Michael informed us that demolition had begun three weeks before we
arrived. Lublin itself is rich in Jewish Heritage. Most impressive of all
was the former Yeshiva, now a medical college.
On the way back to Zamosc we stopped at Piasci. We
visited another transit depot and another Jewish cemetery, identifiable
only by a small memorial and a scattering of shattered tombstones.
