''Umschlagplatz'' (german: collection point or reloading point) was the term used during
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
to denote the holding areas adjacent to railway stations in
occupied Poland
' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
where
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
from
ghettos
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
were assembled for deportation to Nazi
death camp
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
s. The largest collection point was in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
next to the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
. In 1942 between 254,000 – 265,000 Jews passed through the Warsaw ''Umschlagplatz'' on their way to the
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...
during
Operation Reinhard,
the deadliest phase of
the Holocaust in Poland
The Holocaust in Poland was part of the European-wide Holocaust organized by Nazi Germany and took place in German-occupied Poland. During the genocide, three million Polish Jews were murdered, half of all Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
...
.
Often those awaiting the arrival of
Holocaust trains
Holocaust trains were railway transports run by the '' Deutsche Reichsbahn'' national railway system under the control of Nazi Germany and its allies, for the purpose of forcible deportation of the Jews, as well as other victims of the Holocau ...
, were held at the ''Umschlagplatz'' overnight.
Other examples of ''Umschlagplatz'' include the one at
Radogoszcz station - adjacent to the
Łódź Ghetto
The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of ...
- where people were sent to
Chełmno extermination camp
, known for =
, location = Near Chełmno nad Nerem, ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (German-occupied Poland)
, built by =
, operated by =
, commandant = Herbert Lange, Christian Wirth
, original use =
, construction =
, in operatio ...
and
Auschwitz.
In 1988, a memorial was erected in Warsaw to commemorate the deportation victims from the ''Umschlagplatz''. The monument resembles a freight car with its doors open. It is located on the corner of Stawki Street.
Usage
''Umschlagplatz'' is a German word that technically denotes a place where all goods for rail transport are handled.
The term was corrupted by the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s who used it as the euphemism for the location where people would be deported to the death camps. Like the use of ''
Sonderbehandlung
(, "special treatment") is any sort of preferential treatment. However, the word ''Sonderbehandlung'' was used as an euphemism for mass murder by Nazi functionaries and the SS, who commonly used the abbreviation ''S.B.'' in documentation. It ...
'' ("special treatment"), ''Umschlagplatz'' dehumanized the activity. It also disguised - through ambiguous language - what the purpose of the collection point was ultimately for, sending hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths. In January 1943
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
received the
Korherr Report
The Korherr Report is a 16-page document on the progress of the Holocaust in German-controlled Europe. It was delivered to Heinrich Himmler on March 23, 1943, by the chief inspector of the statistical bureau of the '' SS'' and professional statis ...
, a statistical calculation on how many Jews remained in Europe; it made clear that people passed through the ''Umschlagplatz'' and that no other terminology would be employed.
Warsaw Ghetto
During the
Grossaktion Warsaw
The ''Grossaktion'' Warsaw ("Great Action") was the Nazi code name for the deportation and mass murder of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto during the summer of 1942, beginning on 22 July. During the ''Grossaktion'', Jews were terrorized in daily rou ...
, which began on 22 July 1942, Jews were deported in crowded freight cars to Treblinka twice daily, in the early morning, often after an overnight wait, and in mid-afternoon. On some days as many as 10,000 Jews were deported. An estimated 300,000 Jews were taken to the Treblinka gas chambers; some sources describe it as the largest killing of a community in World War II. The mass deportation action ended on 21 September 1942, although trains to Treblinka continued to depart from 19 April 1943 until the end of the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany' ...
in 1943.
The Warsaw ''Umschlagplatz'' was created by fencing off a western part of the
Warszawa Gdańska freight train station that was adjacent to the ghetto. The area was surrounded by a wooden fence, later replaced by a concrete wall. Railway buildings and installations on the site, as well as a former homeless shelter and a hospital were converted into a prisoner selection facility. The rest of the train station served its normal function for the rest of the city during the deportations.
![Umschlagplatz Warsaw Ghetto 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Umschlagplatz_Warsaw_Ghetto_01.jpg)
The railway leading to the square was originally constructed in 1876, as a side rail to the city's main line. Warehouses and other buildings were built between 1921 and 1935.
After the
German invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...
in September 1939, and the occupation of the country, the square came under the administration of a dedicated German institution, the ''Transferstelle'' ("Transfer Bureau"). Originally its purpose was to oversee the flow of goods between the newly established Warsaw Ghetto and the "Aryan Side" of Warsaw. At the time the ghetto's inhabitants referred to the square as "Umschlag". At the end of January 1942, the southern portion of the square was incorporated into the ghetto.
Deportations to Treblinka
![Żydzi w drodze Umschlagplatz 1943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/%C5%BBydzi_w_drodze_Umschlagplatz_1943.jpg)
Starting in July 1942 the buildings located around the square began to be used by the Germans as places of selection. Jews were gathered and held there before deportation to the Treblinka death camp. The headquarters of the
SS units responsible for the selections and deportations were located in the building of the old elementary school on Stawki Street. The Umschlagplatz was divided into two parts. The southern part, which was located within the walled ghetto, was the gathering point where those destined for transport awaited the arrival of the trains. The northern part included the rail and station where people were physically loaded onto the trains for Treblinka.
Initially, the roundups for the Umschlagplatz were supervised by the
Jewish Ghetto Police
The Jewish Ghetto Police or Jewish Police Service (german: Jüdische Ghetto-Polizei or ''Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst''), also called the Jewish Police by Jews, were auxiliary police units organized within the Nazi ghettos by local '' Judenrat' ...
. Houses or entire blocks were cordoned off and then all the inhabitants were forced to gather in a controlled spot, such as a closed off street or a tenement's courtyard. After a check of documents, the individuals were forced, under escort, to proceed to the Umschlagplatz. Emptied buildings were searched and those found hiding were either killed on the spot or joined with those proceeding to the square. Some young men were moved to the so-called ''
Dulag'', a temporary internment camp, from which some were sent to labor camps rather than death camps.
The order in which the ghetto's blocks were emptied was organized by the Germans. Beginning in August, German-run workhouses and factories (''szopas'') and the offices of the Judenrat were also cordoned off, and the personnel sent to the Umschlagplatz as well. Famed Polish pianist,
Władysław Szpilman
Władysław Szpilman (; 5 December 1911 – 6 July 2000) was a Polish pianist and classical composer of Jewish descent. Szpilman is widely known as the central figure in the 2002 Roman Polanski film '' The Pianist'', which was based on Szpilman ...
, would survive the ordeal by being pulled out of the crowds that were being loaded onto a train heading towards Treblinka. Szpilman was pulled from the line after being recognized by a Jewish policeman, who happened to stand guard at the Umschlagplatz. Szpilman's survival is described in his autobiography, ''
The Pianist'', which was made into a motion picture by Director
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
. Polanski, as well as his family, would also be affected by the Holocaust.
Most of the people arriving in the Umschlagplatz were taken there via Zamenhof Street.
Memorial
On 18 April 1988, on the eve of the 45th anniversary of the outbreak of the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany' ...
, a stone monument resembling an open freight car was unveiled to mark the ''Umschlagplatz''. The inscription on four commemorative plaques in Polish,
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
, English and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
reads:
The 400 most popular Jewish-Polish first names, in alphabetical order from Aba to Żanna, are engraved on the monument. Each one commemorates 1,000 victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. The gate is surmounted by a
syenite grave stone (donated by the government and society of
Sweden) with a motif of a shattered forest – a symbol of the extermination of the Jewish nation.
The selection and sequence of colours of the monument (white with the black stripe on the front wall) refer to the
Jewish ritual clothing. The monument was created by architect Hanna Szmalenberg and sculptor Władysław Klamerus. It replaced a commemorative plaque unveiled in the late 1940s. In 2002 the monument site and the adjacent school buildings were listed in the Register of Historic Monuments.
zabytów nieruchomych - Warszawa''
Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa, p. 47, Retrieved 11 August 2012
See also
* Oyneg Shabbos chroniclers of the Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
led by Emanuel Ringelblum
Emanuel Ringelblum (November 21, 1900 – March 10 (most likely), 1944) was a Polish historian, politician and social worker, known for his ''Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto'', ''Notes on the Refugees in Zbąszyn'' chronicling the deportation of Je ...
* Warsaw Ghetto boundary markers
References
Bibliography
* Bernard Goldstein. Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto. Dolphin, Doubleday. New York, 1961
* Emanuel Ringelblum. Kronika getta warszawskiego wrzesień 1939 - styczeń 1943. Warszawa 1988.
{{Authority control
History of Warsaw
The Holocaust in Poland
Holocaust terminology
Squares in Warsaw
Warsaw Ghetto
Holocaust trains
Rail transport in Poland