Chelmo


 * Chelmno**


 * Jimmy H.**

Families saying their last goodbyes to each other.A Jewish man about to be executed at the edge of a mass grave.
 * **[|Chelmno] was an extermination camp o****pened on December 8, 1941**
 * **Was opended in the warthegau part of poland.**
 * **Located 30 miles northwest of the lodz ghetto, along the Ner river and a tributary of the Warta river.**
 * **Was the first extermination camp.**
 * **People were shipped from the lodz ghetto.**
 * **Tried to annihilate all jews in lodz ghetto.**
 * **Was a large forest clearing about 2.5 miles**
 * **the ss wore white coats to make the jews think they were physicians.**
 * **the jews thought they were going to germany for labor.**
 * **they went into the reception center and were told they had to be cleansed.**
 * **they were told to undress and walk down the ramp.**
 * **once down the ramp they were in the cellar.**
 * **they went into the back of the gas van(not knowing).**
 * **Once the back of the van was full they closed and lockd the door.**
 * **then they put a tube over he exhaust pipe and put the pipe into the van.**
 * **after they thought everyone was dead the took the pipe out of the van and drove to the mass grave sites(which were already dug)**
 * **they started unloading the corpeses and if they found anyone still alive they shot them**
 * **But then they realized that the smell of all those dead bodies was spreading.**
 * **so they ordered the bodies to be dug up by forced laborers.**
 * **and they built two open air ovens for the bodies to be cremated in.**
 * **Another job of the forced laborers was to sort the belongings of the dead people**
 * **Shoes in one pile**
 * **Shirts in one pile**
 * **Pants in one pile**
 * **Socks in another pile**
 * Another job of Sonderkommando was to clean the gas vans.
 * 8-10 skilled craftsman had the job of repairing and producing goods for the officials.
 * Sometimes, members of these special detachments were killed and replaced with new imports.
 * After the annhilation of almost all the jews living in the Wartheland district, the ss decided to stop all transports to Chelmno.
 * They shipped the survivors away.
 * Demolished the manor house.
 * Demolished the open air ovens
 * Shot the last forced laborers
 * Then in 1944, germans renewed deportations to chelmno.
 * They decided to do this because they wanted to make sure the lodz ghetto was jew free.
 * The Bothmann detachment then returned to Chelmno.
 * They supervised renewed killing operations.
 * Camp authorities then had to rebuild two open air ovens and two reception huts.
 * they in September 1944 jews were brought from outside the area to dig up and bury the bodies.