Operation Reinhard in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume XVI

“Operation Reinhard”: Extermination Camps of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka

The planning and construction of these three camps took place during the first half of 1942. The text here covers the sizes of the camps and the gas chambers, the number of personnel involved, the logistics of transporting the Jews, the problems which arose while carrying out the exterminations, e.g., the gas chambers were too small, technical breakdowns, disposal of the bodies and the victims’ belongings, etc. These three camps were all liquidated by November 1943; some 1,700,000 victims were gassed and incinerated, including the majority of the Jewish population of the Generalgouvernement (Poland).