Majdanek: Behind the Wires of Extermination – An Early Publication on the Atrocities of Majdanek. Lublin, 1945. ...

Majdanek: Behind the Wires of Extermination – An Early Publication on the Atrocities of Majdanek. Lublin, 1945. First Edition

Majdanek. Za drutami zaglady - "Majdanek: Behind the Wires of Extermination" – An Early Publication on the Atrocities of Majdanek, the First Concentration Camp Liberated by the Allied Forces. Published by Panstwowego Muzeum. Accompanied by Harrowing Photographs. Lublin, 1945. Polish.

"The SS men said there were no people in Majdanek, only numbers. If someone fell ill and could not attend roll call, he was caught. Then they brought the sick person forward, and an entire ceremony was held. Thousands of people stood by the gallows as this person was hanged." (Testimony of Bronisław Bern, March 1943, as recorded in this booklet.) 

One of the earliest publications documenting the establishment of the Majdanek concentration camp by the Nazis and the horrors that occurred there. The booklet contains harrowing testimonies from former inmates who describe the unimaginable atrocities committed in the camp, along with 22 carefully selected photographs by the Majdanek State Museum. Among the included photographs: 

Emaciated prisoners as found upon the camp’s liberation, The gas chambers, The crematoria, Zyklon B gas canisters used for mass extermination, Corpses and shattered skulls of victims, Mass graves filled with human bones, Evidence collection of Nazi crimes in the camp, The belongings of murdered prisoners, and more.

Majdanek was the first concentration camp liberated by the Allies, when the Red Army entered in July 1944, making it one of the first sites where the full scale of Nazi atrocities was exposed to the world. One of the first post-war publications revealing the horrors of Majdanek. 

35 pages. Very good condition.