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The Płaszów Labor Camp (article already exists)

Source Information


 * 1) USHMM: Krakau-Plaszow Main Camp
 * 2) Camp divided into multiple sections (863)
 * 3) German personnel (including commandant)
 * 4) Work facilities
 * 5) Male prisoners
 * 6) Female prisoners
 * 7) Further sub division to separate Jews from non-Jews
 * 8) Guards
 * 9) Most were non-German (863)
 * 10) Ukranians, such as members of the Schutzmannschafts-Bataillon 206 (no wiki on 206, link to the overall group)
 * 11) Other Eastern Europeans such as the roughly 110 men who had served in the SSPF Lublin training camp in Trawniki (Trawniki Men) (link)
 * 12) Non-Germans not considered reliable (863)
 * 13) Mass executions and random violence by guards (864)
 * 14) Beatings occurred almost daily (864)
 * 15) High numbers of women and children compared with other camps (863)
 * 16) Large degree of Hungarian prisoners were women (863)
 * 17) Work facilities were meant for men, so women had a lower chance of survival (863-4)
 * 18) In 1944, Göth received notice that there would be a shipment of 10,000 Hungarian Jews (865)
 * 19) To make room, set up deportations for Auschwitz (link)
 * 20) May 14th, ordered all children to be sent to the "kindergarten"
 * 21) Precursor to deportation to Auschwitz on May 15
 * 22) All killed in Auschwitz
 * 23) Not just for forced labor.  Also for mass murder of inmates and prisoners brought in from the outside (864)
 * 24) Main targets were the elderly and the sick (864)
 * 25) Resistance (864)
 * 26) Göth usually shot 10 prisoners for every 1 that escaped
 * 27) Organized assistance groups, such as the Zehnerschaft, a group of women that supported the inmates  (link)
 * 28) Aid from the outside (864)
 * 29) Prisoners could somewhat rely on outside help
 * 30) The Jüdische Unterstützungsstelle (link), a support group that the Germans tolerated, could provide the inmates with food and medical assitence
 * 31) Stanislaw Dobrowolski (link) - the head of the Kraków branch of the Council for Aid to Jews (link)
 * 32) Tadeusz Pankiewicz (link) - famous pharmacist
 * 33) Polish welfare organization (link - central welfare council)
 * 34) Sent food to Polish prisoners
 * 35) some shared with Jewish inmates.
 * 36) Erasing crimes (865)
 * 37) Began in August-September of 1944
 * 38) 170 Jews recruited dig up mass graves and burn what remained of the corpses (finished by mid-October)
 * 39) Red Army Advancement
 * 40) June-July 1944
 * 41) Began to evacuate Jews to Auschwitz (largest deportation was on August 6 - 7500 to 8000 sent)
 * 42) Aftermath (865)
 * 43) Estimates for most numbers
 * 44) Card index was destroyed
 * 45) Crimes here were the subject of few postwar trials
 * 46) Göth was the most important - sentenced to death and executed
 * 47) West German prosecutors took until late 1950s to investigate crimes here
 * 48) I Promised I would Tell (Plaszow: March 1943-December 1944)
 * 49) Brutality
 * 50) Workers used sledge hammers to break up Jewish cemetery gravestones into gravel for the road (32)
 * 51) Watched Göth whip elderly woman for carrying only 1 bucket (when she was supposed to be carrying 2) until she collapsed (32)
 * 52) Boy playing harmonica, offense punishable by death (35)
 * 53) Public brutality to prisoners found guilty of a crime, such as singing, that all prisoners were forced to watch
 * 54) Whippings (25 lashings) (37)
 * 55) Hangings (40)
 * 56) Life in camp
 * 57) Males and females still managed to have contact with each other (35)
 * 58) No gas chambers or crematoriums, but still mass murder through shooting (37)
 * 59) On a hill called Hojowa Gorka (link)
 * 60) Dumped bodies into a ravine and burned them
 * 61) Daily transports to other slave labor camps or extermination camps (38)
 * 62) The Beautiful Days of My Youth
 * 63) Hanging was a favored method of Göth's for political enemies (56)
 * 64) Rumors involving the Russian advancement that would lead to the camp's liberation that always circulated (60)
 * 65) Those fortunate enough to possess any number of zlotys (link) could visit the Plaszow market (76)
 * 66) Spend everything on food
 * 67) Trade system developed (e.g. two portions of soup for a half loaf of bread)
 * 68) Prisoners that did not show up to roll call were beaten and murdered (150)
 * 69) William and Rosalie: A Holocaust Testimony
 * 70) Hanging for any kind of "sabotage" such as smuggling, disobeying orders, or even carrying an extra piece of food (39)
 * 71) Warned if they tried to escape, every member of their family and even innocent strangers would be killed (40)
 * 72) Jewish police (41)
 * 73) Recruited by the camp personnel
 * 74) Private barracks, got to live with family
 * 75) Double rations of thick soup (as opposed to watery) and a full loaf of uncontaminated bread
 * 76) Came with cost of whipping inmates
 * 77) Nonstop twelve-hour shifts (43)
 * 78) The Miracle Man (Joseph Bau)
 * 79) 1 of 12,000 Schindlerjuden (link)
 * 80) Disguised himself as a woman, snuck into wife's (Rebecca's) barracks
 * 81) Drew maps for the camp commandant
 * 82) And Yet, I Am Here
 * 83) Worked 48 hours without food and no one complained.  The front was coming near supposedly (205)
 * 84) Communication was very limited and also dangerous (205)
 * 85) Relied on smuggling letters
 * 86) No one believed people were burnt at Auschwitz (206)
 * 87) Counted at the gate twice a day (209)
 * 88) At executions on Hujar Hill, prisoners ordered to stand naked at the edge of the hill (211)
 * 89) August 13, 1944 (215-6)
 * 90) Amon Göth (link) had those that held the highest power for prisoners and there families shot
 * 91) They knew about Göth's huge amount of theft
 * 92) The whole camp was forced to watch
 * 93) After Göth left, diet improved a little - powdered milk, eggs and sugar (216)
 * 94) Camp liquidate completely on 15 January, just 3 days before liberation of Krakow (217)
 * 95) One transport everyone wanted to go on was to Brunnlits in Slovakia to Oscar Schindler's enamel factory (link) (217)
 * 96) Schindler's Legacy: True Stories of the List Survivors
 * 97) Standard punishment was 25 lashings on the bare buttocks (60)
 * 98) Oskar Schindler (link) was a frequent guest of Göth's dinner parties (63)
 * 99) Göth shot inmates that "were not working hard enough" (101)
 * 100) During Krakow Ghetto (link) liquidation, were told to leave children behind and that they would be cared for.  They were all put in an orphans' home and killed (150)
 * 101) Others snuck children into Plaszow
 * 102) Same thing happened within the camp, gassed at Auschwitz (151)
 * 103) Göth would let his Great Dane's kill people if he did not like the prisoner's looks (162)
 * 104) Under Muller (link), the former head of the camp, prisoners did not experience shootings or hangings.  On Göth's first day, killed two Jewish policemen and made the camp inmates watch (185)
 * 105) Having relatives and friends that worked for Schindler gave one a better chance at being put on the list (231)
 * 106) Schindler never hit anyone, was always kind, and was always smiling (296)

Topics


 * 1) Camp structure
 * 2) The Krakau-Plaszow main camp was divided into multiple sections.  There was a separate area for German personnel, work facilities, male prisoners, female prisoners, and a further subdivision between Jews and non-Jews. (Source 1, 863)
 * 3) Although separated, men and women still managed to have contact with one another. (Source 5; Source 2, 35)
 * 4) There was also a private barracks for the camp's Jewish Police and their families (Source 4, 41)
 * 5) Jewish Police were recruited by the camp personnel.
 * 6) They were provided with double rations of thick soup, as opposed to the standard watery soup, and a full loaf of uncontaminated bread.
 * 7) However, the benefits came with cost of having to whip inmates with the whips that the Nazis provided.
 * 8) Most of the camp personnel were non-Germans and were considered unreliable.  The guards included Ukranians, such as members of the Schutzmannschafts-Bataillon 206 (no wiki on 206, link to the overall group), as well as other Eastern Europeans such as the roughly 110 men who had served in the SSPF Lublin training camp (Trawniki Men) (link)
 * 9) While the primary function of the camp was forced labor, Plaszow was also the site of mass murder of inmates as well as prisoners brought in from the outside.  The main targets were the elderly and the sick. (Source 1, 864)
 * 10) There were no gas chambers or crematoria, so mass murder was carried out by shootings. (Source 2, 37)
 * 11) Addition to section about Göth
 * 12) Under Muller (link), the former head of the camp, prisoners did not experience shootings or hangings.  On Göth's first day, killed two Jewish policemen and made the camp inmates watch (Source 7, 185)
 * 13) Göth usually shot 10 prisoners for every 1 that escaped. (Source 1, 864)
 * 14) Göth would let his Great Dane's kill prisoners if he did not like the looks on their faces. (Source 7, 162)
 * 15) After Göth left, diet improved a little.  For example, prisoners received powdered milk, eggs, and sugar (Source 6, 216)
 * 16) Addition to prisoner inmate section
 * 17) There were high numbers of women and children compared with other camps. A large degree of Hungarian prisoners were women. (Source 1, 863)
 * 18) Because the work facilities were designed for men, the women had a lower chance of survival. (Source 1, 863-4)
 * 19) When Göth received notice of a new shipment of inmates, he would set up deportations for Auschwitz (link).  On May 14th 1944, Göth ordered all children to be sent to the "kindergarten".  This turned out only to be a precursor to deportation to Auschwitz on May 15 where the children were gassed. (Source 1, 865)
 * 20) Prisoners could also rely on outside help to some degree.  The Jüdische Unterstützungsstelle (link), a support group that the Germans tolerated, could provide the inmates with food and medical assistance.  The Zehnerschaft was a group of women that supported the inmates (link).  The Polish welfare Organization (link - central welfare council) sent food to Polish prisoners and some shared with Jewish inmates.  There were also individuals such as Stanislaw Dobrowolski (link), the head of the Kraków branch of the Council for Aid to Jews (link), and Tadeusz Pankiewicz (link), a famous pharmacist, also aided the prisoners. (Source 1, 864)
 * 21) Punishments
 * 22) Göth and the other camp personnel punished inmates for a variety of actions.  Any action perceived as sabotage, such as smuggling items into the camp, disobeying orders, or carrying an extra piece of food in one's clothes was an offense punishable by death. (Source 4, 39)
 * 23) Prisoners were warned that if they tried to escape, every member of their family and even innocent strangers would be killed (Source 4, 40)
 * 24) Death by hanging was a favored method of Göth's. (Source 3, 56)
 * 25) For a standard punishment, twenty-five lashings were dealt to the guilty inmate's buttocks (Source 7, 60)
 * 26) During mass shootings or hangings, all other inmates were forced to watch (Source 6, 215-6)
 * 27) Although food was scarce, inmates that possessed any number of any number of zlotys (link) could buy extra food. (Source 3, 76)
 * 28) A food for food trading system also developed.  For example, two portions of soup was equal to a half loaf of bread. (Source 3, 76)
 * 29) While prisoners' daily lives were dominated by fear and starvation, there were some outlets for hope of survival.
 * 30) Rumors involving the Russian advancement that would lead to the camp's liberation always circulated (Source 3, 60)
 * 31) Oskar Schindler (link), a member of the nazi party that saved the 12,000 Schindlerjuden (link) was also a key figure (Source 5).
 * 32) While always fearing a transport to Auschwitz, one sought after transport was the one to Brünnlitz labor camp (link) in Slovakia where Oscar Schindler's enamel factory was located (Source 6, 217)
 * 33) Having relatives and friends that worked for Schindler gave one a better chance at being put on the list for transport (Source 7, 231)
 * 34) Aftermath (Source 1, 865)
 * 35) Most of the numbers, including the number of inmates and killings, rely on estimates because the prisoner card index was destroyed during the camp's liquidation.
 * 36) In terms of postwar trials, crimes committed at Plaszow were the subject of few.  West German prosecutors took until late 1950s to investigate these crimes.  One of them was Göth's trial and sentence to death.
 * 1) In terms of postwar trials, crimes committed at Plaszow were the subject of few.  West German prosecutors took until late 1950s to investigate these crimes.  One of them was Göth's trial and sentence to death.