- Umschlagplatz
In
the Holocaust , the "Umschlagplatz" ( _de. collection point or reloading point) in theWarsaw Ghetto was where Jews gathered for deportation to theTreblinka extermination camp . Beginning onJuly 22 ,1942 , Jews were deported in crowded freight cars.On some days as many as 7,000 Jews were deported. An estimated 800,000 Jews were taken to the Treblinka gas chambers, and some sources describe it as the largest killing of any single community in World War II. The deportations ended on
September 12 ,1942 .Umschlagplatz has been created by fencing off an western part of the Warszawa Gdańska freight train station that was adjacent to the ghetto. The area has been surrounded by a wooden fence, replaced later by a wall. Railway buildings and installations on the site as well as a former homeless shelter and a hospital have been converted to the prisoner selection facility. The rest of the train station served its normal function to the rest of the city during the deportations.
In 1988, a stone monument resembling an open freight car was built to mark the "Umschlagplatz". The monument was created by architect Hanna Szmalenberg and sculptor Wladyslaw Klamerus.
External links
* [http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Poland/WarsawGhetto/WarsawGhetto01.html Monument photos and information]
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