Treblinka, 9/1942-8/1943 Franz Stangl

kz treblinka sketch plan produced during franz stangl s 1967 trial in west germany

on 28 august 1942, odilo globocnik ordered stangl become kommandant @ newly opened disorganized death camp, treblinka, under incompetent command of irmfried eberl. globocnik trusted stangl restore order @ treblinka, since stangl had reputation highly competent administrator , people manager excellent grasp of detail.

stangl assumed command of treblinka on 1 september 1942. stangl wanted camp attractive, ordered paths paved , flowers planted along sides of seidel street, near camp headquarters , ss living quarters. despite being directly responsible camp s operations, stangl said limited contact jewish prisoners as possible. stangl intervened unusually cruel acts (other gassing) perpetrated subordinate officers @ camp. wore white uniform , carried whip, caused prisoners nickname him white death .

he claimed while in prison dedication had nothing ideology or hatred of jews. said matter-of-factly viewed prisoners material objects rather people, including extermination: profession. enjoyed it. fulfilled me. , yes, ambitious that, won t deny it. stangl accepted , grew accustomed killings, perceiving prisoners not humans merely cargo must destroyed. stangl accepted extermination of jews fact. @ time, stangl began drinking heavily. quoted saying:

to tell truth, 1 did become used it... cargo. think started day first saw totenlager [extermination area] in treblinka. remember wirth standing there, next pits full of black-blue corpses. had nothing humanity — not have. mass — mass of rotting flesh. wirth said shall garbage? think unconsciously started me thinking of them cargo... saw them individuals. huge mass. stood on wall , saw them in tube — naked, packed together, running, being driven whips...

in september 1942, stangl supervised building of new, larger gas chambers augment existing gas chambers. new gas chambers became operational in autumn 1942. believed these death chambers capable of killing 3,000 people in 2 hours, , 12,000 15,000 victims every day, maximum capacity of 22,000 deaths in 24 hours. according jankiel wiernik: when new gas chambers completed, hauptsturmführer [stangl] came , remarked ss men him: jewish city ready (german: endlich ist die judenstadt fertig) .

erich bauer later remark:

i estimate number of jews gassed @ sobibor 350,000. in canteen @ sobibor once overheard conversation between karl frenzel, franz stangl , gustav wagner. discussing number of victims in extermination camps of belzec, treblinka , sobibor , expressed regret sobibor came last in competition.