Gone but not forgotten: Archaeological Approaches to the Site of the Former Treblinka Extermination Camp in Poland
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, No. 8 (2012), Pages: 83-118
Submission Date: 2020-10-27Publication Date: 2012-12-02
https://doi.org/10.32927/ZZSiM.628
Abstract
Public impression of the Holocaust is unquestionably centred on knowledge about, and the image of, Auschwitz-Birkenau – the gas chambers, the crematoria, the systematic and industrialized killing of victims. Conversely, knowledge of the former extermination camp at Treblinka, which stands in stark contrast in terms of the visible evidence that survives pertaining to it, is less embedded in general public consciousness. As this paper argues, the contrasting level of knowledge about Auschwitz- Birkenau and Treblinka is centred upon the belief that physical evidence of the camps only survives when it is visible and above-ground. The perception of Treblinka as having been “destroyed” by the Nazis, and the belief that the bodies of all of the victims were cremated without trace, has resulted in a lack of investigation aimed at answering questions about the extent and nature of the camp, and the locations of mass graves and cremation pits. This paper discusses the evidence that demonstrates that traces of the camp do survive. It outlines how archival research and non-invasive archaeological survey has been used to re-evaluate the physical evidence pertaining to Treblinka in a way that respects Jewish Halacha Law. As well as facilitating spatial and temporal analysis of the former extermination camp, this survey has also revealed information about the cultural memory.
Keywords
Treblinka , Holocaust archaeology , extermination camp , physical evidence , Jewish Halacha law
License
Copyright (c) 2012 Author&"Holocaust Studies and Materials"

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The journal is published under the Diamond Open Access Standard, CC-BY-4.0 Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Caroline Sturdy Colls, Gone but not Forgotten: Archaeological approaches to the site of the former Treblinka Extermination Camp in Poland , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2013)
Similar Articles
- Dariusz Libionka, Con Men Made into the Accursed. Comments on the Documentary "Torah and the Sword" , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 12 (2016)
- Redakcja, From the editors , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 18 (2022)
- Dariusz Libionka, Joshua D. Zimmerman, The Polish Underground and the Jews, 1939–1945 , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 12 (2016)
- Justyna Majewska, Alvin H. Rosenfeld, Kres Holokaustu , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 12 (2016)
- Ewa Cuber-Strutyńska, Witold Pilecki. Confrontation with the legend of the “volunteer to Auschwitz” , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 10 (2014)
- Stanisław Obirek, Karolina Wigura, Wina narodów , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 12 (2016)
- Alexander Walther, Frank Bajohr, Axel Drecoll, John Lennon (red.), Dark Tourism. Reisen zu Stätten von Krieg, Massengewalt und NS-Verfolgung [Alexander Walther] , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 17 (2021)
- Marta Tomczok, Kinga Piotrowiak-Junkiert, Świadomość zwrócona przeciwko sobie samej. Imre Kertész wobec Zagłady , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 12 (2016)
- Roman Romantsov, From Soviet Amnesia to Ukrainian (no)remembering. The Holocaust in the Cultural Remembrance in Ukraine 1991–2017 , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 14 (2018)
- Dariusz Libionka, Robert Kuwałek in memoriam , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 10 (2014)
<< < 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
English
Język Polski
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2942-6219
