Calendar

• 20.07.1941

  Order to establish the camp

  During his visit to Lublin in July 1941, Heinrich Himmler gave the order to establish a camp in Lublin. He ordered to build a camp for 25–50.000 Soviet POWs in the south-eastern outskirts of Lublin.

  SeeOrder to establish the camp
• początek października 1941

  Beginning of the camp construction

  Hans Kammler's order of September 27, 1942, on immediate beginning of erecting camps for prisoners of war in Auschwitz and Lublin, constituted grounds for commencement of construction work.

  SeeBeginning of the camp construction
• Październik 1941

  Deportation of the Soviet prisoners of war

  The first group of prisoners deported to Majdanek were the Soviet prisoners of war. Soon, other prisoners followed: interpreters, physicians and functionaries from other camps were brought to Majdanek, primarily from Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen.

  SeeDeportation of the Soviet prisoners of war
• jesień 1941

  The first Jews arrive at the camp

  The first group of Jewish prisoners were the Jews brought to Majdanek from the Lublin ghetto.

  SeeThe first Jews arrive at the camp
• grudzień 1941/styczeń 1942

  The first group of Polish peasants from the Lublin region are detained in the camp

  In December 1941 the first groups of Polish hostages were detained at Majdanek. They were imprisoned in reprisal for participation in sabotage and in guerrilla actions as well as for default on mandatory quota and taxation imposed by the German authorities in occupied Poland.

  SeeThe first group of Polish peasants from the Lublin region are detained in the camp
• 29.03.1942

  Mass deportations of Slovakian Jews

  The prisoners deported within the framework of "Einsatz Reinhardt" were sent to the camp. The transports of Slovakian Jews arrived to Majdanek as a result of agreement between Nazi Germany and Slovakia. They were mostly men who were deemed able to work.

  SeeMass deportations of Slovakian Jews
• wrzesień/październik 1942

  Gas chambers start operating

  In the summer of 1942, the construction of gas chambers started. In July 1942 Cyclone B was ordered in Tesch & Stabenow company in Hamburg. The first batch of the poisonous gas was delivered to the camp in late August, whereas the gas chambers were put into operation in September or October 1942. Carbon monoxide was also used for killing prisoners.
  
  

  SeeGas chambers start operating
• 01.10.1942

  The female concentration camp is created at Majdanek

  Frauen Konzentrationslager (FKL) was established on October 1, 1942. The first inmates were women from Dziesiąta and Wieniawa (quarters of Lublin) and from the town of Goraj.

  SeeThe female concentration camp is created at Majdanek
• 14.12.1942

  The wave of deportations of political prisoners from the Gestapo prisons in the General Government

  Pursuant to Heinrich Himmler’s order, nearly 35,000 people detained in Gestapo prisons were deported to Majdanek and to Auschwitz. The first transport of this character arrived at KL Lublin on January 7, 1943. It included mainly the political prisoners from Radom, Kielce, Piotrków, and Częstochowa.

  SeeThe wave of deportations of political prisoners from the Gestapo prisons in the General Government
• 06.01.1943

  Order to deport Belarussians detained as part of actions against "bandits" to KL Lublin

  Starting March 1943, the transports of Belarussian prisoners arrived at the camp – including mainly women and children from the camps in Vitebsk and Mogilev. Successive transports arrived until January 1944.

  SeeOrder to deport Belarussians detained as part of actions against "bandits" to KL Lublin
• 06.01.1943

  Order to establish field hospital for Soviet invalids

  Field hospital was an autonomous unit of the Majdanek camp. It was earmarked for war invalids who were disabled or suffered illnesses as a result of serving at the front or those who defected to the Germans. They were marked with no numbers and wore no badges. They did not have to wear striped uniforms.

  SeeOrder to establish field hospital for Soviet invalids
• 27.04.1943

  The first transport of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, engulfed by uprising, arrives at KL Lublin

  The influx of huge transports of Jews came to Majdanek by the end of April 1943, when the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto had been almost over.

  SeeThe first transport of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, engulfed by uprising, arrives at KL Lublin
• 30.06.1943

  First transport of the Poles displaced from the Zamość region

  Based on Odilo Globocnik's order of June 3, 1943, on "combating bandits," people from the following counties were deported to Majdanek: Biłgoraj, Hrubieszów, Tomaszów Lubelski and Zamość.

  SeeFirst transport of the Poles displaced from the Zamość region
• 03.11.1943

  "Aktion Erntefest" – the execution of 18.000 Jewish prisoners of Majdanek and other labour camps in Lublin

  On November 3, 1943, the largest execution in the history of all the German concentration camps took place at Majdanek. It was conducted under the codename “Erntefest” (Harvest Festival) and it was the final step in the mass extermination of Jews in the Lublin district. The “Erntefest” operation held in Lublin involved all the Jewish prisoners of Majdanek, and those from the camps on Lipowa Street and in Flugplatz – 18.000 victims in total.

  See"Aktion Erntefest" – the execution of 18.000 Jewish prisoners of Majdanek and other labour camps in Lublin
• 14.12.1943

  One thousand ill and emaciated prisoners from KL Sachsenhausen arrive at Majdanek

  Following the extermination of the Jewish prisoners of Majdanek, the largest ethnic groups at Majdanek were Poles and the citizens of the Soviet Union. However, at the turn of 1943, the transports with ill prisoners from the camps around the Third Reich territory started arriving to KL Lublin. The prisoners were transferred primarily from Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Neuengamme, and Sachsenhausen.

  SeeOne thousand ill and emaciated prisoners from KL Sachsenhausen arrive at Majdanek
• 01.04.1944

  The beginning of the camp evacuation

  First evacuation transports departed at the beginning of April. In less than three weeks about 9.000 women, children, and men were transported to the concentration camps located west of Lublin. People who were deemed able to work were sent to the camps deep in the territory of the Third Reich, whereas the majority of the sick and were transferred to Auschwitz.

  SeeThe beginning of the camp evacuation
• 22.07.1944

  The final liquidation of KL Lublin

  The final liquidation of the camp took place in the afternoon on July 22, 1944. A few hours earlier, the Germans executed several hundred prisoners of the Lublin Castle and civilians in reprisal for partisan activities. They were shot near the crematorium building.

  SeeThe final liquidation of KL Lublin