Grojanowski Report
Encyclopedia
The Grojanowski Report was written by Szlamek Bajler, under the pseudonym
of Yakov (or Jacob) Grojanowski, who escaped from the Chełmno extermination camp and described in detail the atrocities that he witnessed there.
Bajler, who managed to make his way from Chelmno to the Warsaw Ghetto
, gave detailed information about his death camp experience to the ghetto's Oneg Shabbat
group, headed by Emanuel Ringelblum
. He described the entire extermination procedure at the camp: how people were murdered in gas vans, how their corpses were removed, how the inside of the vans was cleaned, and how the bodies were buried in large pits. Bajler also described his escape from the camp, the bleak conditions of the prisoners forced to deal with the dead, and the brutality of the murderers. Oneg Shabbat and Bajler then wrote up the report in both Polish and German; they sent the Polish version to the Delegatura, the underground representatives of the Polish government-in-exile, while the German copy was meant for the German people, in the assumption it would evoke their compassion for the Jews.
Bajler subsequently escaped to Zamość
where he wrote to the Warsaw Ghetto of the existence of a death camp in Bełżec. A few days after writing this letter, towards the end of April 1942, he was rounded up, deported and gassed at the Belzec extermination camp.
Another escaped inmate from Chelmno, Mordechaï Podchlebnik
, managed to survive the war, and in 1961 gave testimony at the Eichmann
trial in Jerusalem.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Yakov (or Jacob) Grojanowski, who escaped from the Chełmno extermination camp and described in detail the atrocities that he witnessed there.
Bajler, who managed to make his way from Chelmno to the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, gave detailed information about his death camp experience to the ghetto's Oneg Shabbat
Oyneg Shabbos (group)
Oyneg Shabbos was the code name of a group led by Jewish historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi-German occupation of Warsaw in World War II. The group, which included historians, writers, rabbis and social workers, was dedicated to chronicling life in the Ghetto...
group, headed by Emanuel Ringelblum
Emanuel Ringelblum
Emanuel Ringelblum was a Polish-Jewish historian, politician and social worker, known for his Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto, Notes on the Refugees in Zbąszyn chronicling the deportation of Jews from the town of Zbąszyń, and the so-called Ringelblum's Archives of the Warsaw Ghetto.-Before the war:He...
. He described the entire extermination procedure at the camp: how people were murdered in gas vans, how their corpses were removed, how the inside of the vans was cleaned, and how the bodies were buried in large pits. Bajler also described his escape from the camp, the bleak conditions of the prisoners forced to deal with the dead, and the brutality of the murderers. Oneg Shabbat and Bajler then wrote up the report in both Polish and German; they sent the Polish version to the Delegatura, the underground representatives of the Polish government-in-exile, while the German copy was meant for the German people, in the assumption it would evoke their compassion for the Jews.
Bajler subsequently escaped to Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
where he wrote to the Warsaw Ghetto of the existence of a death camp in Bełżec. A few days after writing this letter, towards the end of April 1942, he was rounded up, deported and gassed at the Belzec extermination camp.
Another escaped inmate from Chelmno, Mordechaï Podchlebnik
Mordechaï Podchlebnik
Mordechaï Podchlebnik was a survivor of the Chełmno extermination camp. He was interviewed for the documentary film Shoah. He managed to survive the war, and in 1961 gave testimony at the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. He is sometimes known by the translation of his name, Michal.-References:...
, managed to survive the war, and in 1961 gave testimony at the Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
trial in Jerusalem.