Published : 2023-11-28 — Updated on 2023-11-28

Faith in the Shadow of Death: Treblinka II Extermination Camp

Abstract

Based on the memoirs of ten former prisoners of the Treblinka II extermination camp (Abraham Jakub Krzepicki, Eddie Weinstein, Jankiel Wiernik, Jerzy Rajgrodzki, Tanhem Grinberg, Eliasz Rozenberg, Oskar Strawczyński, Jechiel Rajchman, Richard Glazar and Samuel Willenberg), the author shows her attitude towards faith and its practice in extreme conditions. From the perspective of a direct witness, she describes the reactions and prayers of people who were going to their deaths. The description of the experiences of camp survivors shows how they and their companions in misery practised the principles of Judaism: prayed and celebrated holidays in the shadow of the gas chambers, but also doubted God. Prayers and songs were also a form of communication between prisoners who came from different countries. On the other hand, the German staff in the camp forced prisoners to practise their faith for entertainment purposes as well as to humiliate them even more and show that the Germans were omnipotent like God.

Keywords:

practising the faith, Judaism, Treblinka II extermination camp, testimonies, biographies



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Rusiniak-Karwat, M. (2023). Faith in the Shadow of Death: Treblinka II Extermination Camp. Biografistyka Pedagogiczna, 8(1), 393–420. https://doi.org/10.36578/BP.2023.08.23

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"Biografistyka Pedagogiczna" received funding for the years 2022-2024 from the funds of the Minister of Education and Science under the programme „Rozwój Czasopism Naukowych”.

Project duration: 2023-2024.

The amount of co-financing is 65 992,00 PLN

Contract number: RCN/SP/0434/2021/1