Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka

Between the years 1942 and 1943, under the code name Operation Reinhard, more than one and a half million Jews were gassed in the concentration camps. This is the story of Operation Reinhard, recording the history of the death camps from their construction in 1941 to their destruction in 1943. Using sources previously overlooked, such as German and Polish official records and testimonies from Nazi war criminal trials, the book describes the camps' physical layouts, the process of extermination used, and the actions of the SS men and the Ukrainian guards who operated the camps. It tells the tale of the death camps' inmates, the underground organizations, the revolts and escapes, and the details concerning the day-to-day survival of those spared instant death in the gas chambers. The work acts as a testimony to the experience of Operation Reinhard's victims and bears witness to the tragedy which unfolded.