Treblinka is a tiny village in northeastern Poland, near the location of a Nazi extermination camp with the same name. During World War II, a railway line, called the Malkinia-Siedlce line, ran directly east from Warsaw to Malkinia Junction. The Treblinka extermination camp was located 4 km or 2.5 miles southeast of the Malkinia Junction. The Germans built a spur line from the junction into the Treblinka camp and train cars were backed into the camp, 20 cars at a time.
Why did the Nazis choose such a remote spot to kill the Jews? Was it because they wanted to keep their genocide of the Jews a secret? The Majdanek camp, which had a number of gas chambers, was on a major road, just outside the city of Lublin. The main Auschwitz camp, which had a gas chamber, was located in a suburb of a town of 13,000 people. The Dachau gas chamber was 10 miles from Munich. No, it wasn’t the need for secrecy; it was the railroads that determined the location of the Treblinka extermination camp. (more…)