Jankiel Wiernik
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Yankel Wiernik (born 1889) was a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Poland who was an influential figure in the Treblinka extermination camp revolt of 1943. Since Weirnik’s escape he has published his account of his time in the camp its title: ‘A Year in Treblinka' . 'A Year in Treblinka' is the story of Wiernik's experiences in Treblinka where he witnessed the tragic loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. Weirnik also testified in the Eichmann Trial in 1961 and was present at the opening of the Treblinka Memorial in 1964. After the second world war Wiernik immigrated to Sweden before later moving to Israel where in 1972 he died at the age of 83.
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[edit] Before Treblinka
Yankel Wiernik was a Jewish carpenter living in Warsaw, Poland before his time in Treblinka. When World War II began, he was 50 years old.
[edit] 'A Year in Treblinka' summary
Yankel's story began in Warsaw in 1942 when he was captured by the Germans and taken to the Treblinka concentration camp by train. On his arrival, Wiernik was selected to work rather than be immediately killed and is shocked by the brutality and cruelty of the German and Ukrainian guards and the wholesale murder of innocent lives. Weirnik's first job required him to drag corpses from the gas chambers to the mass graves. His nightmare existence is illustrated by his memory of that time - 'It often happened that an arm or a leg fell off when we tied straps around them in order to drag the bodies way' (chapter 3). When Wiernik's profession as a carpenter is discovered, he is set to work constructing various camp structures including additional gas chambers. Given his skills, Wiernik was not harmed by the guards as others were and he no longer had to undertake the dreaded task of handling dead bodies. Wiernik in fact attributes his survival to his ability to assist the Germans build structures needed in the camp. Given the shortage of skilled construction workers, Wiernik moved between the two divisions of the camp (Camp No.1 and Camp No.2) frequently throughout the book. As a result, Wiernik became an important figure communicating between the camps when the revolt was being planned. There would have been little chance of success if such co-ordination hadn't been possible. On the pre-arranged signal (the shot of a gun), the 300 prisioners in Camp 1 and their 700 comrades in Camp 2 rose in revolt. The strongest men were tasked with overpowering the guards while the rest escaped. It was a 5 mile run from the gate to the woods where the prisoners could hide. Wiernik was almost captured by a guard who shot him in the shoulder. When he tried to shoot him again, his gun jammed and Wiernik, armed with an axe, was able to strike him down. He then managed to hide in the woods and elude other guards. The book ends with 'At last, I was able to rest.'
[edit] After Treblinka
After escaping Treblinka, Wiernik hid in Warsaw where he wrote 'A year in Treblinka'. After the end of the second world war, Wiernik immigrated to Sweden before again moving to the newly founded state of Israel.It was during this period after the war that Wiernik experienced the after effects of his experience. His feeling of guilt can be seen in chapter one of 'A Year in Treblinka' I sacrifced all those nearest and dearest to me. I myself took them to the place of execution. I built their death chambers for them ' In the 1950s Wiernik created a model of the Treblinka camp and this model remains in the Ghetto Fighter's Museum in Israel. In 1961 Wiernik testified in the Eichmann trial in Israel. Eichmann, a perpetrator of the holocaust, was charged with crimes against humanity. Eichmann was sentenced to death and hanged the following year, this was the only execution ever carried out in the state of Israel. Wiernik died in Israel in 1972 at the age of 83.
