Talk:Majdanek

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[edit] Number of victims: source

The number of victims I have put in comes from the page: http://majdanek.pl/en/oboz.htm

It is the official website of the Majdanek State Museum, so I think the numbers are reliable and up to date.

One can also consult http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x15/xm1554.html

which contains the entry from Encyclopedia of the Holocaust published in 1990. Balcer 07:10, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

I've got a ton of pictures from my trip to Majdanek. Do we need any more?

I think it's worth putting in a picture of the soviet memorial there, or the camp and the memorial in one frame. I know some of my friends have this picture, I'll see if they'll release it under a free license.131.94.169.118 04:51, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


David Irving recently went here I believe. There is a picture showing him looking at the Prussian blue stains on the ceiling - which some researchers say are impossible because the blue is from paint ( I know it gets really confusing - Cracow Institute, Green, Rudolf, Leuchter, etc). The worst part of the picture is that he is standing next to a window - one pane glass - shoulder height. 159.105.80.141 17:42, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

The article says the crematorium was destroyed - the pictures show a totally intact building. Were there several?159.105.80.141 17:45, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

At the place itself, the furnaces are not labeled as being replicas, as they are at the one gas chamber at Auschwitz-I. I assume that means they are real, although some scholarly confirmation would be nice.131.94.169.118 04:51, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
The wooden walls of the building were burnt down but the furnaces themselves were not destroyed. There are photos on the Internet showing the building in this condition. The building was subsequently rebuilt. Signalhead 23:40, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Death toll

This is mostly for Phaedriel. New data necessitates new revisions. The new data is Tomasz Kranz's research. The source (Kranz's article) is listed. I will also add this article to the sources:

http://www.auschwitz-muzeum.oswiecim.pl/new/index.php?tryb=news_big&language=EN&id=879

If you have any objections - make your own changes, don't revert. --84.167.24.211 22:54, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

BTW, Polish page already has this info. --84.167.24.211 23:03, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

Surprised to see Kranz's work make it into wiki. However, reading his revised numbers I notice that he is very quite as to how the deaths accurred. In the cited article I assume the shaded info is not Kranz's but instead a zealot who "added" a bit = probably stuff that is uncitable. Kranz implies everything except gassing, etc ( murder) - any cite where he gives a fuller expounding of his research? His work is now a few years old - took some time to get to the mainstream - anyone know the reason, I would think this would be History Channel worthy at least. It appeared he used German sources(among others), which makes one wonder how many, where,extensive,.. etc these sources are for all the Polish "extermination" camps. This new revised data seems to be being released gradually to let us get used to the new reality. Any links to Kranz's original work?159.105.80.141 (talk) 20:55, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Move to 'Majdanek extermination camp'?

This article should be moved to Majdanek extermination camp, I think, to be consistent with the article titles for Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka and Chelmno, which are all redirects to '(name) extermination camp'. I understand that it started as a POW/concentration camp, but the single most notable thing about it (IMO) is that it was used for gassing, so should be titled as an extermination camp. Any objections? --Squiddy | (squirt ink?) 11:58, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

About renaming:
This is my first posing on something like this.
Just as you mentioned, Majdanek started as a POW/concentration camp and then later an extermination camp, makes labeling it as an extermination camp a journalistic "no no". By adding labels next to names we distort the readers mindset about a particular name and create a mental bias. For example look at CNN's sensation seeking headlines and spin when taling about Milosevic as "The Butcher of the Balkans" at http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/11/milosovic/index.html I don't know who came up with that tag line but that is not the way to report facts. Or how about the phrase "Axis of Evil", it takes away from facts about those countries and the conflict by labeling and name calling. That is why I would be against the labeling of Majdanek as "Majdanek extermination camp" it takes away from the name Majdanek and adds a preconcieved label to the name. If there were two Majdaneks and they could be a misunderstanding as to which one we are talking about then I would suggest Majdanek (Lublin). Take care. [Comment by Piatkowski on July 3, 2006, unsigned; attribution retrieved from page history]
Advise against: There is no requirement for consistency across articles, e.g. names of camps with similar purposes such as extermination camps. An article's name derives from its particular topic.Majdanek is a unique name for a Nazi camp, so no need to disambiguate for a place name. However, its having served several purposes — as indicated in the content — argues against additional qualification being added to the article's name. Doing so would cause more problems than it would solve, besides being inappropriate for the content. -- Hope this helps, Deborahjay 21:19, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Memorial

It looks like a huge structure, I think there should be an article. --HanzoHattori 16:12, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

It is massive, and interesting. Hope we can get a picture. It doesn't deserve its own article though. 131.94.169.118 04:51, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I added a photo of the memorial to the gallery. Signalhead 19:42, 10 October 2007 (UTC)


Refreshing to see an encyclopedia article almost devoid of citations - 2 at the very end. Any further info on the death march and those left behind - there appears to have been little effort to "cover their tracks" but also almost no evidence - at least what I have been able to find ( help )- of much beyond a work camp. Any forensic work? etc159.105.80.141 (talk) 16:55, 21 February 2008 (UTC)


If you want some documentation - maybe??? - look up Jolanta Gajowniczek ( a Polish historian). It appears the health conditions were falling to pieces there. TB patients had been shipped there, typhus was spreading, dysentary, ... A hospital was built, doctors were reasigned from other camps, the Red Cross vaccinated for typhus, .... 159.105.80.141 (talk) 18:22, 21 February 2008 (UTC) The article says that the camp was closed in April 1944 but people were being killed into July 1944 - I don't have any suggestion as to how but maybe someone can suggest something ( not critsizing this piece of info - it makes as much sense as the rest).

This Jolanta's book is available on Amazon. It is somewhat self-contradictory but interesting anyhow. She is confused as to whether typhus vaccine came in the front door with the Red Cross ( she says yes in one place) or came in by the back door with the underground ressitance( she likes this way too). She gives a small try to prop up some extermination acticity but her documentation skills seem to collapse when she does so - but she does try ( a believer - well sort of, maybe - hey what the heck she has got to feed herself).159.105.80.141 (talk) 18:37, 21 February 2008 (UTC) I double checked - her work is not available on Amazon - only excerpta quoted in Jurgen Graf's(sp) book on Majdanek. As you would expect he, Graf, uses her data etxc to destroy her conclusions, though her conclusions are wandering, if that is the right word ( her facts seem to disagree with her emotions ). Her original work seems to not have a commericial market - Graf seems to be the only mention of her that I can find in print.