Overview

As the first extermination camp established by the Nazi regime and the prototype of the single-purpose death camps of Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec, the Chelmno death camp stands as a crucial but largely unexplored element of the Holocaust. This book is the first comprehensive work in any language to detail all aspects of the camp's history, organization, and operations and to remedy the dearth of information in Holocaust literature about Chelmno, which served as a template for the Nazis' ""Final Solution."" Patrick Montague reveals events leading to the establishment of the camp, how the mobile killing squad employed the world's first gas van to terminate the lives of mentally-ill patients, and the assembly-line procedure employed in the camp to commit genocide on the Jewish population. Based on over 20 years of careful research, this book provides the first single-volume history of the camp and its handful of survivors and includes previously unpublished first-hand accounts and photographs. ""Chelmno and the Holocaust"" is a vital contribution to a critically important chapter in the history of the Holocaust.

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9781469601854

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""Through assiduous research into new sources, Patrick Montague gives a chilling account of the Chelmno camp, from its unusual topography to its terrible death toll to its overall horror. He further reconstructs Nazi extermination policies in the Warthegau, the German-annexed territory which Chelmno was to serve, while analyzing the camp's German personnel as well as the Poles and Jews who served in its nightmarish work detachments. In all, ""Chelmno and the Holocaust"" is an essential addition to Holocaust scholarship.""--Norman J. W. Goda, University of Florida ""Chelmno is a subject that is relatively underrepresented in the growing literature in Holocaust studies in general and histories of the camps in particular. This book provides a very useful addition to the English language historiography and will be a valuable reference work for historians interested in knowing more about the evolution of the Chelmno camp. It is well written and packed with detail.""--Tim Cole, Bristol University """"Chelmno and the Holocaust"" is very well researched and presents in highly accessible form a significant amount of new material. Patrick Montague gives much attention to the Jewish victims of Chelmno, but also explores in greater depth the background, motives, and behavior of the SS men, their local ethnic German auxiliaries and, in particular, the group of Polish former prisoners who were deployed as helpers and who turned into collaborators. This will become the standard work on the killing site at Chelmno.""--David Cesarani, Royal Holloway, University of London

Through assiduous research into new sources, Patrick Montague gives a chilling account of the Chelmno camp, from its unusual topography to its terrible death toll to its overall horror. He further reconstructs Nazi extermination policies in the Warthegau, the German-annexed territory which Chelmno was to serve, while analyzing the camp's German personnel as well as the Poles and Jews who served in its nightmarish work detachments. In all, Chelmno and the Holocaust is an essential addition to Holocaust scholarship. --Norman J. W. Goda, University of Florida Chelmno is a subject that is relatively underrepresented in the growing literature in Holocaust studies in general and histories of the camps in particular. This book provides a very useful addition to the English language historiography and will be a valuable reference work for historians interested in knowing more about the evolution of the Chelmno camp. It is well written and packed with detail. --Tim Cole, Bristol University Chelmno and the Holocaust is very well researched and presents in highly accessible form a significant amount of new material. Patrick Montague gives much attention to the Jewish victims of Chelmno, but also explores in greater depth the background, motives, and behavior of the SS men, their local ethnic German auxiliaries and, in particular, the group of Polish former prisoners who were deployed as helpers and who turned into collaborators. This will become the standard work on the killing site at Chelmno. --David Cesarani, Royal Holloway, University of London

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