Chelmno killing center (Poland)

The first killing center established by the Nazis, Chelmno operated from December 1941 – March 1943 with the objective of annihilating the Jewish population of the Wartheland district of German-annexed Poland. Jews from throughout the Wartheland were murdered in specially equipped trucks into which carbon monoxide from the exhaust was channeled. Many more were shot and killed by camp personnel. Victims were buried in mass graves in the nearby forest. From January 1942, c. 70,000 Jews and c. 5,000 Roma were deported to Chelmno from the Lodz ghetto and murdered.

Transports to Chelmno ceased in March 1943, after the Jews of Wartheland had been eliminated, with the exception of those still living in the Lodz ghetto. Killing operations were resumed in June 1944 to facilitate the liquidation of the ghetto. From mid-July the remaining inhabitants of the Lodz ghetto were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the fall of 1944, efforts were made to hide evidence of mass murder at the site. Approximately 172,000 people were murdered at Chelmno.