The Majdanek concentration camp, the second-largest German Nazi camp after Auschwitz, was liberated 80 years ago on July 23, 1944.
According to the State Museum at Majdanek, approximately 150,000 prisoners were detained at the camp, with over 70,000 losing their lives, including around 60,000 Jews.
The camp was established in 1941 following a visit to Lublin by Heinrich Himmler. Initially intended to be the largest concentration camp in Europe, Majdanek held male prisoners before expanding to include a women’s camp in October 1942. Prisoners hailed from 30 countries, primarily Poland and Czechoslovakia, but also included Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and children.
Despite the dire conditions, prisoners made efforts to survive, exemplified by the creation of Radio Majdanek. Organized by former prisoners of Warsaw’s Pawiak prison, this informal “radio” involved a speaker delivering broadcasts to fellow inmates without the use of traditional equipment.
From the fall of 1942 to September 1943, gas chambers at Majdanek were used to murder prisoners with Zyklon B, and their bodies were cremated.
