The Burning of the Treblinka II Death Camp (Photographs)
"The Burning of the Treblinka II Death Camp" is a series of two known photographs that were in the possession of Polish railway dispatcher Franciszek Ząbecki. One of the photos was donated in 1965 by Ząbecki to the Ghetto Fighters House Museum in Israel, while the other was printed in Ząbecki’s 1977 memoirs Wspomnienia dawne i nowe.
The photos are purported to have been taken during the August 2, 1943 revolt at Treblinka II, where several hundred Jewish prisoners set the camp on fire and escaped into the surrounding Polish countryside.
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Donation photo -
Memoirs photo
Provenance & History
The photo with the larger perspective was donated by Franciszek Ząbecki to Miriam Novitch of the Ghetto Fighters House Museum at the Hotel Germania in Düsseldorf, Germany, on January 19, 1965.[1] This was after Ząbecki testified in the trial of Kurt Franz.
I, the undersigned, Franciszek Zabeki, born on 8 October 1907, residing in Plastów (Warsaw), ul. 22 LIPCA 16/1, confirm that the photograph which I handed to Ms. Miriam Novitch on 19 January 1965 in Düsseldorf, in the court building, where I was questioned as a witness, comes from Mr. Zygmunt Wierzbowski and was taken by him on 2 August 1943: I present: The burning of the Treblinka II Death Camp.
This is original. I confirm that in the years 1941-1945, I was on duty at the Treblinka Station.
Donates Photographs to the Ghetto Uprising Museum in Israel.
The second photo is printed in Ząbecki's memoirs Wspomnienia dawne i nowe. [2]
Photo Comparison
Comparing the photos side-by-side and isolating to the relevant portion of the landscape shared by each, it is clear these are separate and distinct photographs taken moments apart.
Key differences include the following:
- the shape and contour of the smoke cloud ascends and expands between photographs
- the photo from the memoirs includes more of the landscape to the right, showing more of the foreground bush and the background treeline, indicating the camera was slightly moved between shots
- the branches on the tree in the foreground alter in shape, most likely due to wind
Colorized
Colorizing the photos maps contrast differences onto color gradients, highlighting the form of the smoke plume between images. This helps control for printing artifacts between the archival document and the version printed in the memoirs.
Overlay
Overlaying both photos highlights the section of the photo from the memoirs that is absent in the archival photograph. This can be explained by a slight shift of the camera between shots, or possibly that the archives do not have a full copy of their photograph.
Fine Details
Zooming in to focus on finer details, the smoke plume is seen growing in size and ascending between photographs. Additionally, the landscape viewable through the tree branches changes between shots.
Crossfade Animation
Layering the images with a crossfade animation highlights the growth of the smoke plume, as well as the difference in the amount of detail on the right of the Memoirs photo that is absent from the Donation photo. Click on the photo for the full size showing animation.
References
Sources
Ząbecki, Franciszek. “Testimony about the Treblinka extermination camp.” January 19, 1965. Ghetto Fighters House Archives. http://www.infocenters.co.il/gfh/notebook_ext.asp?item=51626&site=gfh&lang=ENG&menu=1.
Ząbecki, Franciszek. Wspomnienia dawne i nowe. PAX, 1977.