Jankiel Wiernik
Encyclopedia
Jankiel-Yaakov Wiernik (in Hebrew: יעקב ויירניק; born 1889, Biala Podlaska
, Poland
- died 1972, Rishon Lezion, Israel
) was a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor who was an influential figure in the Treblinka extermination camp
uprising of August 1943. Following his escape during the uprising, he published his account of his time in the camp titled: ‘A Year in Treblinka', of his experiences and eyewitness testimony of that death camp where he witnessed the tragic loss of anywhere from 700,000 to 1,400,000 innocent lives. Wiernik also testified in the Eichmann Trial in 1961 and was present at the opening of the Treblinka Memorial in 1964. After World War II
, Wiernik immigrated to Sweden and later moved to Israel where he died in 1972 at the age of 83.
Wiernik arrived in Warsaw
in 1942 after being captured and taken to Treblinka by train. On his arrival, Wiernik was selected to work rather than be immediately killed. Wiernik's first job required him to drag corpses from the gas chambers
to mass graves. Wienik was traumatized by his experiences, writing 'It often happened that an arm or a leg fell off when we tied straps around them in order to drag the bodies away.' However, he was also encouraged by the occasional scenes of brave resistance to his captors. In chapter 8, he describes seeing a naked woman escape the clutches of the guards and leap over a ten foot high barbed wire fence unscathed. When accosted by a Ukrainian guard on the other side, she wrestled his machine gun out of his grasp and shot several guards before being killed herself.
When Wiernik's profession as a carpenter
was discovered, he was put to work constructing various camp structures including additional gas chambers. Given his skills, Wiernik was not subjected to the same treatment others were and he no longer had to handle dead bodies. Wiernik attributes his survival to his work building structures needed in the camp. Given the shortage of skilled construction workers, Wiernik moved between the two divisions of the camp frequently. As a result, Wiernik became an important figure, communicating between the camps when the revolt was being planned.
, Wiernik immigrated to Sweden and then to the newly founded state of Israel
. It was during this period after the war that Wiernik experienced the after-effects of his experience. His feeling of guilt can be seen in chapter one of A Year in Treblinka. "I sacrificed all those nearest and dearest to me. I myself took them to the place of execution. I built their death chambers for them." He stated that he had nightmares and had trouble sleeping. Apparently, the horrors he had experienced in Treblinka had caused him to suffer from survivor syndrome, a form of post-traumatic stress disorder
. In the 1950s, Wiernik built a model of the Treblinka camp which is displayed in the Ghetto Fighters' House
museum in Israel. In 1961 Wiernik testified in the Eichmann trial in Israel.
Biala Podlaska
Biała Podlaska is a town in eastern Poland with 58,047 inhabitants . It is situated in the Lublin Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Biała Podlaska Voivodeship . It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- died 1972, Rishon Lezion, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
) was a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor who was an influential figure in the Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
uprising of August 1943. Following his escape during the uprising, he published his account of his time in the camp titled: ‘A Year in Treblinka', of his experiences and eyewitness testimony of that death camp where he witnessed the tragic loss of anywhere from 700,000 to 1,400,000 innocent lives. Wiernik also testified in the Eichmann Trial in 1961 and was present at the opening of the Treblinka Memorial in 1964. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wiernik immigrated to Sweden and later moved to Israel where he died in 1972 at the age of 83.
Before Treblinka
Jankiel Wiernik was a carpenter living in Warsaw, Poland before his time in Treblinka. When World War II began, he was 50 years old.A Year in Treblinka
Jankiel Wiernik published A Year in Treblinka in 1945. The book recounts his experiences in the Treblinka concentration camp between 1942 and 1943.Wiernik arrived in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
in 1942 after being captured and taken to Treblinka by train. On his arrival, Wiernik was selected to work rather than be immediately killed. Wiernik's first job required him to drag corpses from the gas chambers
Gas Chambers
Gas Chambers is a fast, hollow and shallow point break type of wave. Being that it is a high performance wave it is well suited for the average to pro level surfer. Gas Chambers is located on the North Shore of Oahu about a 1/4 of a mile north of Ehukai Beach Park and 1/2 a mile west of Sunset...
to mass graves. Wienik was traumatized by his experiences, writing 'It often happened that an arm or a leg fell off when we tied straps around them in order to drag the bodies away.' However, he was also encouraged by the occasional scenes of brave resistance to his captors. In chapter 8, he describes seeing a naked woman escape the clutches of the guards and leap over a ten foot high barbed wire fence unscathed. When accosted by a Ukrainian guard on the other side, she wrestled his machine gun out of his grasp and shot several guards before being killed herself.
When Wiernik's profession as a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
was discovered, he was put to work constructing various camp structures including additional gas chambers. Given his skills, Wiernik was not subjected to the same treatment others were and he no longer had to handle dead bodies. Wiernik attributes his survival to his work building structures needed in the camp. Given the shortage of skilled construction workers, Wiernik moved between the two divisions of the camp frequently. As a result, Wiernik became an important figure, communicating between the camps when the revolt was being planned.
After Treblinka
After escaping Treblinka, Wiernik hid in Warsaw where he wrote A Year in Treblinka. After the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wiernik immigrated to Sweden and then to the newly founded state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It was during this period after the war that Wiernik experienced the after-effects of his experience. His feeling of guilt can be seen in chapter one of A Year in Treblinka. "I sacrificed all those nearest and dearest to me. I myself took them to the place of execution. I built their death chambers for them." He stated that he had nightmares and had trouble sleeping. Apparently, the horrors he had experienced in Treblinka had caused him to suffer from survivor syndrome, a form of post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
. In the 1950s, Wiernik built a model of the Treblinka camp which is displayed in the Ghetto Fighters' House
Ghetto Fighters' House
The Ghetto Fighters' House , full name, Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum and Study Center, was founded in 1949 by members of Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot, a community of Holocaust survivors, among them fighters of the ghetto undergrounds and partisan units...
museum in Israel. In 1961 Wiernik testified in the Eichmann trial in Israel.
See also
- Anti-SemitismAnti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
- Operation ReinhardOperation ReinhardOperation Reinhard was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the General Government, and marked the most deadly phase of the Holocaust, the use of extermination camps...
- The Final SolutionThe Final SolutionThe Final Solution is a 2004 novel by Michael Chabon. It is a detective story that in many ways pays homage to the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and other writers of the genre...
- The HolocaustThe HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
- Treblinka
- Wannsee ConferenceWannsee ConferenceThe Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...