Jankiel Wiernik

[Stubble]

Is there any proof this guy ever actually worked at treblinka II?

I was looking at one of his earlier maps made with other survivors, and the question occurred to me. Then I got in to looking at some of the background surrounding him.

It has become my opinion that he never worked at treblinka II and was a propagandist/spy turned 'witness'.

[Nazgul]

Is there any proof this guy ever actually worked at treblinka II?

I was looking at one of his earlier maps made with other survivors, and the question occurred to me. Then I got in to looking at some of the background surrounding him.

It has become my opinion that he never worked at treblinka II and was a propagandist/spy turned 'witness'.

He was a spy. It appears from the first map given by him, he is describing the Malkinia camp; here is the aerial view of that camp compared with Wierniks first map. He of course altered the future maps to align with the morphing of the stories.

[Stubble]

Was Eli Wiesel also inserted as a propagandist/spy turned witness?

Who was that guy actually ? Apparently he wasn't Lazaar Wiesel.

https://archive.org/details/gruner-niko ... 4/mode/1up

[pilgrimofdark]

If this is the same person (and time and place align), Wiernik was also busy in the 1930s writing subversive materials out of a Jewish charity organization.

Gazeta Powszechna from August 17, 1935 has an article titled "Communist Party Headquarters Under Lock and Key: 66 Subversives Arrested in Warsaw."

A secret printing press was discovered underneath the shop of a shoemaker named Rosenberg.

In total, over 100 searches were carried out, 66 people were arrested, and a huge amount of a huge amount of propaganda materials, leaflets, brochures and books in Russian, Polish, French, English and Yiddish, and a large amount of correspondence and proclamations from the central committee were also taken for the files. Lists, notes, receipts and account books were also found. Copiers, printing equipment, office supplies and three typewriters were also found, which were used to make wax copies for copiers and carbon copies. ...

A search was conducted at the Jewish charity institution ‘Dom Chleba’ (13 Elektoralna Street) and two typewriters were found on which Jankiel Wiernik, an employee of the ‘innocent’ Dom Chleba, wrote proclamations on carbon paper, which were read during the investigation.

Among the 66 arrested are prominent communists who had been conducting subversive work within the central communist party authorities for a long time.

Gazeta Polska has more info on the investigation from August 8, 1935.

The communist authorities in the capital uncovered a perfectly secret communist printing house, obviously run by Jews. It printed all the communist periodicals, such as "Czerwony Sztandar," "Nowy Przegląd," etc., as well as brochures, leaflets, and proclamations.
...
Subversive literature was being smuggled out en masse across the country.

I didn't want to derail the Treblinka plagiarism thread, but these OCR Polish newspaper archives are a goldmine.

[Stubble]

Absolutely incredible Sir, well done!

[Wetzelrad]

If this is the same person (and time and place align), Wiernik was also busy in the 1930s writing subversive materials out of a Jewish charity organization.

Fascinating. In trying out the hypothesis that Wiernik was never sent to Treblinka, my line of thought was that perhaps he had actually been living in Warsaw. Perhaps he had been working with the resistance for some years. Perhaps he had even written some of those early, anonymous reports out of Treblinka, which would explain why he felt comfortable plagiarizing them.

However, that hypothesis would be at odds with Wiernik's claim to be a skilled carpenter. It would also contradict his Wikipedia page, which makes very clear that he was not a writer.

He was persuaded in late 1943 to write A Year in Treblinka, in spite of his initial reluctance (Wiernik had little education and was not a skilled writer).

Your finding changes that dramatically. Wiernik already was a writer, involved with Jewish communists, and working in Warsaw, all before the war kicked off.

[pilgrimofdark]

New alternate spelling on this one: Jankla Wiernika

Gazeta Robotnicza, August 16, 1935.

More on the same arrest.

It's not stated if Wiernik was arrested.

This one is clearer in stating that Wiernik himself wrote the communist materials that were discovered.

Arrests

A week ago, the Warsaw investigative authorities discovered the printing house and technical department of the KPP. Now, after extended surveillance, the investigative office made sensational arrests on the night of the 13th to the 14th of this month. Namely, the MOPR headquarters and the Warsaw "Agitprop" headquarters were liquidated, and the KPP central and Warsaw professional departments were also liquidated. Finally, the KPP district committees were liquidated. ... During the searches, manuscripts, typescripts, and recent reports from the VIZ of the Comintern congress, printed in Polish, Russian, and French, were found. Three typewriters with carbon paper inserted were also discovered, with carbon paper inserted, ready for operation, and then publications of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Poland in Yiddish and Polish.
...
Two typewriters were found in the premises of the "Dom Chleba" Charitable Society at Elektoralna Street No. 13, apartment 6. Communist proclamations were written on these machines by a certain Jankel Wiernik.
...
Among those arrested are: Hersz Szwarcman, Lejb Kameran, Rebeka Rubinstein, Roza Lipstein, Chaim Roń, Leonard Mordziak, Wincenty Dzienisik, Gitla Rapoport, Fajwel Frydman, Ewelina Sawicka, Josek Duży, Rozalja Estcrman, Ruchla Fuchs, Szmul Liberman, and Zygmunt Bobowski.

Him being referred to as a skilled carpenter: is that supposed to remind the readers of Jesus to make the subversive communist propaganda go down a little easier? (easier than being chlorinated to death)

But this article is interesting for having a bunch of full names of the subversive communist ring. Wonder where they all were in 1939-1945. And the previous articles mention the names of the communist papers that were being printed/produced.

[Stubble]

Him being referred to as a skilled carpenter: is that supposed to remind the readers of Jesus to make the subversive communist propaganda go down a little easier? (easier than being chlorinated to death)

Exactly what I thought, makes him 'as trustworthy as Jesus' to the Catholic Poles and Protestant Americans.

So far as the article goes, it references him as a source of 'agitprop' and doesn't list all 66 arrested. I think it is VERY strongly inferred he was arrested. I wonder if there is a mug shot in any record some place related to this 'kerfuffle'.

[pilgrimofdark]

I'm not sure what I'm seeing here.

Personal documents, letters, and testimonies from the estate of Yaakov Wiernik

Page 3 of the PDF has an identification card for Jankiel Wiernik under his false name of "Jan Smarzynski."

It was issued by the Germans with a date of June 1, 1943 in Warsaw.

But his Wikipedia page says this:

He was transported to Treblinka on 23 August 1942, during the murderous Grossaktion Warsaw. Following his successful escape from the extermination camp in August 1943...

Timeline

• August 1935 - Warsaw, writing subversive communist proclamations from a Jewish charity organization, possibly arrested for it
• August 1942 - transported to Treblinka
• June 1943 - Warsaw, gets an identification card stamped under a pseudonym as a Roman Catholic (occupation: unemployed clerk?)
• August 1943 - escapes from Treblinka
• April 1944 - Warsaw, has another ID card under his pseudonym (assigned duty: night watchman?)

Portraying himself as a clerk tells the authorities that he has some writing ability. He didn't portray himself as an unemployed carpenter.

There are some things in there I'm not sure about. Was his 1944 profession really a night watchman? (Nachtwachter in handwriting?)

Side note: he was writing some 1935 proclamations on carbon paper, which is used to make copies. That might help explain the map copying/tracing years later. He had plenty of experience with the technique.

[Stubble]

There was a map key in that pdf dump.

Translation;


Opis planu sytuacyjnego obozu śmierci w Treblince
Description of the Layout of the Death Camp in Treblinka


Camp No. 1

1) Main Gate
Entrance to the camp. Wide, over it two 6-sided pillars with gabled roofs covered in shingles. From the outside of the roof, in the center of the gate, a large floodlight illuminating the outer area of the camp. Under the spotlight, a glass plaque with a large SS emblem. On both sides of the gate, large buildings for guards. The entire gate in the Zakopane style.

2) Guardhouse
Small Zakopane-style building (2 side windows, door in the middle) with a 6-pitched roof covered with shingles. In front, a porch with a hanging roof. The entire house on a foundation. On both sides of the porch, 3 steps.

3) Two Long Barracks
Partially inhabited by Germans. One contains a kitchen and dining room for Germans; the other for Ukrainians. Between the barracks are shower baths (so-called "lit.a") for the Germans.

4) Brick Watchtower

5) Warehouse

6) Cellar, where fats, delicacies, and drinks were stored.

7) Barrack – office and apartment of Hauptsturmführer and his deputies

8) Warehouse – general supplies

9) Two barracks – food storage and bakery

10) Five barracks – quarters for Ukrainians

11) Garden with benches and tables for Germans and Ukrainians.

12) Zoo inside a garden area, fenced with wire mesh. In the center, an oval building covered in birch planks and decorated with various figurines. A dovecote on the roof.

13) Potato cellar with roof and ventilation.

14) Barrack – warehouse of valuables

15) Barrack – workshops. Kitchen and overnight room for prisoners

16) Garage

17) Two barracks:

a) Hairdressing, where women were shaved before suffocation

b) Valuables storage

c) Wardrobe, where victims undressed before going to gas chambers

d) Temporary warehouse for collected food

18) Path used by the victims on their way to the gas chambers, with hands raised

19) Second valuables collection point on the path to the gas chambers, shared with the 2nd camp

20) Ramp, where prisoners were unloaded from transport wagons

21) Warehouse – sorting room for items taken from the murdered

22) Lazaret (field hospital) with a bench where victims sat, faces turned toward a pit. Guard stood behind with a neck shot; victims fell directly into the pit.

Camp No. 2

23) Brick building. Alongside it, a wide corridor. On both sides, 5 gas chambers. In front of each chamber, a ramp.

24) Room with motor used to release gas into the chambers

25) Brick building divided into 3 gas chambers. Attached is a wooden corridor for entering the chambers. A single long ramp leads to the building.

26) Room with another motor for gassing the three chambers. Electrical station powering both Camp 1 and Camp 2.

27) Room where dentists extracted gold teeth from victims after death.

28) Workshops: carpentry, tinsmithing, and shoemaking.

29) Guard towers built from dismantled Jewish homes in Kosów

30) Kitchen for prisoners

31) Barrack – overnight accommodation for prisoners

32) Wooden barrack – laboratory

33) Women's section

34) Laundry and bathhouse for prisoners

[Wetzelrad]

But this article is interesting for having a bunch of full names of the subversive communist ring. Wonder where they all were in 1939-1945. And the previous articles mention the names of the communist papers that were being printed/produced.

I had the same thought. After searching these names and similar ones, I haven't found anything useful. Definitely some of them went to camps and some of them are known to have survived. None of them appear to be notable witnesses, excepting Wiernik.