Majdanek this and that

[Wetzelrad]

Not to assert superior knowledge, but if you do a websearch you'll see that practically every usage of "Splittergraben" is in reference to historical air raid shelters, usually trenches. Yes, narrow like a slit, which was for defensive reasons, but also very deep. "Slit trench" is an accepted translation but still carries the context of being intended as an air raid shelter.

I can't find any instance of Splittergraben referring to a shallow trench, like those divots, but it's always distantly possible that someone mangled the language.

Still, those divots are too small and irrelevant to be what this sign was about. Restricting crossing them would be senseless as compared to putting up a fence. Plus they would block off too much of the space, as they seemingly run into where the actual fence would be.

The mystery of the divots in that photo does remain unanswered. Since the photo is from 1946, which is when there was storm damage, my guess is they are recently dug drainage ditches.

Skull and bones to warn about Zy-B gas use? I assume?

That is a natural conclusion. But we also see that exact symbol -- left-tilted skull and crossbones on a black circle -- used on other signs that restricted entry to or exit from the camp. One reads: "Warning! Death zone!" The other reads: "Warning! Restricted area! Halt! Photography prohibited! Live fire without warning! The Commander." All photos are postwar but I assume their accuracy. Therefore this symbol may have been used generically for any warning about deadly circumstances.

Also plausible is that the Soviets moved the sign here purely because of the symbol, not knowing the meaning of the words.

[Wetzelrad]

I found a tribute to Vasily Grossman written by Boris Yefimov. It's dated after 1990, and it includes some words about their visit to Majdanek. Despite actually being there, Yefimov failed to accurately describe even the layout. For example:

Grossman and I spend nearly the entire day at Majdanek. The writer closely examines its nightmarish "technology."

People—primarily Jewish families—were brought to Majdanek from all over Europe. Together with Grossman, we trace their final journey step by step. We walk through a long, dimly lit corridor where, not long ago, a stream of people moved slowly—crowding together and stumbling—sensing that something was wrong yet trying to cling to hope as they headed toward what they were told was decontamination. Upon entering the "cloakroom," they would strip off their clothes and receive a tiny sliver of soap.

After the "cloakroom" came the "bathhouse" itself—the final stage of this monstrous, meticulously organized slaughterhouse. Once the "bathhouse" was packed to capacity with naked, terrified victims, the iron doors were sealed shut, and special hatches in the ceiling opened to release the deadly "Zyklon" gas.

The bunker where gassings are alleged was never called and never resembled a "bathhouse". The actual bathhouses were the buildings signed explicitly as bathhouses. The ones with actual shower rooms in them. It would be impossible to miss this.

On one side of the shower room was the "long, dimly lit corridor" and on the other was the "cloakroom". Yefimov walked right through this actual shower, yet he chose to exclude its existence from his retelling. He instead claimed that a different building was called the "bathhouse", and he evilly attributed deceit to the usage of "soap" and "decontamination".

I feel total disdain for people who lie like this.

[Stubble]

He is quite clearly describing the 'shower room' as an execution chamber. It had not yet been revised out by 1990 and so was accepted universally as an execution room.

His 'remembrance' is of a Soviet propaganda lie. Because of course it is.

[Fred Ziffel]

I got another reply back from my German friend
"The German word Graben means something long dug in the ground, nothing else. No other meanings..."
Since there were no need for trenches in this area, yes very plausible
and
note the sign, it still has a stake for sticking the sign into the ground.

[Wetzelrad]

Ah, I think I've got it. It took me a while to find one because I was looking in all the wrong places.

If you look at the September 1944 aerial photo, there are at least 14 Splittergraben visible in the northern part of the camp, which is the guard and command zone. As is typical for Splittergraben, they are zigzag-shaped trenches.

Splittergraben at Majdanek.jpg (87.56 KiB) Viewed 20 times

The sign likely originated from these or similar trenches. One can easily imagine reasons why crossing them would be verboten. They either didn't want prisoners or civilians entering the guard zone or they didn't want prisoners escaping the camp altogether.

But how did the sign end up on the canopy fence gate? I would chalk it up to just one more falsification by the Soviets. Their most likely motive was a desire to have that skull symbol in the camera shot.

That resolves one mystery. For completeness, I will add here that the supposed mass graves behind the new crematorium also took the form of an M-shaped zigzag (see here). There is no advantage in digging a grave in a zigzag shape, but there is for a shrapnel trench.