Więźniowie KL Lublin 1941–1944

The present publication constitutes an attempt to re-synthesise the history of Majdanek. At its core lie the profiles of inmates and the characteristics of the groups and collectives they were a part of. Therefore, the book simultaneously draws a portrayal of the totality of Majdanek’s prisoners. The study’s structure based on the national distinction into the largest groups of inmates additionally provides an insight into the camp history primarily from the victims’ perspective, both of individuals and of particular groups of inmates. The findings of the most recent research regarding the camp’s inmates: the Jews, Poles, the people of various nationalities deported from the territories of the Soviet Union, and the citizens of several Western European countries, provide a sufficient basis for a claim that approx. 130.000 women, children, and men were deported to Majdanek in total.

The monograph begins with an article by Tomasz Kranz – ”Konzentrationslager Lublin. Creation, Organisation, Operation” – describing the camp origins, structure, functions, and its evacuation; simultaneously describing the origin of the prisoners and the living conditions they were exposed to. The next chapters written by Jakub Chmielewski, Marta Grudzińska, Beata Siwek-Ciupak, and Wojciech Lenarczyk revolve around some particular nationalities represented by Majdanek’s inmates. In their scholarly work, the authors describe the prisoners’ deportations to KL Lublin, as well as their characteristics and their later fates. The book is supplemented with extensive biography, a photographic insert representing various artefacts from the collections of the State Museum at Majdanek, and a situational plan of the camp.