Treblinka Exposed at Nuremberg: Samuel Rajzman’s Testimony

In this video, I examine the full testimony of Samuel Rajzman who escaped Treblinka at the Nuremberg Trial while simultaneously showing what Treblinka looks like today. Samuel Rajzman was born in Węgrów, a town roughly equidistant between Warsaw and Treblinka. Before the war he worked as an accountant and translator for an export firm. During the occupation he lived in the Warsaw Ghetto with his wife and young daughter. On 21 September 1942, he was deported from Warsaw to Treblinka II, the extermination camp. Upon arrival, Rajzman was treated like all deportees: forced to undress and driven toward the gas chambers. He had already been stripped of his clothes and was marching with approximately 8,000 Jews from Warsaw along the Himmelfahrtstrasse (“road to heaven”), the final path leading to the gas chambers. At that moment, he was recognised by Marceli (Engineer) Galevski, a Jewish labour supervisor and former acquaintance. Because Rajzman spoke Hebrew, French, Russian, Polish, and German, Galevski identified him to the Germans as a potential interpreter. With the camp administration in constant need of translators, Rajzman was removed from the column moments before it reached the gas chambers. This intervention saved his life. Rajzman was assigned to the labour detachment, initially loading the clothing of murdered victims onto trains. Just two days after his arrival, his mother, sister, and two brothers were deported to Treblinka. He watched them being led to the gas chambers. Shortly afterwards, fellow prisoners discovered documents and a photograph belonging to his wife and child among the clothing of murdered victims. This confirmed their deaths and left Rajzman with the only surviving trace of his immediate family. He remained in Treblinka for nearly one year, until August 1943, becoming intimately familiar with every stage of the extermination process. At Nuremberg, Rajzman described the systematic deception, logistics, and scale of murder at Treblinka: Between July and December 1942, Treblinka received an average of three transports per day, each consisting of approximately 60 railway cars In 1943, the frequency decreased as Jewish populations were exhausted Trains arrived from Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Greece Deportees were forced off trains within five minutes, beaten with whips, separated by sex, and ordered to undress The journey from undressing to the gas chambers took 8–10 minutes for men and approximately 15 minutes for women, whose hair was shaved and used to manufacture mattresses Jews from nearby villages were transported by trucks marked “Expedition Speer” Rajzman described how Treblinka’s deputy commandant Kurt Franz constructed a false railway station, complete with signs reading “ticket office,” “restaurant,” “telegraph,” and “telephone,” along with fake departure boards listing destinations such as Berlin, Vienna, Grodno, and Suwałki. This elaborate deception prevented panic and ensured a smooth flow of victims to the gas chambers. Rajzman estimated that 10,000–12,000 people were murdered daily at Treblinka. Initially three gas chambers were in operation; later ten additional chambers were constructed. He also described extreme acts of cruelty committed by German personnel, including Scharführer August Menz at the so-called Lazarett, where children, the elderly, and the infirm were murdered by shooting or burning. Rajzman identified Kurt Franz as one of the most brutal figures in the camp, second only to commandant Franz Stangl. He also testified about Franz’s murder of an elderly Jewish woman who claimed to be Sigmund Freud’s sister, a case I have examined in a separate video (links below). Rajzman was one of the organisers of the Treblinka uprising on 2 August 1943, commanding a group of fighters. During the revolt, he escaped the camp. Familiar with the local terrain around Węgrów, he initially joined a group of Jews in hiding. The group was later discovered and murdered; Rajzman survived only because he was away searching for food. I publish daily Shorts and long-form documentary videos every Tuesday and Friday at 20:00 CET, filmed and researched from the locations where these events occurred. I often attend premieres live so viewers can discuss the material in real time. This channel focuses on original, multilingual research, without sensationalism, without AI-generated narration, and grounded in primary sources. Channel membership (£5 / €6 / $6) provides access to over 800 members-only videos. Samuel Rajzman Nuremberg testimony Treblinka survivor testimony full Only Treblinka witness at Nuremberg Treblinka extermination process explained Kurt Franz Treblinka crimes Franz Stangl Treblinka trial Holocaust eyewitness testimony documentary Treblinka memorial explained Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka Operation Reinhard camps testimony #Treblinka #NurembergTrial #HolocaustTestimony #OperationReinhard #HolocaustHistory #NaziCrimes