Moses Korn, a member of the Sonderkommando 1005 Unit,
stands next to a human bone
crushing machine at Janowska Concentration Camp
In September of 1941, the Germans set up a factory on Janowska street in the northern suburbs of Lvov, in southwestern Poland. The factory became part of a network of factories, the German Armament Works, owned and operated by the SS. Jews were used as forced laborers, mainly in carpentry and metalwork. In Oct. 1941, the Germans established a camp housing the forced laborers next to the factory. In addition to being a forced labor camp for Jews, Janowska was also a transit camp during the mass deportations of Polish Jews to the killing centers in 1942.
Jews underwent a selection process similar to that used at Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek. Those classified as fit to work remained at Janowska as forced laborers. The majority, rejected as unfit for work, were sent to Belzec and killed or were shot at the Piaski ravine, just north of the camp. In the summer and fall of 1942 thousands of Jews, mainly from the Lvov ghetto, were deported to Janowska and killed.
The evacuation of the Janowska camp began in November of 1943. As the Germans attempted to destroy all traces of mass murder, known as Aktion 1005, they forced the prisoners to open the mass graves and burn the bodies. On Nov. 19, 1943, these prisoners staged an uprising and a mass escape attempt. A few succeeded in escaping, but most were recaptured and killed. The SS staff and their local auxiliaries murdered at least 6,000 surviving Jews from various forced labor camps in Galicia when the Janowska camp was liquidated in November of 1943.
