The Belzec Museum and Memorial

After that first confusing visit to Belzec, I have been able to go back and visit what has become the Museum and Memorial in Belzec. If you have the possibility, I strongly encourage you to go there. 

For more information , you can check out their website  https://www.belzec.eu/en 

and for example this part 

https://www.belzec.eu/en/exhibitions/belzec-extermination-camp

In my heart, the present museum and memorial has helped me make more sense of the place I visited back in 2002.

I will look for photos I took during these additional visits.

From the website's contact information:

Museum and Memorial in Bełżec. German Nazi Extermination Camp (1942–1943)

Ofiar Obozu Zagłady 4 St.
22-670 Bełżec

tel.:(+48) 84 665 25 10

e-mail:muzeum@belzec.eurezerwacje@belzec.eu

Belzec and Robin O'Neil

 To learn more about  Belzec, and what happened at the camp there in 1942-1943, try to find this book  by Robin O'Neil

As you can see from the cover of the book,  Robin O'Neil first published this on JewishGen Yizkor Project..

https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/belzec/belzec.html

https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/belzec/bel001.html

According to the book  the deportations from Lubaczow to Belzec took place like this:

April 1942  Estimated 2000 persons

October 1942   Estimated  2000 persons

Here is Wikipedia's text about Robin O'Neil.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_O%27Neil

A visit to Belzec in 2002

As we know, so many of the Jews of Lubaczow were murdered at Belzec.

During my second visit to Lubaczow in 2002, Bogdan Lisze z"l brought me  to Belzec. This was before the present memorial site was built. I took a few photos from what became a confusing visit . 

Our car drove all the way to the entrance gate. Bogdan stood in front of the gate.

Inside the gate was a map. Looking around, it was hard to make a connection between  the map and the nature in the background.

There was a memorial stone with a text in Polish I did not understand.

Walking further up, another memorial.

This must have been near by the memorial. I think this is where I saw fragments of human bones.

Further up, we entered the forest. A forest with trees, moss, flowers, some water pools. Like any other forest I had seen in so many other places.  But this was the forest of Belzec.

It was impossible to grasp what had happened  there. 

Searching for the family of Leib (Yehuda Leib ) and Taube Riwe HIRSCHEL

Searching for the family of Leib (Yehuda Leib) HIRSCHEL and his wife Taube Riwe of Lubaczów.  Taube Riwe had died before 1896.

Their son Aron (Asher Aharon) HIRSCHEL was born in Lubaczów in 1844. He became a tailor in Czernowitz, married Sara TRICHTER, and died there on 25 February 1914.

 Aron's son Alex (Eliyahu) HIRSCHEL, born in Czernowitz in 1875, came to New York in 1902. 

If you descend from them, or know anything about this family, please write to David Hirschel at davidhirschel@gmail.com