The Bełżec extermination camp, on the Lublin–Lwów railway line, was the first killing centre in the General Government with permanent gas chambers. The first transports of Jews from Lublin and Lwów arrived on 17 March 1942. According to Hermann Höfle's telegram, 434,508 people were brought here by the end of 1942; the museum puts the number of victims at about 450,000. In the spring of 1943 the Germans dismantled the camp, and only a few escapees survived the war.
1942
- 17 March 1942EventKilling begins at BełżecOn 17 March 1942 the first transports of Jews from Lublin and Lwów reached the Bełżec camp. They were murdered in the gas chambers soon after arrival.
- 12 September 1942EventThe deportation of Jews from Stanisławów to BełżecOn 12 September 1942, Rosh Hashanah, German police rounded up thousands of Jews in the Stanisławów ghetto and sent them to their deaths at the Bełżec camp.