The camp was divided into two sections: Treblinka I, a forced-labor camp, and Treblinka II, the extermination camp. Treblinka II, operational from July 1942 to November 1943, was where the mass killings occurred. It was equipped with gas chambers where victims were murdered using carbon monoxide. An estimated 925,000 Jews were killed at Treblinka II, making it one of the deadliest extermination camps. Victims were transported from ghettos in Warsaw, Radom, and other locations, and upon arrival, were immediately sent to the gas chambers.

The staff at Treblinka consisted of a small number of German SS officers and a larger contingent of so-called Trawniki guards (guards recruited in Eastern Europe), mainly Ukrainians. The camp’s commandants included Dr. Irmfried Eberl, Franz Stangl, and Kurt Franz, each contributing to the camp’s brutal efficiency.

One of the most significant events at Treblinka was the prisoner uprising on August 2, 1943. Organized by a resistance group within the camp, the revolt led to the escape of over 300 prisoners, although many were recaptured or killed. Following the uprising, the Nazis began dismantling Treblinka II, attempting to erase evidence of the atrocities committed there.

Treblinka I continued to operate until late July 1944, when it was evacuated as Soviet troops approached. The site of both the labor camp and killing center was overrun by the Soviet Red Army in the last week of July 1944.

Today, the memorial site includes a symbolic cemetery with 17,000 stones representing the communities from which the victims came. A large stone monument stands at the site of the gas chambers, and an educational path leads visitors through the history of the camp. The museum houses exhibitions that detail the camp’s operation, the lives of the victims, and the events of the uprising.