The Treblinka death camp was built by the Germans in mid-1942 alongside the existing nearby labor camp. It was created as part of 'Operation Reinhard', aimed at physical liquidation of the Jewish population. The first transport of people deported arrived here on 23 July 1942, brought Jews from the Warsaw ghetto.

Through the penal camp in Treblinka over more than 20 thousand. prisoners, at least 10 thousand died of starvation as a result of disease, torture, or were shot. Among the prisoners there were attempts to escape individual and collective rebellion.

Treblinka II extermination camp functioned briefly, from July 1942 to November 1943. It is estimated 800-920 thousand humans were killed here. According to data contained in a telegram sent in January 1943 to Adolf Eichmann by Hermann Höfle total number of people killed in Treblinka on the day of December 31, 1942 amounted to 713 555. The victims were mostly Jews from Warsaw, Białystok, Grodno, Kielce, Radom, Łuków, Częstochowa, Kozienice and many smaller towns. Polish Jews were carried here in the wagons, transports from Western Europe often held in personal trains for purchased tickets. Jews were brought here from Germany, Austria, Bułgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium and France. This camp was the center of the extermination of the Jews only, except for two or three known transports of Roms.