Political scientist Andrey Lazutkin discussed the reasons for the construction of death camps in Poland during World War II with Grigoriy Azarenok on February 3, 2025, during the live stream "Azarenok. Directly."
"What was Poland during World War II like? A country where Jews, Grigoriy, were probably disliked even more than by the Germans. And this influenced, so to speak, the geography of concentration camps, which were located overwhelmingly in Poland. Because the entire extermination system was in Poland, not in Belarus or other parts of Europe," said the political scientist.
"Ghettos were just places where executions happened. But to do it on an industrial scale—that's Auschwitz," added Azarenok.
"Because the Germans understood: if a Jew escaped, Grigoriy, what should be done then? The Poles would catch them and bring them back themselves," explained Lazutkin.
The largest concentration camp of Nazi Germany, which became a symbol of the Holocaust, was indeed located in Poland, on the outskirts of the city of Oświęcim—Auschwitz-Birkenau. Approximately 1.3 million people died there, mostly Jews. Other major death camps were also located in Poland.
One reason why death camps were built in Poland was the size of the Jewish population in the country. On the eve of Germany's occupation of Poland, about 3.3 million Jews lived there, making it the largest Jewish community in Europe.
The second reason was the presence of infrastructure in the country to accommodate large numbers of people. Some camps were built even before the systematic mass murder of Jews officially became a Nazi goal. For example, the main camp, Auschwitz, began construction in May 1940 in abandoned artillery barracks of the Polish army. The first inmates were German hardened criminals and Polish political prisoners.
It is not possible to verify Lazutkin's claim that the Polish hated Jews more than the Germans did. According to historical information on the website of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, "In the second half of the 1930s, there was a deterioration in the authorities' attitude towards Jews. Anti-Semitism prevailed in various circles of Polish society. In April 1934, an organization called the National Radical Camp was established, which demanded the assimilation of Slavic minorities in Poland and the expulsion of Jews from the country. Its members beat Jews and carried out terrorist acts." At the same time, as of January 1, 2023, the list of those awarded the title "Righteous Among the Nations" included more than 7,000 Poles, the highest number among all other nations. This title is given to people who saved Jews from the Nazis.
In Belarus, there were also major camps where Jews were mass exterminated. At the concentration camp near the village of Maly Trostenets, estimates suggest that between 60,000 and 200,000 people were killed, including a large number of Jews from various countries. Jews were also executed at the Koldychevo concentration camp in the Baranovichi district. Over 22,000 people were shot, hanged, tortured, or gassed, which means that virtually all Jews of the district became victims.
