Jacob Wiernik:

"The Ukrainians divided up the loot amongst themselves before our eyes. They fought amongst themselves, valued and sorted everything. . . They photographed us as though we were animals from before the flood."

[(A Year in Treblinka) Jewish Virtual Library]

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Samuel Willenberg:

Displayed in Germany, Poland, and Israel are the sculptures Willenberg uses to depict various scenes he witnessed while a prisoner in Treblinka. During an interview with Sheryl Silver Ochayon, Willenberg explains why he creates the sculptures and the stories behind them. 

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“In the camps, did you ever think about art?”

“No. In the extermination camps I didn’t think of art; the sculptures I did later, after the war. My artistry is my memory - my ability to remember what my eyes saw...I remember pictures. I see the pictures from ‘there’, even today.”

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“Why was [this sculpture] the first?”

“Because it’s a symbol of German cynicism, a symbol of EVERYTHING. [Samuel {said} this through clenched teeth]. With the clothing of the hazzan, with the clock, because of this I did it first…. He is screaming. He’s screaming to the heavens. But God is not there. There is no God.” 

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“Can you tell us more about the sculpture of the little boy with the father helping him to take off his shoes?”

“Yes. You need to understand where this is happening - that it’s not just a father helping the boy with his shoes at home - this is happening on the way to the gas chamber. That’s the explanation - it changes the whole meaning. The little boy is holding a string because the ‘reds’, the people with the red armbands on the ramp, gave strings to the people getting off the train and told them to tie their shoes together.”

[(Ochayon, Sheryl Silver. Interview with Samuel Willenberg, Survivor of the Treblinka Death Camp. Yad Vashem. 2019.) Yad Vashem]