Comment: Decision to locate a concentration camp in Lublin was made during Heinrich Himmler's visit in the city on the 20th-21st of July 1941. The task of organizing a camp was assigned to Odilo Globnick, a commander of SS and the police in a Lublin disctrict. Prisoners were going to work at building a house estate for SS, Clothing and Provision Factory and then they were to be employed at production and at workshops which were going to built in a camp. Official order to start building a concentration camp, according to Himmler's decision, was issued on the 22nd of September 1941 by a chief of II Office engineer Heinz Kammler. The camp was located in north-east suburbs of Lublin, where according to plans it was going to occupy area of 516 ha. Initial intention to build a camp for 25-50 thousand prisoners was many times changed. In new versions the camp was going to be enlarged to accommodate up to 250 thousand prisoners and POWs. These plans however were never fully realized.

Building of the camp was commissioned by Globnick to Central Building Management of SS and the Police in Lublin (Zentralbauleitung der Waffen SS und Polizei Lublin) established at the end of July 1941. The aim of this institution was to coordinate and manage all building works of SS in area of a Lublin district, listed in economical-political program drawn up by Himmler during his visit in Lublin. One of its departments Zentralbauleitung – Bauleitung Kriegsgefangenenlager was managing works at building the camp, its offices were located in the camp's area. In area of construction-building works KGL Central Building Management played roles of an investor, a design office and a work supervisor.

A first known plan of building of Majdanek, prepared by technical office of Central Building Management, comes from the 7th of October 1941 and concerns only a part for prisoners. In October 1941, following the mentioned plan, building of the camp was begun. Central Building Management employed a few German firms working in area of the General Governorship. As man-power German used prisoners of war from a labour camp on Lipowa St. in Lublin, Jews and peasants from nearby villages. Along with building camp objects Zentralbauleitung began to prepare a new plan of the camp which (according to new recommendations) was to accommodate at least 150 thousand people. Its ultimate version was a general plan of Majdanek camp, drawn up in January and February 1942, according to which the camp was going to accommodate 250 thousand prisoners. It was accepted by then a commander of the camp Karl Otto Koch. The plan was sent do SS Building Inspection in Cracow for an initial approval. Because of situation in the eastern front and problems with resources and transport connected with it in May 1942 SS Building Inspection ordered limiting the general plan of KGL to size which would allow to accommodate 50 thousand prisoners - i.e. half of initially planned 16 fields, and 1/4 of the whole general plan. Such decision obviously did not cancel a conception of building the camp in Lublin but it temporarily blocked its realization until situation in the eastern front was cleared.

Initially the camp was going to occupy eight fields, office and factory buildings. Building Inspection divided works into two stages: during the first one factory and office objects as well fields VI-VIII were to be built. Therefore technical documentation of KGL building had to be changed and adjusted to current and future tasks of the camp. A basis for detailed technical project was a spatial development plan of area of the camp prepared in July 1942, which developed ideas of a general plan of building barracks, but only on five fields and factory-office part. In terms of architecture it did not interfere with a basic idea of layout of objects according to a general plan of KGL. It terms of functionality it clearly distinguished three parts: an office one, a prison one and a factory-production-service one.

A correction of a general plan of KGL, drawn up by Central Building Management in Lublin in July 1942, became a basis for building the camp, but not as big as it had been planned, able to accommodate 50 thousand prisoner at the same time.

Survived documents do not allow to estimate precisely total number of prisoners and victims of Majdanek concentration camp. According to German historians about 200 thousand people died there. In Poland it had been claimed for many years that 360 thousand people lost their lives in Majdanek. According to State Museum at Majdanek number of victims reached 235 thousand.
(Edyta Targonska)

External description: Original, in German, 3 paper plans sized 1380x555 mm, 1515x465 mm, 1305x625 mm.
Location: State Archive in Lublin, Central Building Management of SS Troops and the Police in Lublin 1940-1944, cat. no. 59.