Soviet troops inspect the crematoria at the Majdanek   concentration camp after the liberation. Majdanek in Lublin, Poland, after July 24, 1944. In July 1941, SS chief Heinrich Himmler ordered the SS and Police Leader in Lublin, Poland to construct the concentration camp Majdanek on the southeastern outskirts of the city.  The camp was initially intended to provide a reservoir of forced labor to produce construction materials and carry out construction projects for future permanent German settlements in occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union.  Construction began in October 1941 with the arrival of two thousand Soviet POWs. The camp continued to expand; it is estimated that close to 500,000 individuals from twenty-eight different countries and belonging to fifty-four distinct nationalities passed through the camp during its existence. During the three years of the camp’s operation, between 95,000 and 130,000 people perished at Majdanek; between 80,000 and 110,000 were killed in the main camp alone. The majority of prisoners were Jews and the overwhelming majority of those who died were Jews. It is estimated that about 80,000 to 92,000 Jews perished in the system and between 60,000 to 72,000 Jews perished in the main camp. For five months before the Soviets finally captured the camp on July 23, 1944, thousands of prisoners were transferred west from Majdanek to other camps including Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Gross-Rosen, Ravensbruck, Natzweiler, and Plaszow. By early June 1944, Majdanek was almost empty.  Fewer than five hundred prisoners were left in the camp when the Soviets arrived. The Soviets' rapid advance did not permit the Germans time to destroy the facility. Thus, after liberating Majdanek, the Soviets continued to use it as a prisoner-of-war camp. When liberated, Majdanek was captured almost entirely intact.  This not only enabled it to be one of the first major concentration camps to be liberated, but also encouraged Soviet officials to invite journalists to inspect the camp and view the remaining evidence of the atrocious crimes committed there.  From 1945 to 1948 a trial was held in Lublin that condemned ninety-five SS men who had participated in the camp’s operations.  A few months after liberation, a national museum was established on the site of Majdanek. To bring this topic to the classroom, try having your students discuss how the international Jewish community responded to the liberation of Majdanek.  Did it assist the remaining survivors of the camp in finding a new place to live and starting life all over again? Discuss whether the American Jewish community specifically did anything to help the survivors following liberation.  Finally, encourage students to discuss the trial of the German SS guards who served at the camp and have them determine if these men received just punishment for the crimes they committed.