Searching for Traces: Objects Found During Forensic Archaeological Investigations at Treblinka Extermination Camp (2010-2017)

This article will discuss the objects found in the area believed to contain Treblinka II’s waste pit during archaeological investigations carried out at the site between 2010 and 2017, led by the author. It will outline how survey and excavation works resulted in the discovery of new information regarding discarded items that were brought to the camp by Jews who were murdered and by the guards who oversaw the killing. Ultimately, it will be argued that analysis of so-called waste within the terrain of extermination and other types of camps has the potential to enhance our knowledge of daily life and death at sites of Nazi persecution, and to provide important, often overlooked physical evidence connected to the crimes that the perpetrators tried to hide.